Using ArcGIS Pro Outside the Intranet

[RogerDunnGIS]

We are using ArcGIS Portal 10.9.1 to handle software licensing for ArcGIS Pro 2.9.5.  I am the GIS Administrator and was the one who set up the Enterprise licensing .json file and all.  Anyone on our intranet that is authorized to use Pro can do so when they're hard-wired to the intranet.  However, these same users cannot log in to Pro when roaming for events like conferences and consulting, etc.  We get the error:

"ArcGIS Pro failed to connect to the License Manager for your Licensing Portal.

"Please contact your organization's License Administrator to ensure that your ArcGIS License Manager is running and accessible."

Well, I'm the License Administrator and don't know what I did wrong.  The server where the License Manager is running is behind our firewall while Portal is exposed to the Internet.  I presumed that since the machine where Portal is installed could see the server where License Manager is installed, that we'd be good.  Portal should authenticate and authorize users.  But am I to understand that machines running ArcGIS Pro also need to be able to see the License Manager server?  Do I need to expose that server to the Internet?

[DavidPike]

Not an expert opinion, but this page https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/3.0/get-started/overview-of-named-user-licensing-in-arcgis-enterpr... seems to indicate that the Portal validates the license can be granted and then passes a certificate/key back to ArcGIS Pro (user).  Pro then directly contacts the license server to check out a license using that authorisation key.  In that scenario I would say that yes, access to the License Server is required via your Intranet/VPN etc.

[Than_HtetAung]

Hi @DavidPike ,

Our organization is under the same situation. Refer to your link this image, Is there any reference specific instruction/help document we can give to our IT for setting up the http tunnel server.

With this configuration, when we generate the license file in MyEsri, should host name to input be remain as fqdn machine name of ArcGIS License manager?

Best Regards,

[DirtDogRoj]

I see the following text in the web page you pointed to:

In ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Pro licenses are stored in the ArcGIS License Manager application on a server behind the firewall.

[Anonymous User]

Not sure if this applies to ArcGIS Pro but when I was an ArcMap user I could open ArcGIS Administrator and "Borrow" licenses for up to 30 days.

[RogerDunnGIS]

It's true that ArcGIS Pro can borrow a license on a laptop (to go to a conference), and it does so for 30 days. During that time the same named user cannot use ArcGIS Pro on their workstation.  And while this is a suitable workaround for the situation at hand, the documentation does say that Portal users can check out licenses remotely and, for us, that is not working.  I posted here in an attempt to figure out why.  What I can do is log a ticket with Esri and post the answer here afterwards.

Thank you, everyone, for hopping on this thread and sharing what you know.  That's what communities should do and I'm glad to be a part of it.

[MarcusAndersson]

Hi Roger,

I'm basically in the same situation here. But to add to complexity, it's only for some users/on some locations/networks. See: Re: Users are unable to get ArcGIS Pro licenses de... - Esri Community for full details.

Did you log a ticket with ESRI? And what was the response if so? Thanks!

[RogerDunnGIS]

Checking out a license remotely requires VPN software.  With the VPN, you're making your computer believe it's on your work network, and the network behaves similarly.  You can see network drives, access internal database servers, etc.  If you VPN into work before opening ArcGIS Pro, only then can it see your ArcGIS License Administrator and verify your named user license.

Now, I'm no professional when it comes to networks, ports, tunneling, handshakes, and all that; there is perhaps some setup that allows remote use of Pro, but I haven't figured it out yet.

I did log a ticket with Esri Support, and that's what I took from it.

[MarcusAndersson]

Hi!

Thanks, yes VPN is configured and connected. 
Can’t see that is has to be though (if the licensing machine is exposed to the internet for instance) but that seems like a weird setup so I guess I see what they mean by that..

Oh, well, thanks for the response!

[RogerDunnGIS]

When setting up ArcGIS Portal as the licensing engine, you have to generate a JSON file on my.esri.com, right?  That's where you specify which user types, how many, which extensions, how many, and all that.  Part of that process is to put the MAC address and port of your License Administrator in there.  That's why I think computers outside an intranet can't check out a Pro license.  I thought those parameters were there so that Enterprise itself could be authenticated, but I think it goes beyond that.