Publishing Services From Two Servers

JD1016 · ‎11-21-2022

Hello,

We currently have two physical servers, one of which will be retired soon. This server is currently supporting our published services being viewed through ArcGIS Online. I've installed ArcGIS Server, Web Adaptor, and Data Store 10.9.1 on the new server and created corresponding publishing events to match what is currently running on ArcGIS Online. Eventually, we will be swapping out the old server for the new one in the coming weeks.

Instead of doing a disconnect and connect causing basically a shut-down of all AGO services for awhile, I wondered if there was a less obtrusive way to go about it.

Is it possible to go into Map Viewer, "Add Layer from Web" (An ArcGIS Server Web Service) from my new server to an existing AGO application thereby beginning to swap out layers that point to the old server for the new server?

I hope that makes some degree of sense.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.

Jeff

berniejconnors · ‎11-21-2022

Jeff,

I answered a very similar question from you a few weeks ago. We have done similar upgrades several times. To handle the switch over from the old servers to the new servers we use our proxy server / firewall. We have a great network admin team that handles this for us so I do not know all of the details. But, in a nutshell, this is my understanding of how it worrks. All of our incoming traffic passess through our proxy server and it directs the traffic to the appropriate server on the inside of our firewall. All we do is change the proxy server so traffic to old_server/arcgis/rest/services is redirected to new_server/arcgis/rest/services. You always want to avoid changing the URL to your services.

Bernie.

JD1016 · ‎11-21-2022

Unfortunately, the REST URL will change from gisserver2 to gisserver03 for us.

That's what brought me to the question of whether it would be possible for both servers to add web services to an existing web map while taking out the redundant services from the old server. A kind of swap if you will.

berniejconnors · ‎11-21-2022

That is unfortunate that your map service URLs will change. Before your next upgrade you should make changes to your network infrastructure so you can maintain your map service URLs.

The ArcGIS Online Assistant can be used to update the map service URLs used in a web map. Give it a try here - https://ago-assistant.esri.com/

Bernie.

JD1016 · ‎11-21-2022

Thank you for that link Bernie! I was unaware that the ArcGIS Online Assistance could actually revamp the entire REST URL. I had thought of it more as an HTTPS and HTTP inspector. That could actually be used to modify all the URL's to each and every web map. Excellent!

I have a table included in each of my services that is linked to a relationship class to bring up assessor information. The URL is pretty straight forward...but it ends in a number after MapServer/109. Do you happen to know where I would I find the URL for this table?

JD1016 · ‎11-29-2022

Hi Bernie,

I have a follow-up question regarding "timing".

Would I modify the URL's "before" or "after" we switch to the new server?

I've accessed ArcGIS Online Assistant and I see all my URL's leading to the old server and began to wonder whether those URL's would still be illustrated or essentially blank once we switch over to the new server.

Thanks.

Jeff

berniejconnors · ‎11-29-2022

Jeff,

If you use @Scott_Tansley 's advice and use your DNS entries to redirect the traffic to the new server then you will not need to modify the map service URLs in your web maps. If that is not possible and you must edit the URLs in your web maps I would recommend:

Prepare your new ArcGIS Server and re-publish all of your map services on the new server. Make sure all of the map service names are identical between the old and new servers.
At this point you have all of your map services duplicated and running independantly on two servers. Your web maps are still using the map services on your old server.
Use the AGOL Assistant to update the map service URLs for all of your web maps.
After all of the web maps have been updated use ArcGIS Server Manager on your old server to stop all of the map services - go to "Site > Machines" and stop all of the machines in your cluster.
Now test all of your web maps and web apps. If you find a map layer that will not load it is likely because you did not update the map service URL or you made a typo when updating the map service URL.

Bernie.

JD1016 · ‎11-29-2022

Bernie,

It appears I am at least ahead of the game. I have re-published all my map services on the new server and the names are identical right down to the folders.

Excellent directions as always, Bernie. I appreciate your help and taking the time to write up the information for me.

Jeff

berniejconnors · ‎11-21-2022

You should be able to find it in your REST Services Directory. Here is an example from our REST Services:

https://geonb.snb.ca/arcgis/rest/services/GeoNB_DNR_NBHN/MapServer

Bernie.

JD1016 · ‎11-21-2022

Perfect. Thank you, Bernie! You always teach me something.

This is not necessarily the answer to the question I posed, but using ArcGIS Online Assistant should get me there without having to re-add web layers which is a plus in my book.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Jeff