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Silently installing Portal for ArcGIS

The following steps guide you through the Portal for ArcGIS silent installation process.

Note:

If you're upgrading an existing deployment, see Upgrade Portal for ArcGIS for more information.

Portal for ArcGIS can be installed without a user interface by running the setup using Windows Installer command line parameters.

Note:

If you're upgrading an existing deployment, see About upgrading Portal for ArcGIS for more information.

Prepare to install Portal for ArcGIS

Before beginning the installation process for Portal for ArcGIS, complete the following steps:

  1. Verify that your site meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements.

  2. Verify that your site meets the minimum system requirements.

  3. Log in to your machine as a user with administrative privileges. You cannot install Portal for ArcGIS as a root user.

  4. Sign in to your machine as a user with administrative privileges.

  5. Open the ports as described in Ports used by Portal for ArcGIS.

  6. Close all noncritical applications on your server.

  7. Download the Portal for ArcGIS setup from My Esri and browse to the folder containing it. Alternatively, insert the Portal for ArcGIS media into the appropriate drive to start the setup program automatically.

You are now ready to proceed with the Portal for ArcGIS installation.

  1. Run the installation commands as described below.
Note:

To view the help documentation in a language other than English, you must download and install the Portal for ArcGIS Help Language Pack from My Esri. The language pack contains help in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified Han), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Spanish.

Install Portal for ArcGIS silently on Linux

To install Portal for ArcGIS silently on Linux, complete the following steps:

  1. Read the license agreement located at <CD_ROOT or untar directory>/Documentation/EULA.pdf and accept the terms.

  2. Run the setup silently at the prompt. See the sample syntax below:

    <CD_ROOT or untar directory>/Setup -m silent -l yes

    Usage: Setup [Options]

    Option

    Description

    -m; --mode MODE

    Optional. Defaults to GUI.

    MODE is one of the following: silent, console, or gui.

    -l; --license-agreement CHOICE

    Required for silent mode. CHOICE can be Yes or No.

    Yes indicates that you have read and agreed to the Esri Master Agreement (E204, E300). Visit http://www.esri.com/legal/licensing-translations to read the agreement.

    -d; --directory DIRECTORY

    Optional. By default, Portal for ArcGIS is installed in the user's $HOME directory. DIRECTORY specifies a different installation directory.

    The /arcgis/portal path is appended to the installation directory.

    If you're pointing the setup to a previous installation directory, the content in that directory is automatically used in the new installation. Content from installations prior to version 10.2 is not supported.

    -v; --verbose

    Installer runs in verbose mode.

    -h; --help

    Displays command line help and exits.

    -e; --examples

    Displays usage examples of these options and exits.
    Note:

    You can also use the createportal command line utility to create a portal once Portal for ArcGIS has been installed.

Installing Portal for ArcGIS silently

The following are the Windows Installer command line parameters to use when installing Portal for ArcGIS silently. Use these commands to specify the installation location of Portal for ArcGIS or your portal's content directory.

  • ACCEPTEULA=yes

    This property is required to accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) during a silent installation. Specify yes to agree to the EULA and install the software. Specifying no or omitting this property will result in a failed installation. The download contains a PDF version of the EULA. The EULA.pdf file is located in the \Documentation folder.

  • INSTALLDIR=<installation location>

    This property allows you to specify the installation location of Portal for ArcGIS from the command line. If you do not set this property, the default installation location of C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Portal is used.

  • CONTENTDIR=<installation location content>

    This property allows you to specify the portal's content directory. The location you specify must be a local directory; you cannot choose a shared network directory. This is because the Portal for ArcGIS service is configured to run under the Windows native LocalSystem account by default. The LocalSystem account cannot access network locations. For more information, see The Portal for ArcGIS account. If you do not set this property, the default installation location of C:\arcgisportal is used.

