Resulting URL after registering web adaptor is server CNAME and not public-facing website domain

MKF62

I have a single website in IIS on our server machine. I understand that when registering the web adaptor, it automatically chooses that website since it's the only one available. When I register the web adaptor though, I wind up with a resulting rest service URL using the CNAME of the server instead of the public-facing web domain like I would expect. For instance, these are my results:

 

Instead of the https://CNAME/webadaptorname/rest/services URL, I was expecting https://www.mywebsite.com/webadaptorname/rest/services. 

 

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter as it registers successfully and I can still reach the rest service by replacing the CNAME in the URL with the public-facing website domain, but in a past set up, I have seen that resulting URL being a public-facing website and not the server name. How would you generate the URL that way? Or would it only generate that way if you had more than one website in IIS and you had to specifically choose which to register the web adaptor with?

Scott_Tansley

I don't think you've really got an issue here.  Let's say you have a machine that is called:

• https://iismachine.internal.domain.com

If you use a default install of IIS then IIS will respond on:

• https://localhost   (assuming you're on that machine)
• https://iismachine  - and of course
• https://iismachine.internal.domain.com 

All of them are 'valid' but not what we may actually want.  So in our internal DNS we may create an entry called gis.internal.domain.com if this references the IP of iismachine then you can add the following as a valid name, appended to the above list of three bullet points:

• https://gis.internal.domain.com  

If you want to expose this externally then you'd need to create external DNS entries as well as all the firewall/NAT rules etc.  This entry may be called gis.domain.com, which would mean the above website would additionally be available on:

• https://gis.domain.com 

However, this would not be available internally unless you have split DNS allowing you to reference it.

Typically, my clients have split domains and so the only address we ever want to use is the:

• https://gis.domain.com 

address.  This gives us a nice clean presence.  However, internally the other addresses will still work unless you additionally configured the Host Name property in the web site bindings.

Typically when I configure the web adaptor, I am (have to be) logged on to the IIS server.  When I go to configure the web adaptor, I will open the browser and enter the full name of the website that I want to use into the URL bar.  After the installer has worked and the config page opens (localhost), use the external name instead.  Don't use localhost or the following: 

• https://iismachine.internal.domain.com/server/webadaptor/server

into the browser to perform the configuration I use the intended name of the website in the browsers URL Bar:

• https://gis.domain.com/server/webadaptor/server

 

Note if the Web Server is not on the AD it may not have access to DNS, and so you may have to update the hosts file for the above to work.

When you do use the above URL in the URL bar, the response from the web adaptor configuration will come back as:

• https://gis.domain.com/server/rest/services

If it doesn't, then someone's been playing with your OS/AD/DNS.  The above 'should' work no matter what, and from here on in, that should be the only address you use.

Note that in the past for a standalone ArcGIS Server, I've actually had multiple CNAMEs working against that IIS site.  I would not recommend attempting that for a federated ArcGIS Enterprise build, and to be honest I'd just standardise on one name in any circumstances in this day and age anyway.

Hope you sort it.  My feeling is the weirdness you're seeing is not ArcGIS related by OS/IIS related instead.