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Launch an EC2 instance running ArcGIS Server

If you build your ArcGIS Server site using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Management Console, you need to know what is required to run ArcGIS Server on an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance.

For specific steps and explanations of Amazon Web Services functionality and how to use the AWS Management Console, read the Amazon Web Services documentation. The following is information specific to launching an EC2 instance running a stand-alone ArcGIS Server site.

Before you launch an instance

You must have an Amazon account enabled for AWS access, and you should create an Elastic IP address to use with your ArcGIS Server instance on AWS.

  1. Open a web browser and sign in to the AWS Management Console with your Amazon username and password.

    Your Amazon account must be enabled for AWS access, which is a one-time step that can be performed on the AWS website. Contact your system administrator or Amazon if you are unsure about the account to use.

  2. Go to the EC2 section of the AWS Management Console and choose the region in which you want to work.

    Regions represent the AWS data centers available throughout the world. You can use regions to get your deployment closer to customers or to meet legal requirements. Pricing varies among the regions.

  3. Allocate a new Elastic IP address to use with your instance. Be sure to record the IP that is created, as you will use that later.

Launch an EC2 instance

You must choose an instance type when you launch an EC2 instance. Be sure to choose an instance type that meets at least the minimum system requirements for the software you will install. See the ArcGIS Enterprise system requirements for more information.

Be aware that different instance types will incur different charges with Amazon.

Storage options

When you launch an instance from the AWS Management Console, you can change the storage options. See Work with EBS volumes for more information.

Tags

Create keys and values to help you identify your instance.

Security groups

Create a security group when you launch the EC2 instance to define what incoming traffic can access it.

The following are basic security group rules that allow you to sign in to the AWS instance to install ArcGIS software. See Common security group configurations for use with ArcGIS for lists of security group rules that you can apply in various scenarios.

ProtocolPort range (code)Source

RDP (Windows instance only)

3389

Specify an IP address or IP address range of the machines allowed to connect to your instance through a remote desktop connection.

SSH (Linux instance only)

22

Specify an IP address or IP address range of the machines allowed to connect to your instance through an SSH client.

HTTP

80

If you are not using an Elastic Load Balancer, type 0.0.0.0/0 or a custom IP address range.

If you are using an Elastic Load Balancer, type the Elastic Load Balancer's security group name. This is a value such as amazon-elb/amazon-elb-sg.

HTTP

443

If you are not using an Elastic Load Balancer, type 0.0.0.0/0 or a custom IP address range.

If you are using an Elastic Load Balancer, type the Elastic Load Balancer's security group name. This is a value such as amazon-elb/amazon-elb-sg.

Custom TCP rule

6443

If you are not using an Elastic Load Balancer, type 0.0.0.0/0 or a custom IP address range.

If you are using an Elastic Load Balancer, type the Elastic Load Balancer's security group name. This is a value such as amazon-elb/amazon-elb-sg.

Custom TCP rule

7443

If you are not using an Elastic Load Balancer and not configuring ArcGIS Web Adaptor, type 0.0.0.0/0 or a custom IP address range.

If you are using an Elastic Load Balancer, type the Elastic Load Balancer's security group name. This is a value such as amazon-elb/amazon-elb-sg.

Create a key pair

After you launch an instance, create a key pair to allow you to sign in to your EC2 instance. The key pair is needed to retrieve the administrator password of a Windows instance. You must have the key pair to make an SSL connection to a Linux instance.

Download the key pair file, which has a .pem extension. Save the file in a safe place.

After you launch EC2 instances

You will likely launch several instances to deploy ArcGIS Enterprise.

It will take a few minutes to launch each instance. While the instance is launching, its status is shown as pending in the AWS Management Console. Once the instance has finished launching, its status is shown as started, and you have a running AWS instance for which you will incur charges. You may need to click Refresh to determine whether your instance has finished launching.

To determine whether your instance is ready to accept a connection, right-click the instance in the AWS Management Console and click Get System Log. When you first launch or start the instance, you will see a blank log screen when you do this. On a healthy Windows AWS instance, you should see a message that Windows is ready to use if you check the log a few minutes later.

Once the instance is available, connect to the EC2 instance and install the software you require. See AWS help for information about connecting to an instance.

See the appropriate installation guide for the ArcGIS software you require. Use the Other versions option in each installation guide to access instructions for the correct operating system.