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Introduction to ArcGIS Web Adaptor

ArcGIS Web Adaptor is an application that allows you to integrate ArcGIS Enterprise with your existing web server and your organization's security mechanisms. When configured with an ArcGIS Server site, it polls your site at regular intervals to determine which machines have been added or removed. It then forwards traffic to only the currently participating machines. When configured with your portal, it forwards requests to the machine where Portal for ArcGIS is running. When you prepare to expose your ArcGIS Enterprise organization to an external audience, you should install the Web Adaptor or implement comparable request forwarding and security technology.

Benefits of ArcGIS Web Adaptor

ArcGIS Web Adaptor provides the following benefits:

  • Integrate ArcGIS Server and Portal for ArcGIS with your organization's existing web server. By including a web server in your site, you can host web applications that use your GIS services.

    Note:

    You cannot deploy Portal for ArcGIS in your organization without ArcGIS Web Adaptor or a comparable request forwarding and security technology. For ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Web Adaptor integrates with your existing server.

  • Provide a single endpoint that distributes incoming requests to the machines in your ArcGIS Server site.

  • Make your ArcGIS Server site available through your organization's standard website and port. Use the Web Adaptor if you don't want users to see the default port, 6443, or the default site name, arcgis.

  • Make Portal for ArcGIS available through port 80 or 443 and with a site name other than the default name, arcgis.

  • Block the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory and ArcGIS Server Manager from the view of external users.

  • Prevent ArcGIS Pro users from establishing administrative or publisher connections to ArcGIS Server.

  • Use your organization's identity store and security policies at the web-tier level. You can also use public key infrastructure (PKI)-based client certificate authentication if the web server has built-in or extensible support. This allows you to provide a single sign-on or other custom authentication experience when logging in to use services, web applications, and ArcGIS Server.

ArcGIS Web Adaptor deployment scenarios

The Web Adaptor is platform independent of ArcGIS Enterprise; therefore, the Web Adaptor you deploy does not have to match the operating system platform of your server site or portal. For example, if you have a site composed of Linux machines, you can deploy ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) or ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) to work with ArcGIS Server. Conversely, if your portal is running on Windows, you can deploy ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) on Linux to work with ArcGIS Server.

The Web Adaptor version must always match the version of the ArcGIS Enterprise component with which it is configured.

It's recommended that you use a DNS alias rather than the host name of the machine running ArcGIS Web Adaptor when you register it with ArcGIS Server. If you need to switch the ArcGIS Web Adaptor instance to a new machine in the future, you can remap the DNS alias to that machine. By doing so, you can avoid breaking traffic and interrupting work.

The Web Adaptor can be used in various ArcGIS Server site configurations. For example, in a site with a single server machine, you can install the Web Adaptor on the same machine as the server machine, or offload it to a dedicated web server. In a multiple-machine deployment, you can have one entry point into your site by installing the Web Adaptor on a single web server, or you can establish redundancy at the web server tier by installing the Web Adaptor on multiple web servers.

For a detailed description of the different ways you can integrate the Web Adaptor into your existing site architecture, see Deployment scenarios.

Accessing your portal and services with ArcGIS Web Adaptor installed

After installing and configuring ArcGIS Web Adaptor, the URLs that you use to access your portal and services will change. The examples below are URLs that would change.

Portal for ArcGIS

  • Without the Web Adaptor: https://portalhost.domain.com:7443/arcgis/home.

  • With the Web Adaptor: https://webadaptorhost.domain.com/webadaptorname/home. For example, if the machine hosting your Web Adaptor is named wa with the domain myorg.net and your Web Adaptor is named portal, you'll access your portal using the URL https://wa.myorg.net/portal/home.

Note:

If you configured your portal to use HTTPS for all communication, update the installed portal website and help shortcut URLs to use https instead of http; otherwise, you will see failures in your browser when attempting to access the original shortcut URLs.

Services Directory (REST web services)

  • Without the Web Adaptor: https://gisserver.domain.com:6443/arcgis/rest/services.

  • With the Web Adaptor: https://webadaptorhost.domain.com/webadaptorname/rest/services. For example, if the machine hosting your Web Adaptor is named wa with the domain myorg.net and your Web Adaptor is named server, you'll access the Services Directory using the URL https://wa.myorg.net/server/rest/services.

SOAP web services

  • Without the Web Adaptor: https://gisserver.domain.com:6443/arcgis/services.

  • With the Web Adaptor: https://webadaptorhost.domain.com/webadaptorname/services. For example, if the machine hosting your Web Adaptor is named wa with the domain myorg.net and your Web Adaptor is named server, you'll access SOAP web services using the URL https://wa.myorg.net/server/services.

ArcGIS Web Adaptor setup

ArcGIS Web Adaptor has its own installation process that is separate from the installation for ArcGIS Server and Portal for ArcGIS. You must install ArcGIS Web Adaptor on a machine running a web server. This can be a machine already running an ArcGIS Server site or Portal for ArcGIS, or a separate machine.

To learn more about the setup experience, see the installation guide for ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) or ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform).

To learn more about the setup experience, see the installation guide for ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform).