Common problems and solutions
Note:This help topic contains information about Portal for ArcGIS 10.2 and later versions. Some help topics referenced in this topic have been updated to include new content and are marked with a note highlighting the changes. New help topics referenced below that are specific to a certain version, are marked with a note stating the topic only applies to that version. Some topics featuring workflows that are different from previous versions include legacy notes which link to the previous version of the topic.
This topic lists questions or issues that you might face when working with Portal for ArcGIS and suggests possible solutions. If you don't find the problem you're looking for, you can also search for articles on the Esri Support Center website.
Upgrading to a newer version
- What is the order for upgrading my Portal for ArcGIS deployment to 10.2.2?
- After upgrading to 10.2.2, the portal website does not display correctly or displays an error message. What's wrong?
- After upgrading to 10.2.2, I don't see all of my items, groups, and users in my portal. What's going on?
- When I access the portal website after installing 10.2.2, I see a software authorization error stating that number of registered members in the portal exceeds the maximum number that the portal has been licensed for. How do I resolve this issue?
- Do I need to uninstall my previous version of Portal for ArcGIS before installing Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.2?
- Do I need to reauthorize when upgrading to 10.2.2?
- Do the ArcGIS Web Adaptor and Portal for ArcGIS product versions need to be in sync?
- If I've federated ArcGIS Server with my portal, can I continue to use my federated ArcGIS 10.2 or 10.2.1 for Server site with Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.2?
- I can't log in to the portal website after installing Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.2. What do I do?
- How do I upgrade Portal for ArcGIS if my content directory is on a shared network directory?
Administration
- How do I configure Portal for ArcGIS to be highly available?
- What is the purpose of the initial administrator account? Can I demote it or delete it?
- What is the purpose of the System Publisher account? When is it used? Can I delete it? Does it count as one of my named users?
- How do I connect to ArcGIS Server after federating the server with my portal?
- Why is the option to sign in to Portal for ArcGIS inactive in ArcMap if I am not connected to my network, even though my portal and ArcMap are installed on the same machine?
- When attempting to federate an ArcGIS Server site with my portal, a message displays in the Add ArcGIS Server dialog box stating There was an error communicating with the server. Please check your URL and your credentials and try again.
- Can I rename the machine hosting Portal for ArcGIS?
- When I attempt to open the portal website in Internet Explorer, the website fails to load or a message is returned stating the website could not be displayed.
- When accessing the Portal for ArcGIS website and ArcGIS Portal Directory through HTTPS, it takes some time (up to a minute) for the applications to load in Internet Explorer.
- How do I configure Portal for ArcGIS with my organization's reverse proxy server?
- Can I configure the same ArcGIS Web Adaptor to work with both ArcGIS Server and Portal for ArcGIS?
Your deployment of Portal for ArcGIS and the ArcGIS Web Adaptor may also include a federated ArcGIS Server site with one or more Web Adaptors. The order in which you should upgrade each of these software components depends on if the software is installed on a single machine or spread out among multiple machines. To learn more about how a federated ArcGIS Server site works with Portal for ArcGIS, see About using your server with Portal for ArcGIS.
If you have registered items in your portal from a non-federated ArcGIS Server site, you do not have to upgrade the site to 10.2.2 in order to use the site's services with your portal. Services from previous versions of ArcGIS Server can be consumed by Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.2.
The About upgrading Portal for ArcGIS topic contains the recommended procedure for upgrading your portal deployment in the following scenarios:
After upgrading to 10.2.2, the portal website does not display correctly or displays an error message. What's wrong?
If you notice that the portal website does not display correctly or displays an error message in your browser after upgrading to 10.2.2, you likely need to clear your browser's cache (including cookies). If clearing your browser's cache doesn't resolve the issues, please review the other common questions in this topic.
After upgrading to 10.2.2, I don't see all of my items, groups, and users in my portal. What's going on?
If you notice that all of your items, groups, and users are not available in the portal after upgrading to 10.2.2, you may need to reindex your portal. For full instructions, refer to the answer to What is the order for upgrading my Portal for ArcGIS deployment to 10.2.2?
When I access the portal website after installing 10.2.2, I see a software authorization error stating that number of registered members in the portal exceeds the maximum number that the portal has been licensed for. How do I resolve this issue?
In Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.1 and later versions, the portal's named user licensing model is enforced. You will no longer be able to add more members into your portal than what it is currently licensed for. If the number of members your portal is licensed for is exceeded at 10.2.2, you will see a software authorization error message when accessing the portal website with an account that has administrative privileges. Additionally, users will not be able to create new accounts and members with user or publisher privileges will not be able to sign in to the portal. See Enforcement of named user licensing to learn more about how to resolve these issues.
Yes. You cannot configure a previous version of the ArcGIS Web Adaptor to work with Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.2. The Web Adaptor version must always match the installed version of Portal for ArcGIS.
If you cannot update your current Web Adaptor, you can alternatively install a 10.2.2 version of the ArcGIS Web Adaptor alongside your previous version on the same machine. For example, you can retain your 10.1 SP1 version of the Web Adaptor and install 10.2.2 on the same web server.
