When configuring the Web Adaptor for Portal for ArcGIS, the setup process requires a Portal administrator account. In our environment, 2FA is required on all ArcGIS accounts, and we ran into an issue where Web Adaptor configuration failed with the following error:
Unable to configure Portal for ArcGIS with the web adaptor. Please make sure that the Portal for ArcGIS machine is running and that the account specified has administrative privileges to the Portal.
We were only able to complete configuration after temporarily disabling 2FA on the admin account used for setup. Once 2FA was turned off, the Web Adaptor configured successfully, and we could re-enable 2FA afterward.
This occurred even when using Esri’s built-in 2FA, not an external identity provider such as SAML or a third-party MFA solution, which makes it a bit unexpected.
Why This Matters
Having to temporarily disable 2FA adds some friction to what is otherwise a straightforward setup process. It is also not obvious from the error message that 2FA is the underlying issue, which can make troubleshooting confusing.
As more organizations require MFA or 2FA by default, it would be helpful if this step could be completed without needing to turn it off, even briefly.
Suggested Improvement
It would be helpful if Web Adaptor configuration could support admin accounts with 2FA enabled, including Esri-managed 2FA. Some possible options could be:
Supporting a 2FA prompt during setup
Using a token or purpose-built setup credential for configuration
Providing clearer documentation or messaging that explains the current limitation
Even clearer messaging in the configuration error or documentation would be a helpful improvement.
