Deploying an ArcGIS Server site on VMware
You can deploy ArcGIS Server in a virtualized environment using VMware. Esri officially supports this with vSphere and vCenter versions 4 and 5, and you can always check the ArcGIS 10.3 for Server system requirements for the most recent list of supported versions. If you’re attempting to use other virtualization technologies, the general steps below still may be useful.
You deploy an ArcGIS Server site with VMware in much the same way that you deploy ArcGIS Server on physical hardware. Both Windows and Linux are supported. The workflow is:
- Create a VMware template with ArcGIS Server installed.
- Launch a virtual machine (VM) from your template, rename the machine, and reboot it.
- Create the ArcGIS Server site on your VM.
- Optionally, launch additional VMs and join them to the site.
- Configure services, applications, and optionally the ArcGIS Web Adaptor (which integrates your site with your enterprise web server).
This document describes some items of special note when deploying ArcGIS Server on VMware.
Creating a VMware template with ArcGIS Server installed
A VMware template is a master copy of a virtual machine (VM) that you can use to create and provision additional virtual machines. When you deploy ArcGIS Server on VMware, you first need to build a VMware template that has ArcGIS Server installed. The steps for building a template are found in the VMware documentation.
When building the template, keep in mind the following:
- You should install ArcGIS Server and authorize it, but you should not create the ArcGIS Server site on the template. You will create the site once you launch your actual VM.
- 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 Server is configured to start automatically when the operating system starts. On Linux, you need to configure this manually.
The ArcGIS Web Adaptor is compatible with virtualized environments and does not need any special configuration to run on VMware or connect to a site running on VMware. It's recommended that you install the Web Adaptor on your organization's existing web server machine if possible.
Launching a VM from your template and renaming the machine
Use your template to launch one VM that has ArcGIS Server 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. For example, instructions for how to rename a machine using Windows Server 2008 are available on the Windows Server Community website.
Renaming the machine does not affect ArcGIS Server or the ArcGIS Server account.
At this time you can add the machine to your network, if necessary, so it can reference your file shares, web server, and other GIS servers.
Building your ArcGIS Server site
You’re now ready to access ArcGIS Server Manager on the VM and click the Create New Site button to create the ArcGIS Server site.
If more than one GIS server will participate in the site, use shared network paths when you specify the configuration store and server directories. In this scenario, the configuration store and server directories should be on a highly available file server. If your configuration store is lost or corrupted beyond the possibility of recovery, you will need to create a new site again.
After you’ve launched your first VM and created the site, you can optionally launch additional VMs and join them to the site using the Join Site button that appears when you first open Manager.
At this time you can also configure any services that should be running on your site. Optionally, connect the Web Adaptor to your site and deploy and update any web applications that reference your services.
Backing up and recovering your site
An advantage of a virtualized environment like 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 just 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 would use VMWare templates to preserve your data and other machine configurations, then use the ArcGIS Server backup utility to preserve your site configuration. In the event of a failure, you would use the VMWare template to recover your machines, then run the restore utility to recover your site configuration. See Backing up and restoring your ArcGIS Server site configuration to see 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.