Configuring the ArcGIS Web Adaptor

After you install ArcGIS Web Adaptor, you must configure it to work with an ArcGIS Server site. You'll do this from a configuration web page or from a command line utility that was installed with the Web Adaptor. As a security measure, you can only access the configuration page and command line utility from the machine hosting the Web Adaptor.

When you open the configuration page, the current status of the Web Adaptor is displayed. This indicates if the Web Adaptor has been previously configured. To view the platform type and version number of the Web Adaptor, click About on the configuration page.

For full instructions on how to configure the Web Adaptor, see one of the sections below.

Configuring the Web Adaptor from the configuration web page

To configure the Web Adaptor from the configuration web page that was installed with the software, follow the steps below.

Steps:

1. Open the Web Adaptor configuration page in a web browser. The URL is in the following format: http://webadaptor.domain.com/arcgis/webadaptor.
2. Select ArcGIS for Server and click Next.
3. For GIS Server URL, type the URL to one of the GIS servers in your ArcGIS Server site. This URL will be used to discover all of the machines participating in your site and register them with the Web Adaptor. For example, the URL should take the form http://gisserver.domain.com:6080.
4. Supply a user name and password for an account that has administrative privileges to the ArcGIS Server site. Typically, you'll use the primary site administrator account user name and password you defined when you created the site. If you disabled the primary site administrator account, you'll need to specify an account with administrative access to the site.
5. Choose whether users can administer the site through the Web Adaptor. By default, administration of the site through the Web Adaptor is disabled. Here are some considerations for this option:
   • When administration is disabled, external users are blocked from accessing ArcGIS Server Manager and the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory through the Web Adaptor. Also, ArcGIS for Desktop users are blocked from establishing administrative or publisher connections to ArcGIS Server. Keep in mind that you can still make user connections from ArcGIS for Desktop to ArcGIS Server whether this option is enabled or disabled.
   • When administrative access through the Web Adaptor is disabled, you can access Manager, the Administrator Directory, and connect to the server in ArcGIS for Desktop by using a direct URL to one of the GIS servers in your site. For example
     • To access Manager, use the URL format http://gisserver.domain.com:6080/arcgis/manager.
     • To access the Administrator Directory, use the URL format http://gisserver.domain.com:6080/arcgis/admin.
     • To create a server connection in ArcGIS for Desktop, use the URL format http://gisserver.domain.com:6080/arcgis.
   • If ArcGIS Server is configured with web-tier authentication, you must enable administration through the Web Adaptor. This allows users in your enterprise identity store with publisher and administrator privileges to publish services from ArcGIS for Desktop. When the users in these roles connect to the server in ArcGIS for Desktop, they must specify the Web Adaptor URL.
6. Click Configure to apply your settings to the Web Adaptor.

When the configuration is successful, you will see a list of GIS server machines recognized by the Web Adaptor at the bottom of the configuration page (highlighted in green). You can return to this page at any time to see the list of recognized machines and adjust the Web Adaptor's settings.

Configuring the Web Adaptor from the command line

You can configure the Web Adaptor using the command line utility (ConfigureWebAdaptor.bat) in <ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) installation directory>\WebAdaptor10.2.2\Java\tools.

The available parameters are as follows:

ConfigureWebAdaptor.bat -m <Mode> -w <WebAdaptorURL> -g <URL> -u <Username> -p <Password> -a <AdminAccessEnabled>

• <Mode>—The product mode in which the Web Adaptor will be configured. By default, this parameter is set to server, meaning that the Web Adaptor will be configured for use with ArcGIS Server. If you were configuring the Web Adaptor for use with Portal for ArcGIS, you would specify this parameter as portal.

• <WebAdaptorURL>—The URL of the Web Adaptor that you want to configure from the command line. This is the same URL that would be used if you were accessing the Web Adaptor's configuration page in a web browser. If the Web Adaptor was installed on a port other than the default of 80, you'll need to specify the port in the URL.

• <URL>—The URL to one of the GIS server machines in your ArcGIS Server site. This URL will be used to discover all of the machines participating in your site and register them with the Web Adaptor.

• <Username>—The user name of an account that has administrative privileges to the ArcGIS Server site. Typically, you'll use the primary site administrator account you defined when you created the site.

• <Password>—The password of an account that has administrative privileges to the ArcGIS Server site. Typically, you'll use the primary site administrator account you defined when you created the site.

• <AdminAccessEnabled>—Indicates if ArcGIS Server Manager and the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory will be available through the Web Adaptor. As a security measure, this parameter is set to false by default. To enable administrative access, set this parameter to true.

Example: ConfigureWebAdaptor.bat -m server -w http://webadaptor.domain.com/arcgis/webadaptor -g http://gisserver.domain.com:6080 -u siteadmin -p secret -a false

Legacy:

In 10.2 and prior versions, you were required to append /server to the end of the Web Adaptor URL parameter, for example, -w http://webadaptor.domain.com/arcgis/webadaptor/server. At 10.2.1 and later versions, this is no longer required.

After configuring the Web Adaptor

Now that your Web Adaptor has been configured for use, there are a few important items you should consider below:

Adding or removing GIS servers

If you add or remove GIS server machines from your site, it takes the Web Adaptor one minute to recognize the changes to your site. If you want the Web Adaptor to immediately recognize the added or removed machines, you can reconfigure it by following the instructions above.

Installing multiple Web Adaptors

You can provide different web entry points into your ArcGIS Server site by installing multiple Web Adaptors. You may be motivated to do this to make your site more highly available to clients, provide support for legacy applications, or allow publishing and administrative access to specific users in a highly secure environment. For more information, see Deployment scenarios.

Multiple Web Adaptors can be installed on the same machine at the same time or the installation can be spread across separate machines. If you want to install multiple Web Adaptors on the same website (port), they need to use different names. For example, two Web Adaptors named arcgis cannot exist on the same website. If you want multiple Web Adaptors with the same name, you'll need to install them on separate websites (ports).

Enabling SSL on ArcGIS Server

By default, ArcGIS Server uses HTTP protocol for all communication. If you update ArcGIS Server's communication protocol to HTTP/HTTPS or HTTPS only, it takes the Web Adaptor one minute to recognize the changes to your site.

Legacy:

In previous versions, you were required to reconfigure the ArcGIS Web Adaptor after updating the communication protocol of ArcGIS Server. At 10.2.2, this is no longer necessary.

To learn more about ArcGIS Server's communication protocol, see Securing ArcGIS Server communication.