Roadmap to Get Started with ArcGIS Enterprise

Question

Hello everyone,

I want to start learning ArcGIS Enterprise, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the documentation. There are many components and topics, and I'm not sure where I should begin or what the best learning path is.

Could anyone share a recommended roadmap or the order in which I should learn the different components? For example, what should I focus on first, and what topics can wait until later?

If you've learned ArcGIS Enterprise yourself, I'd really appreciate hearing how you got started and any resources, documentation, courses, or hands-on exercises that you found helpful.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

ArchitSrivastava · Answer

Hi @MohamedIsmailIssaMohamed,

@George_Thompson , @Pam-Pritchett , and @DerekLaw already shared some great resources.

I would just add that ArcGIS Enterprise is easier to learn if you approach it in layers instead of trying to understand everything at once. There are a lot of components, and it can feel overwhelming at first, but the pieces start making more sense once you understand how they work together.

A learning path that I would suggest is:

* Start with the big picture

Begin by understanding what ArcGIS Enterprise is and how the main components fit together:

* Portal for ArcGIS
* ArcGIS Server
* ArcGIS Data Store
* ArcGIS Web Adaptor

The base deployment documentation is a good starting point:

Base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

* Learn the base deployment first

Before going into high availability, multiple server roles, Kubernetes, Notebook Server, Image Server, or other advanced topics, I would first focus on a standard base deployment.

ArcGIS Enterprise Builder can also be useful for learning what a base deployment includes:

ArcGIS Enterprise Builder | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

* Understand what each component does

Once the base deployment makes sense, I would look at each component separately:

* Portal for ArcGIS: users, groups, items, sharing, licensing, and content management
* ArcGIS Server: services, publishing, logs, directories, and service settings
* ArcGIS Data Store: hosted feature layers, relational data store, tile cache data store, and backups
* Web Adaptor: URLs, access, and how requests are routed to Portal and Server

For Web Adaptor basics:

Introduction to ArcGIS Web Adaptor | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

* Practice publishing content

This is where Enterprise starts to become more understandable. Try simple publishing workflows from ArcGIS Pro and then look at what gets created in Portal and Server.

For example:

* Publish a hosted feature layer
* Publish a referenced map image layer
* Create a web map
* Create a dashboard or app
* Test sharing with users and groups
* Compare hosted data and referenced data

This helps connect the admin side with the user side.

* Learn administration and security

After that, I would move into administration topics such as:

* Users and roles
* Groups
* Sharing settings
* Licenses
* HTTPS and certificates
* Identity stores such as Active Directory, LDAP, or SAML
* Logs and troubleshooting

Managing items:

Manage items | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

Adding members:

Add members to your portal | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

* Learn backup, restore, and upgrades early

I would not leave backup and recovery until the end. Even in a learning environment, it is helpful to understand WebGISDR and what it does.

Backup and restore overview:

ArcGIS Enterprise backups | ArcGIS Enterprise on Windows and Linux documentation

* Then move into architecture and scaling (when you are ready)

Once you are comfortable with the base deployment and administration basics, then I would move into system design topics such as:

* Single-machine vs multi-machine deployments
* High availability
* Load balancing
* Separate server roles
* Cloud deployments
* Storage planning
* Performance monitoring
* Upgrade planning

The ArcGIS Architecture Center is useful for this stage:

ArcGIS system patterns | ArcGIS Architecture Center

So my suggestion would be:

Start with the base deployment, publishing workflows, users, groups, and backups.

Then move into security, certificates, Web Adaptors, logs, performance, high availability, and automation.

ArcGIS Enterprise feels complicated at first because it is not just one application. It is a platform made of several connected components. Learning it step by step makes it much easier.

Hope this helps. I know this is a bit long, but ArcGIS Enterprise has a lot of moving parts, so I thought a step-by-step path might be useful.

DerekLaw · Answer

Hi @MohamedIsmailIssaMohamed,

I wrote a couple of introductory technical articles for ArcUser magazine that might be helpful:

1. ArcGIS for Server 101
2. Portal for ArcGIS 101

They are several years old, but they're still relevant and convey some key technical fundamentals about ArcGIS Enterprise.

Hope this helps,

Pam-Pritchett · Answer

I found Getting to Know ArcGIS Enterprise from Esri Press to be a very helpful starting point. It provides a good high-level overview of the different ArcGIS Enterprise components, how they work together, and the key concepts involved in planning, deploying, administering, and maintaining an Enterprise environment.

It also includes many practical recommendations and helps put the more detailed Esri documentation into context. I would recommend reading it alongside the ArcGIS Enterprise Fundamentals training plan and then using the technical documentation as you begin working with each component.

Best of luck with your ArcGIS Enterprise learning journey!

-Pam