renamed geodatabase server breaking legacy .mxd's

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10-08-2015 11:45 AM
UrsulaGlick
New Contributor

The problem is that I have old legacy mxd's that, when opened, are looking for enterprise geodatabase data on a server that is turned off.  Because the server is turned off, it takes 2 hours or more for those mxd's to even open.

This happened because when we upgraded from windows server 2003 to server 2008, I had to change to a new server name.  So the server hosting our SQL enterprise geodatabase got a new name.  Fixing broken layer links isn't a problem, but waiting 2-4 hours for an mxd to open has been a big problem.
If I leave the 2003 server turned on, with the SDE service off, then the old mxd's will open with broken links, but at least it only takes a few minutes for them to open.  Soon, however, I will have to shut down that 2003 server for good. 

I'm wondering if anyone else has run into this problem and has any suggestions. I suspect this might be more of a network engineer type question but if anyone has any previous experience or advice, at least I'll have something to suggest to our network person.  Thanks.

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MichaelVolz
Esteemed Contributor

My suggestion is to create a script (python) perhaps to get this operation done automatically in a short time frame.  Otherwise, you will always be stuck with that 2 hour delay.

Does it also take 2 hours to use the Set Data Sources tool in ArcCatalog that can be used to update data sources?

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4 Replies
MichaelVolz
Esteemed Contributor

My suggestion is to create a script (python) perhaps to get this operation done automatically in a short time frame.  Otherwise, you will always be stuck with that 2 hour delay.

Does it also take 2 hours to use the Set Data Sources tool in ArcCatalog that can be used to update data sources?

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UrsulaGlick
New Contributor

Thanks Michael.  I hadn't known about the Set Data Sources tool so I just tried it and I think it will work.  It takes maybe 10 minutes for the dialog to open from ArcCatalog but that's not too bad.  I really prefer your python suggestion though which led me to this post: Changing Data Source for numerous .MXD's

I think that will be the best solution overall.  Thanks!

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MichaelVolz
Esteemed Contributor

Let me know if you need any help with the scripting, although I know other users have supplied their entire simple script to achieve your objective (Just do some keyword searching through geonet).

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BillFox
MVP Frequent Contributor

Another option is to change your DNS entry for that server to the loopback IP 127.0.0.1 which will force any user's mxd files to fail immediately - no waiting

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