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Increase license sessions for ArcGIS Pro named users

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09-28-2022 07:10 PM
Status: Open
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MichaelMannion
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Regular Contributor

Per the doc, when using ArcGIS Pro with a named user license:

You can be signed in to ArcGIS Pro on up to three computers at the same time

In practice, I'm finding that "three computers" means three unique combinations of Windows user + computer, such that if I log in as:

  • The same user on a different computer, or;
  • A different user on the same computer

I consume one of these three license sessions.

It is reasonable to put some limit on the number of active sessions for a single named user, to avoid misusing the license. I would submit, however, that the limit of three sessions is too low and should be increased, say to 10.

Use Case

I use my named user license in multiple environments: on computers in my office while developing/testing solutions, and on computers at my customers' offices while deploying and managing those solutions.

The license session limit has not been an issue for me until recently. I'm usually only working on a couple of machines at a time. In fact, I didn't even realize that there was a limit until we made one ancillary architectural change while migrating to a new version of ArcGIS Enterprise - using operating system (OS) authentication with the geodatabase.

Historically, I'd used OS authentication for end users, and database authentication with shared administrative accounts, such as the geodatabase administrator (sde), data owners, and accounts that web services use to access database content. For any one environment (e.g. my office, customer's office) this only required running one ArcGIS Pro instance at a time - I could use OS authentication for my personal user, and add additional database connections to the same ArcGIS Pro instance for the administrative users.

When using OS authentication for all users, however, I have to start a different ArcGIS Pro instance for each database connection. So, instead of having one ArcGIS Pro on my desktop with four connections, I now have four ArcGIS Pros, each with one connection.

This is cumbersome, to be sure; in addition to having multiple ArcGIS Pro instances vying for space on my desktop (and memory, and processor) I have to enter credentials (Run as different user) every time I start an ArcGIS Pro instance as someone other than myself. But the security advantages are worth it.

The three-session license limit, however, adds additional friction because I am constantly having to:

  • Exit ArcGIS Pro sessions that I am actively using in order to free up a license, and;
  • Re-enter credentials for my licensing portal (ArcGIS Online) when I accidentally hit the three-session limit and Pro forces me to log in again

Running multiple ArcGIS Pro instances is unavoidable in this type of environment (or at least impractical to mitigate). By contrast, the concurrent license limit is essentially arbitrary - necessary, I agree, but the actual limit could just as easily be set to two or four instead of three.

Example Workflow

In a real-world example, I'm working on an automated deployment for a new enterprise geodatabase and the data model it hosts. When I run it on my local development environment, I need two ArcGIS Pro sessions:

  • One as sde to enable the geodatabase, and;
  • A second as the data owner to create the feature classes / etc.

(In practice the "ArcGIS Pro session" may be an actual ArcGISPro.exe process, or a python.exe process with arcpy that consumes an ArcGIS Pro license.)

When I switch to my Remote Desktop window to test deploying to the customer's environment, I need these same two license sessions over there - four in total, which exceeds the current license limit of three. Additionally, I'm just starting work on automating deployment for the ArcGIS Server services that expose this new geodatabase, which adds another license session in each environment for sharing to Server (as the OS user arcgis).

Theory and Practice

Now, I should be able to do the workflow described in the preceding section within the three-session license limit - enabling the geodatabase should consume > release a license, followed by the same for deploying the data model and finally publishing the services. These processes are serial so, on paper, I don't need a ton of licenses at the exact same moment in time.

For practical purposes:

  • I usually have one or more ArcGIS Pro sessions running as these various OS users so I can watch what's happening
  • The licenses don't always seem to get released... quickly? properly? I'm not sure.

When I sit down to figure out exactly when my licenses are getting consumed and released, things work fine. Maybe the extra few seconds it takes me to verify the license status in my portal (Organization > Licenses > ArcGIS Pro License activity) is enough to let things settle down? Maybe licenses don't get released properly when processes crash, as opposed to me exiting things cleanly?

Whatever the case, I'm having to regularly now:

  • Exit ArcGIS Pro sessions that I plan to use again in the near future
  • Re-enter my licensing portal credentials
  • Forcibly recover licenses (End session)

The trend is toward increased use of a centralized identity provider, in ArcGIS and IT more generally. Accordingly, this multi-session ArcGIS Pro use case will follow for enterprise geodatabase users.Therefore, I'd ask that the license session limit be raised considerably, say to 10 sessions, to support legitimate work by a single human user connecting as multiple OS authenticated accounts.