The following is an example location:

<path to the Portal for ArcGIS setup download>\setup.exe /qb ACCEPTEULA=yes INSTALLDIR=C:\myportal CONTENTDIR=C:\arcgisportal

Configuring the Portal for ArcGIS account using command line parameters

The Portal for ArcGIS account must be configured when Portal for ArcGIS is installed silently. For production systems, it is recommended that you designate a preexisting account that resides in your domain or Active Directory and follows your organization's security policy. If command line parameters are not used to configure the Portal for ArcGIS account during silent installations, the account will be set to the Local System account. This is primarily for the convenience of quickly installing Portal for ArcGIS.

Use the command line parameters below to configure the Portal for ArcGIS account.

Passing Portal for ArcGIS account credentials directly

Caution:

If the Portal for ArcGIS account is not defined during a silent (/qb) installation, or the credentials are not valid, the Portal for ArcGIS setup displays a warning message during installation. The message can be closed by clicking OK. Under these circumstances, the Portal for ArcGIS account is set to the Local System account.

  • USER_NAME=<operating system account>

    The account can be a domain account or a local account. If you're using a domain account, it must already exist. If you're using a local account, the account will be created if it does not already exist. If the account is not valid, a message appears during installation indicating that the account or password is invalid.

  • MSA=TRUE

    This parameter should only be used with a Managed Service Account. A Managed Service Account must already exist on your domain. Do not use this parameter with a local account or a domain account with a password. A Managed Service Account will not use the PASSWORD parameter.

  • PASSWORD=<account password>

    This is the password for the account specified for the USER_NAME parameter. If the password is not valid, a message appears during installation indicating that the account or password is invalid.

Examples are below.

Caution:

Command line parameters are case sensitive. If you're having trouble getting your command line installation working, confirm that the case matches the properties as shown in the examples.

Using a domain account

<path to the Portal for ArcGIS setup download>\setup.exe /qb ACCEPTEULA=yes USER_NAME=mydomain\mydomainaccount PASSWORD=my.password

Using a new or existing local account

<path to the Portal for ArcGIS setup download>\setup.exe /qb ACCEPTEULA=yes USER_NAME=myaccount PASSWORD=my.password

Using a Managed Service Account

<path to the Portal for ArcGIS setup download>\setup.exe /qb ACCEPTEULA=yes MSA=TRUE USER_NAME=mydomain\mymsa

Importing Portal for ArcGIS account credentials using a portal configuration file

The following two command line parameters must be used together to import Portal for ArcGIS account credentials using a portal configuration file:

  • ACCOUNT=UseConfigFile

    Use the ACCOUNT command line parameter exactly as shown above. There are no other valid values for this property.

  • CONFIGPATH=<full path and name of portal configuration file>

    Used in conjunction with ACCOUNT=UseConfigFile, this property allows you to specify the portal configuration file that will be used to configure the Portal for ArcGIS account. Portal configuration files are created by exporting a portal configuration file when installing Portal for ArcGIS (earlier installations or from other machines).

The following is an example:

<path to the Portal for ArcGIS setup download>\setup.exe /qb ACCEPTEULA=yes ACCOUNT=UseConfigFile CONFIGPATH=\\networkmachine\portalconfigs\standardaccount.xml

Caution:

Command line parameters are case sensitive. If you are having trouble getting your command line installation working, confirm that the case matches the properties as shown in the examples.

Exporting Portal for ArcGIS account credentials to a portal configuration file

Note:

When exporting a portal configuration file to a network share, the Local System account on the machine where Portal for ArcGIS is being installed must have write permissions to the network share. For example, if you're installing Portal for ArcGIS on a machine named Quick, the Local System account on Quick must have write permission to the network share. If the permissions are not set, the portal configuration file may not export successfully. If you're unsure how to correctly set permissions for the network share, contact your system administrator or export the portal configuration file locally and copy it to the network share.

The following two command line parameters must be used together to export Portal for ArcGIS account credentials to a portal configuration file:

  • EXPORTCONFIG=Yes

    Use this property to export the account information entered with the USER_NAME and PASSWORD command line parameters. The account information is stored in an encrypted XML file, known as a portal configuration file. This property is set to No by default.

