How to deal with retired or discontinued map services?

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01-06-2021 08:35 AM
berniejconnors
Occasional Contributor III

I manage an ArcGIS Enterprise system that provides about 80 map services for public consumption.  We have thousands of anonymous users every month.  Our PROD servers are currently running 10.2.2 but we are in the process of upgrading to 10.7.1.  For a variety of reasons we have retired a few map services and this has created several minor issues for us:

  • our users are still using web maps, MXDs, etc., that still reference the retired map services
  • our ArcGIS Server log files contain numerous SEVERE errors for the retired map services

Here are two samples from our ArcGIS Server log file:

logmessages.PNG

I would like to know how other ArcGIS Server administrators deal with retired map services and how do you notify your users of retired map services.  Do you publish a list of retired map services to the web?  Do you have other suggestions?

I have considered asking our network admin to use our proxy servers to block incoming requests that reference the retired map services and, if possible, to also log the blocked requests so we can review and monitor activity on the retired map services.  Any suggestions on this idea?

I am also wondering if the web adaptors could be used to help filter retired map service requests before they reach ArcGIS Server.  Thanks in advance for your replies and suggestions.

 

Bernie.

 

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berniejconnors
Occasional Contributor III

I received 8 replies when I posted this question on LinkedIn.  I received 0 replies on GeoNet.  I guess I know where to ask my questions in the future.

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6 Replies
berniejconnors
Occasional Contributor III

I received 8 replies when I posted this question on LinkedIn.  I received 0 replies on GeoNet.  I guess I know where to ask my questions in the future.

JoshuaBixby
MVP Esteemed Contributor

@berniejconnors, interesting, I didn't see this thread until you came and added your comment/solution.

For context, GeoNet moved to a new platform a couple months ago, and I think people are still getting used to how to operate on the new system.  I was a GeoNet Launch Champion on the old platform and became an MVP on that system, and I know I am still getting my bearings in the new system.  There were some features in the old system that I heavily relied on for my day-to-day activities that don't have a clear replacement on the new system, and so my activity level overall has dipped while I make adjustments.

Context/background aside, the success of GeoNet for users varies quite a bit by space/place.  Some places have more engagement from both Esri staff and GeoNet users, and I think ArcGIS Enterprise has lower from both.  I think part of that is the more specialized nature of ArcGIS Enterprise administration, i.e., there is simply a lower user base than desktop products, but I also personally feel it is partly because the engagement from Esri staff is lower in this place.

JoshuaBixby
MVP Esteemed Contributor

My other comment in this thread was more about GeoNet itself, but I wanted to respond to the question.

Firstly, I feel your pain, truly.  The fact that ArcGIS Enterprise logs SEVERE errors for services that aren't even published, and there is no way to change that behavior, is annoying.  At best, it should be a WARNING if the service isn't actually published, and a SEVERE if the service is published but not starting or some other issue.

The organization I work for addresses these issues either at the Web Adaptor level or firewall level, depending on the system.  We manage a list of rules to drop certain URLs so our ArcGIS Server logs don't fill up with meaningless SEVERE errors.

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berniejconnors
Occasional Contributor III

Joshua - thanks for the input.  We are also planning to use our firewall to keep requests for retired map services from hitting ArcGIS Server and landing in our log files.  But first we have to give our users a grace period where we notify them that a map service has been retired by placing a message in the map data / map service itself.  Our plan is to create a rectangle that covers our territory and label it with a message:

MXD for retired map service.MXD for retired map service.

Bernie.

JoshuaBixby
MVP Esteemed Contributor

Interesting idea about creating the message within the service contents, I can't say I have ever gone that far.  We usually just place announcements through the typical channels, and then one day the service goes dark. 

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berniejconnors
Occasional Contributor III

Joshua,

      because we publish our map services to the public we don't have any "typical channels" to reach all of our users.  So we have to make extra effort to get the "retired" message in front of our users where they will see it - in their maps.  We have not implemented this yet but this is part of our plan for retiring map services.

Bernie.

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