How to use ArcPy without installing ArcGIS

[TanishqTanmay]

I have the ArcGIS Pro license and have it installed on my computer. I run all python scripts on my University's High-Performance computing (HPCC) server which is a cloud based platform. Now, I want to install ArcPy module on my server. Is it possible to do that?

[DanPatterson]

you can't, Pro must be installed

[JoabelBarbieri]

This is so stupid. You have to install a monster (Pro) to use arcpy in a server. Absurd! You could just sign in or point to lic srv and be done with it...Esri being Esri

[Robert_LeClair]

From the Esri Technical Support FAQ - "Can ArcPy be used without installing ArcGIS Pro?" - "It is possible to use ArcPy without having ArcGIS Pro installed on the machine. However, another application must be installed to be able to use ArcPy, such as ArcGIS Server. ArcPy is a site package that is part of the default Python distribution in the arcgispro-py3 Python environment with ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Server. If neither ArcGIS Pro nor ArcGIS Server is installed locally on the machine, ArcPy cannot locate its license."

[Robert_LeClair]

@DanPatterson is correct.  The ArcPy package is part of the default Python distribution that is provided by ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Server.  You can learn more about it here.

[Brian_Wilson]

When you try to install the arcpy module on a machine without Pro, it stops with "unable to locate a valid ArcGIS product" etc.

@Robert_LeClair Can you install a licensed copy of arc pro on the server to get the DLLs and then run arcpy there? Obviously Pro is a Windows product so this would not work on a Linux server. But what about Windows?

[Robert_LeClair]

I don't see why not.  If you're installing ArcGIS Pro on the server, then the ArcPy modules are installed there as well.  Then you can run your code on the server.

[VenkataKondepati]

Agreed — I’ve run into the same limitation.

Today, ArcPy is tightly coupled to a local ArcGIS Pro or Server install and a valid license, which makes cloud-native and CI/CD use cases unnecessarily hard. Decoupling ArcPy into a headless, service-friendly library with a separate license model would unlock true cloud execution, scalable automation, and modern DevOps workflows.

That shift would be a big win for enterprise GIS teams trying to move beyond desktop-bound processing.

[JoshuaBixby]

The answer to this need used to be ArcGIS Engine, but that product was never migrated to ArcGIS Pro runtimes, and now Esri is retiring it this March.