Map Service MXD

[MaryM]

Can the MXD the map service was created be deleted and still have the map service work?

[TimWitt2]

Mary,

is there a reason why you would want to delete it?

Tim

[MaryM]

I don't want to delete it.  It is just I had a map service fail and the MXD had been saved to a 10.2 document, when the server is 10.0.  I was not sure if the failure was due to the MXD changing.  Nothing had been published as 10.2.

[StanMcShinsky]

Mary,

When a map service suddenly fails it is not typically a failure of the MXD. If the data changed and the MXD has for example a definition query or symbology that no longer matches the data then you do need to go back to the MXD and fix it and republish it.

-Stan

[StanMcShinsky · Accepted solution]

Mary M​,

If you are talking about deleting a MXD (on your local computer) that you used to create a map service on ArcGIS Server then yes you can delete it if you want. In 10.x when you create a map service it creates a copy of the mxd and puts it into the map service definition on the server. That will stay there until you delete the map service.

One thing that I like to do is keep a folder of all the MXDs that I used to make my map services so in case I need to fix something in the map service I can easily fix the MXD and republish the service.

-Stan

[MaryM]

Thanks, I can rule out the MXD being the cause of failure.