For full instructions, see the following topics:
If I've federated ArcGIS Server with my portal, can I continue to use my federated ArcGIS 10.2 or 10.2.1 for Server site with Portal for ArcGIS 10.2.2?
No. For your portal deployment to function correctly, your portal and ArcGIS Server versions need to be the same. If the ArcGIS Server site you've federated with the portal includes multiple machines, you can upgrade your GIS servers at the same time or sequentially. If you have ArcGIS Web Adaptors configured with your ArcGIS Server site, you will also need to update the Web Adaptors to the same version as ArcGIS Server.
If you are experiencing issues logging in to the portal website after installing the latest software update, you may need to clear your browser's cache (including cookies) to log in. This is typically due to leftover information from the previous version of the website being cached in the browser. Before clearing your browser's cache (including cookies), make sure you are attempting to log in with an account that has administrative privileges to your portal.
If your portal's content directory is in a shared network directory, you will not be able to specify it when upgrading. This is because the Portal for ArcGIS service is configured to run under Windows' native Local System account by default. The Local System account cannot access network locations.
Instead, you can configure your portal to use the existing content directory after the upgrade has completed. For full instructions, see Reusing an existing content directory.
If you've already upgraded Portal for ArcGIS and created the initial administrator account, you'll need to follow the steps About upgrading Portal for ArcGIS to reuse your content from the previous version.
Portal for ArcGIS is configurable and supported in a highly available environment. For help in implementing a highly available configuration, contact Esri Professional Services.
After you've installed Portal for ArcGIS and configured it for use, you can access the portal website. At this time you need to provide the name, password, email, and identity question and answer for a new account that you will initially use to log in to the website and administer your portal. This account is called the initial administrator account.
The initial administrator account user name and password are stored by Portal for ArcGIS. The initial administrator is not an operating system account, and it has no relation to the Portal for ArcGIS account. Later, you can specify other accounts as administrators, demote the initial administrator to a member in the publisher or user role, or delete the initial administrator if you choose.
What is the purpose of the System Publisher account? When is it used? Can I delete it? Does it count as one of my named users?
When you first log in to your portal, you'll notice there's already an account named System Publisher (system_publisher). When your portal is configured with a hosting server, the System Publisher account is used to geocode CSV files in the map viewer on behalf of portal users who do not have publisher privileges. For example, if an anonymous user or member in the user role drags and drops a CSV into the map viewer, the geocoding of locations is performed by the System Publisher account on behalf of the user.
If your portal is not configured with a hosting server, the System Publisher account is not used. Instead, any geocoding is performed by the geocoding service you have configured for your portal. If credentials are required to use the geocoding service, users invoking a geocode must enter their credentials in the map viewer.
If you want to disable anonymous users or members in the user role from geocoding items in the map viewer, you can delete this account. Once the account is deleted, only members in the publisher or administrator roles will have privileges to geocode items in the map viewer and publish services. Once the account is deleted, it cannot be recovered. See Removing members for full instructions on deleting the account.
The System Publisher account does not count as one of the named users in your organization. Any other account that you create or add to the portal will count as a named user.
When you federate ArcGIS Server with your portal, the portal's security store controls all access to the server. The users and roles you previously used with ArcGIS Server are no longer valid for accessing the server; instead, you perform all connections to the server using a portal account that has Publisher or Administrator access.
The only exception is ArcGIS Server's primary site administrator account. You can always log in to the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory using this account if you connect directly through port 6080 or 6443. However, you cannot use this account to log in to ArcGIS Server Manager when the server is federated with your portal.
To learn more about how to connect to your server when it's federated with your portal, see Administering a federated server.
Why is the option to sign in to Portal for ArcGIS inactive in ArcMap if I am not connected to my network, even though my portal and ArcMap are installed on the same machine?
ArcGIS for Desktop expects to communicate with Portal for ArcGIS over a network. If you are running both ArcGIS for Desktop and Portal for ArcGIS on the same machine and need to connect while you are offline, select the Support connecting to local portal with no network option when connecting in ArcGIS Administrator.
- Start ArcGIS Administrator on the machine where ArcGIS for Desktop and Portal for ArcGIS are installed, and click Advanced.
- Check the box next to Support connecting to local portal with no network.
- Click Save to close the Advanced Configuration dialog box.
- Click OK to close ArcGIS Administrator.
When attempting to federate an ArcGIS Server site with my portal, a message displays in the Add ArcGIS Server dialog box stating There was an error communicating with the server. Please check your URL and your credentials and try again.
You may encounter this error for the following reasons:
- The Server URL or the Administrator URL you entered for the ArcGIS Server site is incorrect or unreachable. Verify the following:
- If the ArcGIS Server site includes the ArcGIS Web Adaptor, the Server URL entered is the Web Adaptor address, for example, http://webadaptor.domain.com/arcgis. If no Web Adaptor is present, the Server URL is the same as the Administrator URL, for example, http://gisserver.domain.com:6080/arcgis.
- If your organization requires SSL for all communication, use https in the URL.
- The URL includes the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the machine. The FQDN is required.
- The communication protocol of the ArcGIS Server site has been updated to use HTTP and HTTPS or HTTPS only.
