Publishing a layer that requires access to a different database

[Joey_NL]

Hi there,

We have a database which only the ArcGIS enterprise server can connect to, it's not accessible from the user's PC. Similar to the situation described here.

Publishing a hosted layer fails because at staging and publishing it fails to make a connection. The connection is however correctly registered to the enterprise server data store.

We have a workaround to publish from a VM which is permitted to make a connection to the database. Is it possible to reference a saved data store on the server without having to make connection to it from ArcGIS Pro?

This would be possible if the data was in a file geodatabase and you could see that through the 'Replaced' tab in Service Workspace

Giving access to the database from a users' PC is not possible. As far as I can see, updating this through CIM is only possible once it's been published, and would still fail from a user's PC instead of the VM.

Thanks in advance!

[MarceloMarques · Accepted solution]

@Joey_NL 

Question: Is it possible to reference a saved data store on the server without having to make connection to it from ArcGIS Pro?

Answer: as you described the machine running ArcGIS Pro needs to be able to connect to the database, then the layers are added to the map in Pro, and then Pro can publish the service to ArcGIS Server.

If the machine running ArcGIS Pro cannot connect to the database, then the workaround for this situation is to publish the service via ArcGIS Server Manager, see link below for more information.

Publish services using Server Manager—ArcGIS Server | Documentation for ArcGIS Enterprise

I hope this helps.

[Joey_NL]

Hey @MarceloMarques ,

Thanks so much for your reply, completely agree with you, however the StageService function fails because the database isn't accessible and so it's not possible to generate an *.sd file.

When calling MapServiceDraft we are setting offline: True and the *.mapx file connects to a valid shadow database.

I read that it is possible to create a connection-neutral *.sd using 'No available connection' when working in different environments but I can't see any way to do this in CreateSharingDraft or StageService.

Is there something here I'm missing? Let me know if I can share anything to help expand further.

[MarceloMarques]

@Joey_NL - Indeed, it will fail if the machine that you are using cannot connect to the database, see if you can use a machine that can connect to the database, otherwise I am not aware of any other workaround. You can open a ticket with Esri Technical Support to ask if there are any other workarounds for your situation.

[Joey_NL]

Just to add to the message above, have also ensured that the data sources are registered on ArcGIS Server (11.2) with the publisher and server database connections.