topic Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible." in ArcGIS Online Questions

Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

TSWCD_GIS — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 19:40:30 GMT

I'm going through my normal routine of taking some SDE data and savings an offline service definition, loading it into ArcGIS Server Manager, and then adding the REST URL to AGOL as a hosted layer. I've done this dozens of times with no issue, but now today when I drop the REST URL into the new item URL, I get back an error "Service does not exist or is inaccessible." and I'm not able to move forward. If I use a URL from a previously created hosted layer I get the same error, despite it setting up fine previously. All of my other hosted layers are visible in AGOL without issues. Does anyone have an idea of why this specific one might be a problem? Thank you!

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

DebapriyaPaul — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 23:24:42 GMT

Hi @TSWCD_GIS ,

A few questions to help us narrow down the issue,

Is the service secured?
If the service is secured using web-tier authentication, is it added to the list of Trusted servers under ArcGIS Online Organization settings?
Is the issue specific to a service from ArcGIS Server, or reproduces when you try to add any ArcGIS Server service to ArcGIS Online as an item?

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

TSWCD_GIS — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:52:05 GMT

Hi @DebapriyaPaul ,

1. Yes

2. Yes it is on our list of trusted servers in the security section of AGOL.

3. If I try to set up a service based on a service definition file that has worked previously, I am getting the same error. Could it be a setting changed on our server unrelated to ArcGIS?

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

DebapriyaPaul — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:04:53 GMT

Thanks for sharing these details.

Is the workflow to create a service definition file in ArcGIS Pro > upload it to Server Manager to publish a service > add the service URL to ArcGIS Online as an item?

Does the issue appear to be specific to secure services? Are you able to add any other services (public) from the same site to ArcGIS Online as an item?

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

TSWCD_GIS — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 21:20:20 GMT

@DebapriyaPaul

I just tried setting up both a secure and public (available to everyone setting in Server Manager) service. Both gave me the error.

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

DebapriyaPaul — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 23:33:38 GMT

Thanks for confirming, @TSWCD_GIS . The issue that you are experiencing is not specific to a type of service (public or secure).

As the behavior is the same for any ArcGIS Server URL in your scenario, it could be a network/firewall issue where the ArcGIS Server site is not externally available for ArcGIS Online to communicate with. Can you access the ArcGIS Server URL from a device or network outside your organization's firewall (e.g., access the ArcGIS Server REST Services Directory on your phone's data connection)?

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

TSWCD_GIS — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 21:36:12 GMT

@DebapriyaPaul

I worked with our server consultant today to see if we could rectify the issue. One thing he did mention is that they did do some firewall upgrades a few weeks back, but nothing was modified with it and confirmed there are no changes that would restrict access. Together we went through ArcGIS Server functionality and they asked me to say that we have confirmed that URLs are available externally outside the firewall, and this issue with ArcGIS Online not allowing the URL is the only occurrence where we are being blocked.

Do you have any other thoughts as to why this might be occurring? Thank you!

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

TSWCD_GIS — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:15:55 GMT

@DebapriyaPaul

The server consultant did find this in the logs today when we were looking at things, maybe it would help find a resolution:

SEVERE Dec 29, 2025, 1:27:56 PM Error executing tool. Get Cache Info Job ID: je0a35d640d3e40298cf311ee76009a4d : ERROR 000735: Server Cache Folder: Value is required System/PublishingTools.GPServer

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

DebapriyaPaul — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:57:51 GMT

Thank you for confirming. Would it be ok to share any test service URL with me to investigate the behavior? Please feel free to share it over email (dpaul@esri.com) to test it out at my end.

The error message you shared in your previous post states that the ArcGIS Server Cache folder is inaccessible while executing a job/tool that generates cache for a service. It might be unrelated to the issue you are experiencing in ArcGIS Online.

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

TSWCD_GIS — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 20:56:23 GMT

This has been solved after some emails with ESRI. If others have a similar issue, mine turned out to be the work VPN. We are still narrowing down the why, but in the meantime I can drop from it and publish services without issue. Thank you for the help @DebapriyaPaul !

Re: Creating a server hosted layer results in "Service does not exist or is inaccessible."

DebapriyaPaul — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 21:32:46 GMT

Thanks for posting an update! I'm glad that we were able to investigate the issue.

We went through a few steps to narrow down the behavior,

Confirmed the behavior occurs regardless of whether the service is secured or public
Verified it is not specific to a single ArcGIS Online account
We successfully added a sample service from a different ArcGIS Server site without errors
Verified that ArcGIS online URLs are not being blocked by the firewall

We confirmed that the workflow was successful on a laptop outside the network, which pointed us to the issue being specific to connecting to the VPN.

The network team can provide more insight into why the VPN is triggering the behavior. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any follow-up questions!