- The communication protocol matches that of the portal. For example, if the portal requires SSL for all communication, ArcGIS Server should also be configured as HTTPS only. Conversely, if the portal does not require SSL, the server communication protocol should be HTTP and HTTPS.
- If the ArcGIS Server site includes the Web Adaptor, the Web Adaptor must be reconfigured with ArcGIS Server after updating the site's communication protocol.
- Your firewall allows communication between ArcGIS Server and your portal. For information on which specific ports to open, see Ports used by ArcGIS Server and Ports used by Portal for ArcGIS.
- Web-tier authentication, such as Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA), is disabled and anonymous access is enabled on the ArcGIS Server site. Although it may sound counterintuitive, this is necessary so your site is free to federate with the portal and read the portal's users and roles.
- You incorrectly entered the Username and/or Password:
- Specify the Username of the primary site administrator account that was used to initially log in to ArcGIS Server Manager and administer the server. If this account is disabled, you'll need to reenable it. No other account can be used.
- Enter the Password of the primary site administrator account.
Tip:When you attempt to federate an ArcGIS Server site with your portal, a log of the federation activity is created in the portal content directory (for example, c:\arcgisportal\logs\webserver\portal.<date>.log). It is recommended that you review the messages in this log to help you troubleshoot issues you encounter during federation. You can also share this information with Esri Support if necessary.
For more information, see Federating an ArcGIS Server site with your portal.
When I attempt to open the portal website in Internet Explorer, the website fails to load or a message is returned stating the website could not be displayed.
Be sure the host name in the portal website URL is listed as a trusted site in Internet Explorer. To add your portal's URL as a trusted site to Internet Explorer, open Internet Options. Trusted sites are added on the Security tab. If you are trying to access a portal that is running on the same server as Internet Explorer, add the following as trusted sites:
- http://localhost
- https://localhost
- http://portal.domain.com
- https://portal.domain.com
When accessing the Portal for ArcGIS website and ArcGIS Portal Directory through HTTPS, it takes some time (up to a minute) for the applications to load in Internet Explorer.
By default, Internet Explorer attempts to connect to the Internet when you access HTTPS URLs in the browser. In an environment that does not have access to the Internet, the browser will attempt to connect to the Internet for a period of time, usually one minute. For example, after one minute, the browser will timeout and connect to the URL successfully. This behavior is commonly mistaken for a poor connection, as the browser seems to hang until the timeout value is reached.
To prevent this behavior and allow access to the Portal for ArcGIS website and ArcGIS Portal Directory immediately in the browser, reduce the timeout value on each machine where Internet Explorer is installed. To do so, follow these steps:
- Click Start > Run.
- In the Open dialog box, type mmc and click OK.
- Click File > Add/Remove Snap-in.
- In the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box, select the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in and click Add.
- In the Select Group Policy Object dialog box, click Finish.
- In the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box, click OK.
- Under Console Root, expand Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings and select Public Key Policies.
- Under Object Type, double-click Certificate Path Validation Settings.
- Click the Network Retrieval tab, and enable Define these policy settings.
- Change the Default retrieval timeout settings values to 1 second.
- Click OK.
- Under Console Root, expand Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Internet Communication Management and select Internet Communication Settings.
- Double-click Turn off Automatic Root Certificates Update and select Enabled.
- Click OK and close the console.
To configure Portal for ArcGIS with a reverse proxy server, you'll need to provide some information to your portal about the proxy server. For full instructions, see Configuring a reverse proxy server with your portal.
When I attempt to publish a hosted feature or tiled map service to the portal, publishing fails with the message ERROR 001369: Failed to create the service. Failed to execute (PublishServiceDefinition). Failed to execute (Publish Portal Service).
If the name of the service you attempt to publish contains language characters that do not match the character set configured for the hosting server's managed database, publishing will fail. The language of the characters used in the service name must match the character set configured for the database.
To work around this issue, you can:
- Rename the service to use the same language characters used by the database.
- Reconfigure the database to use a character set that will most commonly be used by publishers.
To determine the character set configured with your database, contact your system administrator. To learn more about how to configure your hosting server with a managed database, see Configuring a hosting server for your portal.
When enabling the Feature Access or Tiled Mapping capability while publishing a hosted service in ArcMap, I'm prompted with a security alert that requires me to verify a certificate.
Being prompted to verify a certificate in ArcMap when publishing a hosted service can be caused one or both of by the following:
- ArcGIS Server is using a self-signed certificate. By default, the server comes preconfigured with a self-signed SSL certificate, which allows the server to be initially tested and helps you quickly verify that your installation was successful. However, in almost all cases, an organization should request an SSL certificate from a trusted certificate authority (CA) and configure the server to use it. This could be a domain certificate issued by your organization or a CA-signed certificate.
- The Administration URL entered when federating ArcGIS Server with your portal uses HTTP instead of HTTPS, for example, http://gisserver.domain.com:6080/arcgis. Alternatively, you can enable administrative access on your ArcGIS Web Adaptor and specify the Web Adaptor's URL as the Administration URL to help alleviate any certificate prompts.
To learn more, see Security best practices.