How to access ArcGIS Server Manager on a different network computer

AdrianWelsh · ‎06-01-2016

Hi Everyone,

This may not be a viable option but I wanted to hear the ideas of the GeoNet first. I have ArcGIS Server (Standard Workgroup 10.4) installed and licensed on a local computer on my company's local area network. I can get to the server manager on this computer by going to https://localhost:6443/arcgis/manager/site.html .

How can I access this server manager from another computer on the same network? I know the PC's local IP address and have tried all sorts of combinations of accessing this from another PC but have had no luck. I can also see the PC's files by typing in \\and the IP address, etc.. Is this sort of thing possible?

Thanks!

JonathanQuinn · ‎06-02-2016

It sounds like the firewall would be a good thing to check. If ports 6080/6443 aren't open between your machine and the machine where Server is installed and running, you won't be able to connect to Manager or the Admin endpoint through 6080/6443. Can you reach the REST endpoint through 6080/6443? Do you have the web adaptor installed, and if so, can you reach the REST endpoint through the web adaptor? If you can, that'd again point to a firewall problem.

AdrianWelsh · ‎06-07-2016

Jonathan Quinn,

I didn't think of actually opening the port. That did the trick [for the most part]. I am able to see the server manager and such now. I followed these directions to open the port:

How to Open Ports: 13 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

and under "Specific local ports" I typed in 6443. Also, I learned that 6443 is for https while 6080 is for http (Ports used by ArcGIS Server—Installation Guides (10.4.1) | ArcGIS for Server )

Ok, now for my dumb question. Is it safe to assume that if I do not have an actual web server, when I publish my map service and put in on a place like AGOL, then I can only see this service when I am on my local network? The only place I can see my REST service now is here: https://192.168.0.126:6443/arcgis/rest/services/11203_Server_Test/MapServer

But computers outside my network cannot see this. Please let me know if there is a way that I am not thinking about.

Thanks again.

JonathanQuinn · ‎06-07-2016

Great! I'm glad that's worked out. Not a dumb question at all, you do somewhat have a web server, as 6080/6443 are running in a web server themselves. You're right, though, if you do not have an externally facing web server, then only you or people within your network can see your services even if you put them in a public webmap on AGOL. If you want people outside of your network to view your services, you should work with your IT staff to install the web adaptor, (or use a reverse proxy), on a public facing web server.

AdrianWelsh · ‎06-07-2016

Oh, interesting. There is a lot to learn in the server world...

Since we don't really have IT, it's basically me, sort of...

How do you know which web adaptor to install (IIS vs. Java EE)? I'm guessing it's IIS, but not certain. Our ArcGIS Server is basically installed on a machine that will be running all the time and is hooked up to internet as well as the LAN. Nothing more, nothing less.

JonathanQuinn · ‎06-07-2016

Yeah, definitely can go down a rabbit hole pretty quick.

If you're on Windows and you can enable IIS, you should use the IIS web adaptor, (it actually enables it for you, depending on your version). If you were on Linux or were using another web server like WebLogic or Tomcat, you'd use Java, but IIS should work for you.

AdrianWelsh · ‎06-07-2016

Jonathan,

I ran through the setup, it installed all the necessary Windows IIS stuff, then did the ArcGIS IIS stuff. It appears to be installed and configured correctly since it seems happy.

Though, I am unsure what 'public facing server' address to type in.

I tried http://meridmain-south/arcgis/rest/services/ but this likely doesn't go anywhere since there isn't a domain extension in it. I tried toying around with the instructions here: About the ArcGIS Web Adaptor—Installation Guides (10.4.1) | ArcGIS for Server

Accessing URLs with the Web Adaptor installed

After installing and configuring the Web Adaptor, the URLs that you use to access your services will change. Below are some examples of URLs that would change after installing the Web Adaptor:

Services Directory (REST web services)

Without the Web Adaptor: http://gisserver.domain.com:6080/arcgis/rest/services.
With the Web Adaptor: http://webadaptor.domain.com/arcgis/rest/services. For example, if the machine hosting your Web Adaptor is named wa with the domain myorg.net and your Web Adaptor is named arcgis, you'll access the Services Directory using the URL http://wa.myorg.net/arcgis/rest/services.

But I couldn't figure out how to make my combination work in order to have it be public facing. What kind of web address do I need to use in order to make this public facing?

JonathanQuinn · ‎06-07-2016

You'll need to make sure there's some way for requests outside of your organization can get into your network. Unfortunately, the web adaptor doesn't do this for you. I think you have two options, either start searching for "how to make a public web server" in Google, (which may turn up results like this one or this one), or look into our Amazon AMI's, which are already hosted on a machine that is publicly accessible. Here's a somewhat old blog on the topic.

AdrianWelsh · ‎06-08-2016

Jonathan,

That's some interesting and semi-complicated stuff. I'll have to get with my guy who deals with the WiFi routers in order to make this happen. I believe my company wants to go the route of making a public web server versus cloud services like Amazon.

I read through that main article that goes into detail on how to make this happen but I guess I am not clear on will the end result will be. Will I eventually have a dedicated IP address that I can 'reference' or put into a web browser that will essentially pull up that computer's data? And with that IP address, I will be able to remotely access the server software, etc?

Thanks again!

JonathanQuinn · ‎06-08-2016

So I'll be honest and say I don't have much experience with making public web servers, but I believe the general idea would be that once you set up port forwarding, you'll have a public IP address that you can use to access internal resources when you're outside of your network. Then, you'll look into assigning a domain name to your IP address, (for example http://meridman-south.com). This article might provide some clarity, but this is probably best handled by the guy who sets up your WiFI routers or your ISP. Perhaps someone with more knowledge in this area will cross this thread and provide more insight.

RebeccaStrauch__GISP · ‎06-08-2016

I also don't have much experience doing the actual "public access" part of a web server (we use IIS) as far as the IP/domain-name go. I also don't know enough about the differences between the ArcGIS Server Workgroup Standard and ArcGIS Enterprise (which I have access to), but once you have you IIS working, I suggest setting up the web adapters and have all access thru that, and NOT directly to your ArcGIS Server.

About the ArcGIS Web Adaptor—Installation Guides (10.4.1) | ArcGIS for Server

Also, you typically what to turn off external (i.e. web adapter) admin access...If I recall, you do that when you are actually setting up the adaptor. .I typically set up two webadaptors, and not with the default arcgis name. I have one for services that will be fully public, and another for those that will be secure and will be accessed with an SSL cert. Then getting into the proxies is a whole other issue.....especially when you are trying to use them with AGOL and OpenData ...it may be no one else needs this, but to explain better, this is the idea I submitted, fwiw https://community.esri.com/ideas/12119 Proxies in general confuse me...and I don;t think I am alone.

You may also want to look thru ArcGIS REST API the security section.

Much of that you can test before actually making it public, and you maybe already have.