  • CONFIGPATH=<full path and name of portal configuration file>

    Used in conjunction with EXPORTCONFIG=Yes, this property allows you to define the name of the portal configuration file and the location where it will be stored. The file name must end with .xml and the specified folder must already exist. If the file does not have an .xml extension and the specified directory does not already exist, the portal configuration file creation may not be successful.

The following is an example:

<path to the Portal for ArcGIS setup download>\setup.exe /qb ACCEPTEULA=yes EXPORTCONFIG=Yes CONFIGPATH=\\networkmachine\portalconfigs\standardaccount.xml

Caution:

Command line parameters are case sensitive. If you're having trouble getting your command line installation working, confirm that the case matches the properties as shown in the examples.

Use the createportal command line utility to create a portal

You can use the createportal command line utility to create a portal once Portal for ArcGIS has been installed. You can use the createportal utility in the following ways:

  • Run the createportal utility as an administrator from a command prompt and specify the first name, last name, username, password, email address, secret question, answer, and content directory parameters.

  • Provide a createportal.properties file containing specified parameters.

To use the createportal command line utility, run the createportal.sh script with -h or -help as follows:

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>/tools/createportal/createportal.sh -help

Example usage with the utility: createportal.sh [-fn <arg>] [-ln <arg>] [-u <arg>] [-p <arg>] [-e <arg>] [-qi <arg>] [-qa <arg>] [-d <arg>] [ -lf <arg>] [ -ut <arg>]

Example usage with a file: createportal.sh [-f <FILE>]

To use the createportal command line utility, run the createportal.bat script with -h or -help as follows:

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>\tools\createportal\createportal.bat -help

Example usage with the utility: createportal.bat [-fn <arg>] [-ln <arg>] [-u <arg>] [-p <arg>] [-e <arg>] [-qi <arg>] [-qa <arg>] [-d <arg>] [-lf <arg>] [-ut <arg>]

Example usage with a file: createportal.bat [-f <FILE>]

Note:

When you reference a path in the createportal.properties file, you need to escape the backslash, for example, C:\\arcgisportal or \\\\<Absolute path to>\\<portal arcgisportal>.

Option

Description

-fn; --firstname

First name for an initial administrative account used to configure the portal.

Ensure that multiple-word entries are enclosed in quotes.

-ln; --lastname

Last name for an initial administrative account used to configure the portal.

Ensure that multiple-word entries are enclosed in quotes.

-u; --username

Username for an initial administrative account used to configure the portal.

The username can be composed of numbers 0–9, the ASCII letters a–z and A–Z, and the dot character (.).

-p; --password

Password for the initial administrative account used to configure the portal.

The password can be composed of numbers 0–9, the ASCII letters a–z and A–Z, and the dot character (.).

-e; --email

Email address for an initial administrative account used to configure the portal.

-qi; --question

Index of the secret question to retrieve a forgotten password. Available questions with respective index numbers are as follows:

  • 1, What city were you born in?

  • 2, What was your high school mascot?

  • 3, What is your mother's maiden name?

  • 4, What was the make of your first car?

  • 5, What high school did you go to?

  • 6, What is the last name of your best friend?

  • 7, What is the middle name of your youngest sibling?

  • 8, What is the name of the street on which you grew up?

  • 9, What is the name of your favorite fictional character?

  • 10, What is the name of your favorite pet?

  • 11, What is the name of your favorite restaurant?

  • 12, What is the title of your favorite book?

  • 13, What is your dream job?

  • 14, Where did you go on your first date?

-qa; --answer

Answer to the secret question you chose for the parameter -qi .

Ensure that multiple-word entries are enclosed in quotes.

-d; --contentDirectory

Absolute path and name of the content directory used to store data hosted in the portal.

By default, the portal content directory is created locally at this location:

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>/usr/arcgisportal

C:\arcgisportal

or

\\<Absolute path to>\<Content Directory>

-lf; --licenseFile

The path to the portal license file.

-ut; --userTypeId

The ID of the user type for the initial administrator.

