Applying an ArcGIS update to a single-machine site

It's possible to download ArcGIS updates onto your EC2 instance and apply them directly to ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Desktop.

To minimize downtime, it's recommended that you apply the update on a copy of your site using a site template. The optional Step 1 below explains how to do this. Once you have applied the update, you can redirect traffic into your updated site.

Use the steps below to update a site only if you are certain that it will stay a single-machine site. If there is any chance that your site will need to expand to include multiple GIS servers, you need to apply the update on two instances and create a site template to launch your final updated site, as described in another topic.

Steps:

1. Optionally, to minimize downtime during the update and test the update on a separate instance, use ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services to create a template of your site. Then launch a new site from the template.

   You'll apply the update to this copy of your site. Once you are ready, you can switch your incoming traffic to the updated site.

2. Install the version of ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder on Amazon Web Services that corresponds to the update you want to apply. Be aware that when you do this, you will not be able to access your sites with an older version of Cloud Builder.
3. Download the updates for ArcGIS for Desktop, ArcGIS for Server, and optionally the ArcGIS Web Adaptor. You can download them directly onto the EC2 instance or you can copy them onto the instance from another machine.
4. Set your ArcGIS Server account password to a known value. By default this password is random, but when you apply the update, you need to enter the password. On Windows you can do the following to set the password:
   1. Open Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Users and Groups.
   2. Right-click the ArcGIS Server account, which is named arcgis, and click Set Password. Then enter a new password for the account.
   3. Open Administrative Tools > Services.
   4. Right-click the ArcGIS Server service and click Properties.
   5. Click the Log On tab and type your new password for the ArcGIS Server account in the Password and Confirm password text boxes. Then click OK.
   6. Right-click the ArcGIS Server service and click Restart.
5. Install the updates in the following order: ArcGIS for Desktop, ArcGIS for Server, and ArcGIS Web Adaptor. Further information about installing the updates is available in the installation guides and the Esri Support website.
6. If your site includes enterprise or workgroup geodatabases, upgrade the geodatabases. For instructions, see the topic for the type of geodatabase you are using:
   • Upgrading geodatabases in PostgreSQL in ArcGIS Server for Amazon Web Services
   • Upgrading enterprise geodatabases in SQL Server in ArcGIS Sever for Amazon Web Services
   • Upgrading workgroup geodatabases
7. If you performed Step 1 to launch your site from a template, switch your organization's address mapping to point at your updated site's URL. If your apps were referencing the site URL directly, you'll need to update any URLs in your apps to incorporate your new Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) address. You can get the ELB address by looking at the Manager URL in the list of site details in Cloud Builder.

   Once you verify that the updated site is working, you can delete your original site and the template you created if you performed Step 1.