Administering your Amazon EC2 instance with Windows Remote Desktop Connection

Once you've built a site with ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services or you've launched an Amazon EC2 instance running ArcGIS Server, you can log in and begin configuring data and services on the instance. The instructions below explain how to log in to a Windows instance using Remote Desktop Connection.

Caution:

Before you attempt these steps, you must open port 3389 on the Amazon security group used by your instance. For instructions, see Opening an Amazon EC2 security group for ArcGIS Server. You should also confirm with your system administrator that your computer is allowed to make Remote Desktop connections to machines outside your organization's firewall—specifically, machines on the Amazon subnets.

Steps:

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console and click Instances.
2. Find your instance in the list and make sure it is started.
3. In the instances list, click your instance and examine the detailed information that appears below. Note or copy the name given for Public DNS.
4. Right-click your instance and click Get Windows Password.
5. Click Choose File and browse to the key pair file (.pem) that you specified when you created the instance.
6. Click Decrypt Password and save or note the password in a secure place.
7. Right-click your instance and click Get System Log. This page shows the status of your instance. You should not continue with the remaining steps until about 5 minutes after the message "Windows is ready to use" appears in this log. If you used Cloud Builder to build your site, you should also wait until your site appears in Cloud Builder's list of running sites.

   Note the following about using the system log to look for "Windows is ready to use":

   • You may have to repeatedly open the log to check for this message.

   • The time it takes for this ready message to appear can vary based on the responsiveness of Amazon EC2. Factors affecting response time may include the time of day, your location, and the health of the Amazon EC2 zone and region you are using. Expect to wait at least 10 minutes.

   • If the message does not appear after a long period of time (for example, 30 minutes), Amazon is experiencing a problem starting the instance. Consider terminating the instance and launching a new one.

8. About 5 minutes after "Windows is ready to use" appears in the system log, open All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection.
9. In the Computer text box, enter the public DNS name that you copied or wrote down previously and click Connect.
10. Choose to connect using the Administrator account.
11. Type the administrator password you retrieved earlier in these steps.

    You are now logged in to the instance and should see the Windows desktop.

12. Change your Administrator password.
    1. In Windows, open Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management.
    2. Expand Local Users and Groups > Users.
    3. Right-click the Administrator account and click Set Password.
    4. Type the new password twice to confirm, then click OK.
    Caution:

    It is strongly recommended that you follow the above steps to change the initial Administrator password.

    Your randomly generated Administrator password is not always going to be available for retrieval through the AWS Management Console. After stopping and starting the instance, Get Windows Password no longer shows the password retrieval dialog. Instead, a dialog appears informing you that no password was found.

13. Authorize ArcGIS for Desktop.
    1. Open ArcGIS Administrator by clicking Start > ArcGIS > ArcGIS Administrator.
    2. Click the Desktop folder and choose a licensing option. If you choose a Concurrent Use license, supply the address of a license manager that is visible to the instance. If you choose a Single Use license, click Authorize Now and proceed through the wizard.

    There is no separate step to authorize ArcGIS for Server, since you were already required to supply your license information when you launched the instance.

14. Open ArcGIS Server Manager and choose to create a new site. You can now create a site, move data to your instance, and begin publishing services.