This parameter is optional. To generate a list of compatible user types available to your organization for the -ut parameter, run the listadministratorusertypes utility. If a user type ID is not specified, and the portal license file contains a single compatible user type, that user type will be assigned. If the license file contains multiple compatible user types, a temporary user type will be assigned, and the initial administrator will have to select a user type after signing in.

-f; --file

The properties file for the createportal utility.

By default, the createportal.properties file can be found at this location:

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>/tools/createportal

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>\tools\createportal

-h; --help

Displays the command line help and exits.

The following is an example of the createportal.properties file:

#
# Portal for ArcGIS site creation properties
#
# First name for initial administrator account
PORTAL_ADMIN_FIRSTNAME =
# Last name for initial administrator account
PORTAL_ADMIN_LASTNAME =
# User name for initial administrator account
# Can only have the numbers 0-9, the ASCII letters a-z, A-Z and the dot character (.)
PORTAL_ADMIN_USERNAME =
# Password for primary site administrator.
# Can only have the numbers 0-9, the ASCII letters a-z, A-Z and the dot character (.)
PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD =
# Initially, leave PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTED set to false.
# When you run the tool the first time, the password will be
# encrypted and PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTED will change to true
PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTED = false
# E-mail address for initial administrator account
# e.g username@example.com
PORTAL_ADMIN_EMAIL =
#This is the index of the secret question to retrieve a forgotten password.
#The list of questions with their respective index numbers is as follows:
#1, What city were you born in ?"
#2, What was your high school mascot?"
#3, What is your mother's maiden name?"
#4, What was the make of your first car?"
#5, What high school did you go to?"
#6, What is the last name of your best friend?"
#7, What is the middle name of your youngest sibling?"
#8, What is the name of the street on which you grew up?"
#9, What is the name of your favorite fictional character?"
#10, What is the name of your favorite pet?"
#11, What is the name of your favorite restaurant?"
#12, What is the title of your favorite book?"
#13, What is your dream job?"
#14, Where did you go on your first date?");
PORTAL_ADMIN_SECURITY_QUESTION_INDEX =
# Answer to the secret question
# e.g \"My Answer\"
PORTAL_ADMIN_SECURITY_QUESTION_ANSWER =
# Portal content directory where portal will store default and user-generated content.
# By default, the portal content directory will be created locally,
# e.g./<Portal for ArcGIS installation directory>/usr/arcgisportal.
PORTAL_CONTENT_DIRECTORY =
# The path to the portal license file
PORTAL_LICENSE_FILE =
# The ID of the user type for the Initial Administrator
PORTAL_USER_TYPE_ID =

#
# Portal for ArcGIS site creation properties
#
# First name for initial administrator account
PORTAL_ADMIN_FIRSTNAME =
# Last name for initial administrator account
PORTAL_ADMIN_LASTNAME =
# User name for initial administrator account
# Can only have the numbers 0-9, the ASCII letters a-z, A-Z and the dot character (.)
PORTAL_ADMIN_USERNAME =
# Password for primary site administrator.
# Can only have the numbers 0-9, the ASCII letters a-z, A-Z and the dot character (.)
PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD =
# Initially, leave PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTED set to false.
# When you run the tool the first time, the password will be
# encrypted and PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTED will change to true
PORTAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTED = false
# E-mail address for initial administrator account
# e.g username@example.com
PORTAL_ADMIN_EMAIL =
#This is the index of the secret question to retrieve a forgotten password.
#The list of questions with their respective index numbers is as follows:
#1, What city were you born in ?"
#2, What was your high school mascot?"
#3, What is your mother's maiden name?"
#4, What was the make of your first car?"
#5, What high school did you go to?"
#6, What is the last name of your best friend?"
#7, What is the middle name of your youngest sibling?"
#8, What is the name of the street on which you grew up?"
#9, What is the name of your favorite fictional character?"
#10, What is the name of your favorite pet?"
#11, What is the name of your favorite restaurant?"
#12, What is the title of your favorite book?"
#13, What is your dream job?"
#14, Where did you go on your first date?");
PORTAL_ADMIN_SECURITY_QUESTION_INDEX =
# Answer to the secret question
# e.g \"My Answer\"
PORTAL_ADMIN_SECURITY_QUESTION_ANSWER =
# Portal content directory where portal will store default and user-generated content.
# By default, the portal content directory will be created locally.
# e.g. C:\\arcgisportal, or \\\\<Absolute path to>\\<portal arcgisportal>
PORTAL_CONTENT_DIRECTORY =
# The path to the portal license file
PORTAL_LICENSE_FILE =
# The ID of the user type for the Initial Administrator
PORTAL_USER_TYPE_ID =

You will receive a message that the portal was created successfully before the tool exits.

