Skip to main content

Deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on virtualized hardware

All components of ArcGIS Enterprise are fully supported on virtual environments as long as they run on supported operating systems. When running third-party applications with ArcGIS Enterprise, such as relational databases, the application must also be supported in a virtual environment. Check the third-party vendor for its virtualization support.

The following virtualization environments are known to perform well with ArcGIS Enterprise and its components:

Inclusion on the list above does not imply an endorsement or higher level of support. A lack of inclusion on the list above does not imply that an environment or specific version is not supported; it means that it is not an environment or version that Esri or its partners have explicitly tested.

Virtualized hardware in your infrastructure is different from cloud infrastructure, which is managed by a cloud provider. When using a virtualized environment, you still own, operate, and maintain the hardware infrastructure on which the virtual machines run. You may choose to use virtualized hardware to increase resource efficiency, improve disaster recovery capabilities, or test a new operating system, all while maintaining your own infrastructure on-premises. ArcGIS Enterprise, including stand-alone ArcGIS Server sites, can also be deployed on cloud infrastructure, which transfers responsibility for powering and maintaining physical infrastructure to your cloud provider.

Best practices for virtualized environments

When setting up your site in a virtualized hardware infrastructure, there are some best practices to follow to optimize stability and performance.

  • Ensure that enough resources are available or directly assigned to the host hypervisor. This includes CPU and memory resources. If you need specific guidance on how many resources to leave available and how to assign those resources, consult the product documentation for the hypervisor provider.

  • Because some ArcGIS Enterprise components can be very disk intensive, ensure that individual virtual machines do not run on the same single physical disk. If possible, use high-performance solid state drives (SSDs).

  • Install and run your ArcGIS Enterprise components in a single virtual network to avoid disrupting communications.

  • For ArcGIS Server sites, it's recommended that you use a few large virtual machines as opposed to many small virtual machines. For example, a single virtual machine with eight CPUs will perform better than four virtual machines with two CPUs each. If you're configuring failover, high-availability, or separate server sites for separate purposes, follow ArcGIS Enterprise system requirements to determine the size of machines in each site.

Deploy on VMware

You deploy ArcGIS Enterprise with VMware in much the same way that you deploy on physical hardware. Both Windows and Linux are supported. The workflow is as follows:

  1. Create a VMware template with the desired ArcGIS Enterprise software installed.

  2. Launch a virtual machine (VM) from your template, rename the machine, and reboot it.

  3. Configure the desired ArcGIS Enterprise components on your VM.

  4. Optionally, launch additional VMs for any additional components you plan to incorporate with your deployment.

  5. Configure services, applications, and optionally ArcGIS Web Adaptor (which integrates your site with your organization's web server).

Sections below describe items of note when deploying ArcGIS Server on VMware.

Create a VMware template with ArcGIS Server installed

A VMware template is a primary copy of a virtual machine that you can use to create and provision additional virtual machines. When you deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on VMware, you first need to build a VMware template that has the software installed. The steps for building a template are found in the VMware documentation.

When building the template, keep in mind the following:

  • Templates should install the desired ArcGIS Enterprise software, but you should not create an ArcGIS Enterprise organization, an ArcGIS Server site, or any system storage using ArcGIS Data Store on the template. You will create those components once you launch your VM.

  • Templates for for ArcGIS Server should authorize the software.

  • Optionally, you can load your GIS data onto the template. This will cause a local copy of the data to be available on each VM that you launch, saving you the time of loading the data. Referencing a local copy of the data on each GIS server can also be a beneficial architecture for performance in appropriate scenarios.

  • On Windows, ArcGIS Enterprise software components are configured to start automatically when the operating system starts. On Linux, you must configure this manually.

Caution:

A known defect has been reported with VMware12.5 causing the ArcGIS Server print service and caching controller to crash. See this Technical Support article for more information.

ArcGIS Web Adaptor is compatible with virtualized environments and does not need any additional configuration to run on VMware or connect to a site running on VMware. It's recommended that you install ArcGIS Web Adaptor on your organization's existing web server machine if possible.

Launch a VM from your template and rename the machine

Use your template to launch one VM that has ArcGIS Enterprise software installed.

When you deploy the VM, it takes the name of the template by default. You should rename the machine and reboot it before you continue. Consult your operating system documentation for instructions on renaming a machine.

Renaming the machine does not affect the installed ArcGIS Enterprise software or operating system accounts used with that software.

At this time, you can add the machine to your network, if necessary, so it can reference your file shares, web server, and other ArcGIS components.

Configure ArcGIS Enterprise components

Depending on the software you installed on the templates, complete the following steps to configure those components in the VM:

  1. Create an organization if you installed Portal for ArcGIS.

  2. Create a server site if you installed ArcGIS Server or an additional capability-based server.

  3. Create a data store if you installed ArcGIS Data Store.

  4. If you are configuring a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, federate the server site and configure a hosting server

  5. Configure any services that should be running on your server site.

  6. Optionally, connect ArcGIS Web Adaptor to your site, and deploy and update any web applications that reference your services.

Back up and recover your ArcGIS Server site

An advantage of a virtualized environment such as VMware is the ease of backing up your site and recovering it in case of a problem. You can use VMware templates to preserve your machine settings and optionally run the ArcGIS Server backup and restore utilities to preserve your ArcGIS Server settings.

If you're working with a single-machine site, you can use VMware templates to back up and restore your site. The backup and restore utilities are not needed.

If you're working with a multiple-machine site, you can use VMware templates to preserve your data and other machine configurations, and use the ArcGIS Server backup utility to preserve your site configuration. In the event of a failure, you can use the VMware template to recover your machines, and run the restore utility to recover your site configuration. See Back up and restore your ArcGIS Server site configuration to learn which items are preserved by the backup.

You should store the backup file .agssite on a machine separate from your site, on a physical server if possible.