Why and when to use separate web adaptors for portal and ArcGIS Server?

[Jelle_Stu_PR]

Hi,

I am installing a single-machine deployment of ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8.1.

I am trying to figure out why you want to install separate web adaptors one for Portal and one for arcgis. 

I started off with installing the web Adaptor for ArcGIS Server. I named it arcgis:

Then after setting up the IIS, I re-opened the web adaptor application and configured it for Portal:

As a result Portal is accessed through: domain.host.com/arcgis/home or domain.host.com/arcgis/portaladmin/ 

ArcGIS Server is accessed through domain.host.com/arcgis/manager or domain.host.com/arcgis/rest/services

In the documentation I saw it is usual to install two separate web adaptors so that portal is accessed through domain.host.com/portal/home and ArcGIS Server through domain.host.com/arcgis/manager.

In IIS I have configured the domain.host.com certificate to use the 443 port. ArcGIS Server is accessible through the 6443 port and Portal through the 7443 port.

Why or do you want to install two separate web adaptors and when would the setup as shown in this post be sufficient?

best,
Jelle Stuurman

[Jelle_Stu_PR]

In another post, I read 2 web adaptor is required when using portal accounts using SSO. This will be the case. So, I guess I have to install two separate Web Adaptors. Why does SSO portal logins require its own web adaptor?

[ScottTansley3]

Hi.  Have a read of this:

https://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/web-adaptor/latest/install/iis/install-multiple-arcgis-web-adaptors...

at 10.5 and 10.6 I saw a lot of people using ArcGIS as the context for portal and server and it worked.  At 10.8 it stopped being supported and is a no no.  I think it’s something to do with mine types and crossover/conflict between them.

whatever, it’s a bad choice to put server and portal on the same one.  There are also emerging conventions in this space. The context ArcGIS is used for standalone ArcGIS servers.  Portal is used for portal.  Hosting is used when the first federated server will only be used as a hosting server.  Server is used for the first server that is not hosting, or if you will cram everything onto one machine and hope for the best then also use server as the context.

you should end up with something like:

https://gis.domain.com/portal/home

https://gis.domain.com/server/rest/services

so any prep in IIS will not affect the number of web adaptors, they all share that prep.

Scott Tansley
www.geoworx.co.nz

[ScottTansley3 · Accepted solution]

My apologies, the link I sent wasn't quite the one I wanted to provide.  Have a look here as well:  

https://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/web-adaptor/10.8/install/iis/getting-started-with-the-arcgis-web-ad...

With emphasis, this is the key part of that text:

You can configure ArcGIS Web Adaptor to work with a server site ... or ... Portal for ArcGIS.  ... You cannot configure the same Web Adaptor with multiple components.

There used to be no real concerns with using say 'arcgis' as the context.  From about 10.6.1 it was recommended not to, although one of my clients was using it up to 10.7.1 and it worked fine.  When they wanted to go to 10.8.1, the above link showed that the approach was no longer supported.  I implemented this in a dev environment and it broke.  We ended up having to do a new build of ArcGIS Enterprise at 10.8.1 in a side-by-side configuration.  I strongly recommend heeding the advise in this article and using portal and server as the context names rather than trying to put both on arcgis.  

[Jelle_Stu_PR]

Thanks Scott for your explanation and references to support articles.

Despite the documentation saying you cannot configure multiple components, the setup of 10.8.1 did allow me to do so. Also, I had no issues accessing the Portal and AGS URLs through the same web adaptor name. Although I am reverted it and installed a separate WA for each,  it's intresting to see everything seem to work. SSO login was not set up yet; maybe that is why it still worked?

And just to be clear, are you saying it is better not to use 'arcgis' for the AGS Web Adaptor name, but rather 'server'? Also here I did not seem to have any issues or get any error messages when setting it up.

[Scott_Tansley]

You can literally call the web adapters whatever you want.  So you could have Donald and Duck if you really wanted to.  They’re just conventions.  If people exterior to your organisation are using your system then familiarity is good.

even though you can configure portal and server on a single web adaptor called ArcGIS or Mickeymouse, you’ll find that the subsequent user acceptance testing fails.  

you also need to consider ongoing support.  If the install instructions say don’t do this, and you do it, then don’t expect Esri support to help you downstream.  Think about the long term of your new platform.  

even though it may look cleaner, I’d never use just the ArcGIS (web adaptor context) for portal and server with any of my clients because I want to follow Esri best practices and make sure they’re future ready. 

[Jelle_Stu_PR]

Thanks Scott for clearing it up. I thought already giving it any name wouldn't be an issue. 

I will definitely following ESRI's guidelines.