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Installing Portal for ArcGIS

The steps below guide you through the Portal for ArcGIS installation process.

Note:

If you're upgrading to 10.8.1, see About upgrading Portal for ArcGIS for more information.

Preparing to install Portal for ArcGIS

  1. Verify that your site meets the minimum system requirements.
  2. Log in to your machine as a user with administrative privileges.
  3. Open the ports as described in Ports used by Portal for ArcGIS.
  4. Close all noncritical applications on your server.
  5. Browse to the downloaded folder containing the Portal for ArcGIS setup or insert the Portal for ArcGIS media into the appropriate drive to automatically start the setup program.

You are now ready to proceed with the Portal for ArcGIS installation.

Installing Portal for ArcGIS

  1. Run the setup program from the Portal for ArcGIS download folder or setup media and click Next.
  2. Read the master agreement and accept it, or exit if you do not agree with the terms. Click Next.
  3. Specify the Portal for ArcGIS installation directory. The Portal for ArcGIS installation directory is for the portal's software components. Click Next.
  4. Specify the portal's content directory. The content directory stores content installed with the portal as well as user-generated content.
    • After installation, you can change the account that is used to run Portal for ArcGIS. For more information about the account and how to change it, see The Portal for ArcGIS account.
    • If Portal for ArcGIS has been installed previously, you can only choose to use the existing content directory if it is a local directory. If the existing directory is from a shared network location, you cannot specify it in the setup. Instead, you can configure your portal to use the existing content directory after the installation has completed. To learn more, see Changing the portal content directory.
  5. Specify the account to be used by Portal for ArcGIS to perform a variety of functions in support of the portal. Two options are available: Specify the account name and password and I have a configuration file with the account information generated by a previous run of this setup.

    • The first option, Specify the account name and password, allows you to directly specify the account name and password. The account used can be a local account, domain account or Managed Service Account. Keep in mind that the account you specify does not have to be part of the Administrators group. If you use a Managed Service Account, the account must already be configured for your machine. If you use a local operating system account, the account is created automatically if it does not already exist. The default account name is arcgis. The password policy for this account is determined by your operating system and organization's security policy, not the Portal for ArcGIS setup. For more information, see The Portal for ArcGIS account.

      Note:

      For production systems, it's recommended that you use a preexisting account that resides in your domain or active directory and adheres to your organization's security policy. Creating a local account during installation is primarily for the convenience of quickly installing Portal for ArcGIS.

      If you provide a domain account, it must already exist on the domain and must be entered using the following format: mydomain\domainaccount.

    • If you have a portal configuration file generated by previously running the Portal for ArcGIS setup, choose the I have a configuration file option. Browse to the location of the portal configuration file. The Portal for ArcGIS account is automatically configured with account information stored in the configuration file.

  6. Click Next > Install.
  7. When the installation completes, click Finish.
  8. You must also install the Web Styles setup if you want to use a complete set of 3D symbology from Scene Viewer. For additional information, see Scene Viewer requirements.

If you encounter an error during the installation

If you encounter a failure during the installation, you can review the logs to help you troubleshoot the problem. When doing this, first determine if you can access the ArcGIS Portal Directory. If you can, query the logs and review the messages. If not, review the log messages on disk. To access the logs on disk, browse to the logs directory and open the most recent log file (for example, C:\arcgisportal\logs\<machine name>\portal\portal-20150101.095803-8596-0.0.log). If necessary, you can share this information with Esri Support.

If your portal machine has multiple NIC cards or DNS entries

ArcGIS Enterprise can be deployed on machines that have multiple network interface controller (NIC) cards or multiple entries (also called records) in a domain name system (DNS) server. If you installed Portal for ArcGIS on such a machine, you may want to identify the IP address or hostname the portal should use for network communication. This is done by editing an existing file and adding a new file to the portal's installation directory, which, by default, is C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Portal.

Caution:

Perform these steps immediately after installation, prior to creating the initial administrative account and portal site.

  1. Log in to the machine where Portal for ArcGIS is installed. Browse to the <Portal installation directory>\framework\etc folder. Create a file named hostname.properties, with appropriate permissions, in this folder.
  2. Add the following text to the first line of the file, and specify the fully qualified domain name of the intended interface: hostname=interface.domain.com. For example, if you have a machine with two NIC cards or DNS entries (1 and 2) and their interface domain names resolve to P1.mycompany.com and P2.mycompany.com, and you want Portal for ArcGIS to use the second interface for network communication, add this text to the hostname.properties file: hostname=P2.mycompany.com.
    Note:

    In some cases, such as when a host name is the same for multiple interfaces, you should instead specify the IP address of the interface you want ArcGIS Server to use for network communication. The syntax is hostname=<IP address>.

  3. Save and close the hostname.properties file.
  4. Browse to the <Portal installation directory>\framework\runtime\ds\framework\etc folder, and locate the hostidentifier.properties file.
  5. Open the file in a text editor. Remove the comment mark # from the hostidentifier property, and set the property to the IP address of the NIC card or DNS entry you want the portal to use for network communication. For example, to designate IP address 12.34.56.189, the line should read as follows:
    hostidentifier=12.34.56.189
  6. Save and close the hostidentifier.properties file.
  7. Restart the Portal for ArcGIS service on Windows.
    Note:

    When you upgrade your portal to a newer version, the upgrade will reset this hostidentifier.properties file to its default contents. You must add the appropriate IP address back in after upgrading.

If necessary, follow the steps to configure other ArcGIS Enterprise software components on machines with multiple NIC cards or DNS entries, such as the following: