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Upgrade a highly available ArcGIS Server site using CloudFormation

The Esri arcgis-server-ha-upgrade.template.json Amazon Web Services (AWS) CloudFormation template upgrades a highly available 10.9, 10.9.1, 11.0, or 11.1 GIS Server site, ArcGIS Image Server site, or ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site that you created using the template described in Deploy a highly available ArcGIS Server site using CloudFormation.

The arcgis-server-ha-upgrade.template.json template upgrades the following products configured on two identical EC2 instances:

  • ArcGIS Server
  • ArcGIS Web Adaptor

Prerequisites

Prerequisites can be grouped by the items—such as files and accounts—that you must obtain and the tasks you must perform before running the CloudFormation template.

Required items

You need the following before running this template:

  • An Amazon Web Services account with access to the deployment to be upgraded.
  • An ArcGIS Server license. License files must include the server licensing role you need: ArcGIS GIS Server, ArcGIS Image Server, ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server, or ArcGIS Knowledge Server.
  • An SSL certificate file or certificates (in .pfx format) and corresponding passwords. Certificates must be from a certifying authority.
  • An existing highly available ArcGIS Server site that you created using the Esri Amazon Web Services CloudFormation template arcgis-server-ha.template.json.
  • The upgrade CloudFormation template, arcgis-server-ha-upgrade.template.json.

Note:

To upgrade your deployment, run this upgrade CloudFormation template, which will create a new CloudFormationstack. Do not update the existing deployment CloudFormation stack using this template.

Required tasks

Complete the following tasks before running this template:

  • Prepare a deployment Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket in your AWS account. You will specify the bucket name in the template when you launch the stack.
    1. Create a bucket or use an existing S3 bucket. You must be the owner of the bucket.
    2. Upload your ArcGIS software authorization files to the bucket.
    3. Upload your SSL certificate file to the deployment bucket.
  • Configure passwords in AWS Secrets Manager (optional but recommended).

    You can configure the passwords for accounts such as the site administrator username and the Windows arcgis user password in AWS Secrets Manager. This provides you with a secret Amazon Resource Name (ARN). Use the ARN in place of a password in the template parameters when you launch a stack. If you don't use AWS Secrets Manager for storing passwords, you must type passwords in plain text in the template parameter when launching the stack.

    Note:

    When creating a secret ARN in AWS Secrets Manager for a password to be used with Esri CloudFormation templates, you must use the Other types of secrets secret type and use the Plaintext option. For more information on creating an Amazon Resource Name for passwords, see AWS CloudFormation and ArcGIS.

Tip:

By default, CloudFormation deletes partially created resources if stack creation fails. This is helpful because it removes unusable deployments from your account, but it can make it difficult to troubleshoot. To retain the stack in its failed state, disable the Rollback on failure CloudFormation stack creation option before launching the stack. See Setting AWS CloudFormation options in the AWS help for more information.

Parameters

The following table contains the parameters used in this template and a description of each parameter.

ArcGIS Server Configuration

Parameter nameRequired?Parameter description

Platform Type

Required

Choose the platform type of your existing ArcGIS Server site.

  • Windows
  • Linux

AutoScaling Group Name

Required

Provide the name of the AWS Auto Scaling group where your existing ArcGIS Server site is configured.

If you created the existing site using an Esri CloudFormation template or Cloud Builder, you can find the Auto Scaling group name in the existing CloudFormation stack's Resources section in AWS Management Console. The logical ID of the resource is AutoScalingGroup.

Deployment Bucket Name

Required

Provide the name of the Amazon S3 bucket that contains your software license files and SSL certificates. This bucket must already exist and contain the license file and SSL certificate for your deployment.

You must be the owner of the bucket and it must reside in the same AWS account as your deployment.

License File Name

Required

Provide the ArcGIS Server authorization file object key name. You must upload the license file (.ecp or .prvc file) to the deployment bucket before launching this stack.

You can get the file object key name by browsing to the file within the deployment bucket in the Amazon S3 console. Examples include server.prvc or resources/licenses/server/server.prvc.

License file names are case sensitive. Ensure that you type the correct name and case.

Site Administrator User Name

Required

Provide the username for the ArcGIS Server primary site administrator of your existing site.

Site Administrator User Password

Required

Provide the password for the ArcGIS Server primary site administrator of your existing site.

You can either type a plain text password or the ARN of your secret ID from AWS Secrets Manager.

Windows arcgis user password

Conditional

This password is only required if you deployed on Windows. Provide the password for the arcgis user of your existing deployment.

You can either enter a plain text password or the ARN of your secret ID from AWS Secrets Manager.

It's a best practice to manage your passwords in AWS Secrets Manager. For information on creating an Amazon Resource Name for passwords, see AWS CloudFormation and ArcGIS.

Site Domain Name

Required

Provide the fully qualified domain name of your existing ArcGIS Server site.

Web Adaptor Name

Optional

Provide the Server Web Adaptor name of your existing ArcGIS Server site.

Leave this parameter empty if you did not provide a Server Web Adaptor name when you created your existing ArcGIS Server site.

SSL Certificate File Name

Optional

Provide an SSL certificate from a certifying authority (.pfx file). Use the same (or renewed) SSL certificate used when you created your existing deployment.

You must upload the certificate to the deployment bucket before launching this stack. You can get the file object key name by browsing to the file in the deployment bucket in the AWS S3 console, for example, domainname.pfx or resources/sslcerts/domainname.pfx.

Leave this parameter empty if you did not provide an SSL Certificate File Name when you created your existing deployment.

SSL Certificate Password

Conditional

Provide the password for the SSL certificate. You can either type a plain text password or the ARN of your secret ID from AWS Secrets Manager. For information on creating an Amazon Resource Name for passwords, see AWS CloudFormation and ArcGIS.

Leave this parameter empty if you did not provide an SSL Certificate File Name value.

Outputs

When your stack is created successfully, you can see the following output parameters on the Outputs tab of the CloudFormation stack in AWS Management Console.

Output nameOutput description

ServerManagerDirURL

The ArcGIS Server Manager URL.

ServerRestDirURL

The ArcGIS Server REST Services URL.

ServerAdminDirURL

The ArcGIS Server administrator directory URL.

ServerServicesURL

The ArcGIS Server services URL.

DeploymentLogsURL

This is the URL for the Amazon CloudWatch logs where all deployment logs are stored. You can refer to these logs for troubleshooting purposes if your deployment fails.

Considerations

The following are important points to consider after creating a CloudFormation stack containing ArcGIS deployments:

  • Once your stack is created successfully (in other words, the stack status is CREATE_COMPLETE), that means your ArcGIS Server site is upgraded successfully. You can validate this by signing in to ArcGIS Server Manager or the REST services directory for the site.
  • If the CloudFormation stack failed to create successfully (in other words, the stack status is CREATE_FAILED), you can troubleshoot the error as mentioned in the page linked to from the Troubleshooting section below. After pinpointing the root cause of the error and taking required action, you can delete the failed stack and create a new one to upgrade the existing ArcGIS Server site.

Troubleshooting

If you observe any failures when creating this CloudFormation stack, see Troubleshoot ArcGIS deployments on AWS.