Using the listadministratorusertypes command line utility to identify compatible user types

To identify a list of user type IDs licensed for your organization that are compatible with the Administrator role, run the listadministratorusertypes command line utility. This will provide a list of inputs for the -ut parameter in the createportal tool. Run the tool with -lf as shown below, using the portal license file as the input:

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>/tools/createportal/listadministratorusertypes.sh

Example usage with the utility: listadministratorusertypes.sh [-lf <arg>] or listadministratorusertypes.sh [--listadministratorusertypes <arg>]

Post installation configuration

If you want Portal for ArcGIS to start with the operating system, complete the steps specific to your operating system below.

Operating systems that support systemd

If your operating system supports the use of systemd to bootstrap and manage processes (for example, if you're using Red Hat 7.x), follow these steps to configure Portal for ArcGIS to start with the operating system:

  1. In a command shell, switch to root user.

  2. Copy the <Portal for ArcGIS installation directory>/framework/etc/arcgisportal.service unit file to /etc/systemd/system. Once the file is copied, confirm that /etc/systemd/system/arcgisportal.service has its file permissions set to 600.

    Note:

    This file is installed with Portal for ArcGIS.

  3. Still as root user, run the following command to automatically create the links in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants:

    # systemctl enable arcgisportal.service

  4. To verify that the systemd service is properly configured, restart the service and check its status.

    # systemctl stop arcgisportal.service
# systemctl start arcgisportal.service
# systemctl status arcgisportal.service
    Note:

    To prevent a service from producing too many threads and consuming all server resources, systemd v228 and later included in SLES12 SP2 and later set the maximum number of threads to be created at 512. Users on SLES12 may need to enable and raise this limit if it is a heavily used system. To enable and raise this limit, as root user, uncomment and edit the following line in the arcgisportal.service unit file before deploying it to the /etc/systemd/system folder: # TasksMax=512

  5. End the root user session.

  6. Reboot the operating system and verify that Portal for ArcGIS restarts properly.

Operating systems that support SysV

If your operating system supports the use of SysV to bootstrap and manage processes, follow these steps to configure Portal for ArcGIS to start with the operating system:

  1. In a command shell, switch to root user.

  2. Copy the <Portal for ArcGIS installation directory>/framework/etc/arcgisportal shell script to the appropriate supported Linux distribution-based locations provided below:

    • RHEL: /etc/rc.d/init.d/

    • SUSE: /etc/init.d/

  3. Change the directory to the applicable init.d folder, and check the arcgisportal script to confirm that root has at least read and run permissions.

  4. Edit the script as follows:

    1. Update the portalhome variable to the Portal for ArcGIS installation directory, for example, /home/username/arcgis/portal.

    2. For RHEL only, add the line below just before # Description: Portal for ArcGIS Service:

      # chkconfig: 35 99 01

    3. Save the edits to the arcgisportal script.

  5. Still as root user, run the following commands to automatically create the links in /etc/rc*.d with the appropriate run levels:

    • RHEL:

      $ chkconfig --add arcgisportal
$ chkconfig arcgisportal on

    • SUSE:

      $ insserv arcgisportal
$ chkconfig arcgisportal on

  6. End the root user session.

  7. Reboot the operating system, and verify that Portal for ArcGIS restarts properly.

<Portal for ArcGIS Installation Directory>\tools\createportal\listadministratorusertypes.bat

Example usage with the utility: listadministratorusertypes.bat [-lf <arg>] or listadministratorusertypes.bat [--listadministratorusertypes <arg>]