Latest Contributions by MichaelRobb

Hi,  Could you elaborate more on why you would want to have the app superseed an administrator level role?  when you say 'trying to engineer a spcecific user behaviour', what would the behaviour be? I know that by design, any admin or owner of data will superseed any setting in a UI development regard.  just like the table editing ability: https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/faq-why-is-the-table-widget-editable-when-allow-editing-000033940  ... View more

side note: @JonathanQuinn wrote:  A multi-machine server site will also work, but you need a shared location for the config-store and directories. This introduces a single point of failure  if you use a multi-connected NAS device, (copper/fiber/other), a network share is not a single point of failure. ... View more

Thanks for the explanation. To address this, thoughts about allowing admins to configure an option to enable this feature? When Enterprise is behind a firewall in a corporate setting, the risks you mentioned are not applicable. Instead, users are frustrated because their machines are cluttered with downloaded PDFs, requiring additional clicks to access them. ... View more

Yes, this is the machine with the ArcGIS Monitor Server.  As per the instructions set by ESRI, I turned 'off' during install.   here is the control panel >> Programs list.     ... View more

I've been running red lights since 2009 (kidding of course) -  technically 100% possible.. neither are 'legal'.  ESRI and Google relationship dissolved some time ago. Neither allow either to mix their products since 10.3. next up:  how to scrape tiles for free!  After that:  using Geocoders in batches for free! ... View more

10.9 is not ideal as 10.9 is a 'short release'.   it would have to be 10.9.1 ... View more

Hi Jonathan, Great to hear from you. I guess the reason why i do not say portal is HA is really due to me losing the battle of that argument with corporate EAs.  HA means all components can work actively, not that 'part' of it fails over.  Yes, the web adaptors can both work, portal itself can as well.  what can not do HA is the darn PosgreSQL. which makes Portal software not HA.  Content directory is not a challenge as one can set up content directory on a NAS which inherently has HA built into it.  typically three network channels (fibre/cable) with a complex RAID. so no problem there. Correct, OS patching has different schedules for each of the machines I had setup, including the License server and the FO license server, pairs of the AGS servers, one of each portal and Web servers. all through an NLB, all using VIPs.  The corruption occurred when the VM team had patched and rebooted one side, and begun patching the other, but the patch was small enough that the VM restart cycle time was shorter than the (4 minutes) it takes for Portal to replicate over... it was all over at this point.  I am aware that newer portal versions have reduced this time... to maybe under two minutes. (which comes to another point, not able to configure Active Directory LDAP to a VIP, only IPs... (that is for another conversation). Id love to describe the corruption that happened but I don't think there is enough room on this forum . There have been a few cases on this (case #02200912).  Escalated to Redlands without resolve (Esri Case #02377858) I am confident there is corruption within PostgreSQL, but have never had the time to look at this further. I can come by and discuss if you are attending the International Developer Summit.  ... View more

You are correct, it is due to the underlying PostgreSQL technology. Funny, I have another thread response going into details.  I've had to deal with corruption of replication, quite fun. From an architecture standpoint one has to really weigh the benefits vs the risk for enabling active/passive portal for what business wants.  To an EA, HA means all points are HA, otherwise it is not 'ha' even if some components are.  Portal would not classify an Enterprise GIS stack as true HA.  My approach is reduce the amount of single points of failure within cost reason and business benefit. (e.g. SQL always on / HANA inmem HA is by no means cheap and will more than likely be single points of failure).  With my experience, Portal, even at 10.7+ is just too sensitive to monthly OS patches and constant cycles or network traffic disruptions. ... View more

True, except to clarify, Portal is not HA( High -availability).  It is Active/passive. or in ESRI terms Primary/Secondary.  Calls don't load balance, they all go to one side, the set active side.  there is an underlying posgresql replication that occurs when switching. this is not HA.  And one can really bugger it up if you patch the OS lets say and restart and don't allow enough time for the replication across to take place.  True HA, this would not be...(like AGS) ... View more

Jamal, the answer to your question ... View more

ESRI allows you obtain a $64,000+ piece of software by purchasing it through the EDN for $1800.  Sorry to hear that free isn't available to meet everyone's needs.  But hey, never know, maybe ESRI will... good luck! ... View more

Is the Designer available for download to use on-premise?  Or is there a workflow to allow designing and then leveraging on-premise Portal/Enterprise setups that do not have 'external internet accessibility' ? Large organizations such as where I am, do not allow external facing Internet access GIS Enterprise architecture. ... View more

I'd like to comment on the cost.  Eighteen hundred ($1800) is nothing when you look at the benefits you gain from having access to the software, comparing against the production / staging core license costs.  To say it is 'a lot' is you are missing the value completely and focusing on the measly 1800. Having my own dev environment has paid dividends 50x over. Think of it as continuing education costs, slightly more than daily coffee runs that puts you in the elite group.   ... View more