In this article
Prerequisites
- Active Azure subscription with appropriate permissions
- ArcGIS Enterprise license files from My Esri
- Familiarity with Azure Portal and basic networking
- SSL certificate for your domain
Overview
This guide walks through deploying ArcGIS Enterprise on Microsoft Azure using a multi-tier architecture. The approach uses Azure Virtual Machines for the core ArcGIS components, Azure SQL for the relational database, and Azure Blob Storage for file storage. This architecture provides high availability, scalability, and integration with Azure’s security and monitoring services.
Architecture
The recommended architecture separates the ArcGIS Enterprise components across multiple Azure VMs behind an Application Gateway load balancer. The Portal, Server, and Data Store components each run on dedicated VMs, with a shared file store on Azure Files. This separation allows independent scaling and simplified maintenance.
Prerequisites
- Active Azure subscription with appropriate permissions
- ArcGIS Enterprise license files from My Esri
- Familiarity with Azure Portal and basic networking
- SSL certificate for your domain
Step 1: Prepare Azure Resources
Start by creating a Resource Group for your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. Within this group, create a Virtual Network with separate subnets for the web tier (Application Gateway), application tier (ArcGIS components), and data tier (Data Store). Configure Network Security Groups to restrict traffic between tiers.
Step 2: Deploy Virtual Machines
Deploy Windows Server 2022 VMs for each ArcGIS component. For a production environment, we recommend a minimum of Standard_D8s_v3 (8 vCPU, 32GB RAM) for Portal and Server VMs, and Standard_E8s_v3 for Data Store VMs. Attach Premium SSD managed disks for optimal I/O performance.
Sizing Matters
Under-sizing VMs is the most common cause of performance issues. Monitor CPU and memory usage during the first month and scale up if either consistently exceeds 70%.
Step 3: Install and Configure
Install ArcGIS Enterprise components in the recommended order: Portal for ArcGIS → ArcGIS Server → ArcGIS Data Store → ArcGIS Web Adaptor. Use the ArcGIS Enterprise Builder tool for guided installation, or silent install scripts for automated deployments. Configure federation between Portal and Server after installation.
Step 4: Configure High Availability
For production deployments, configure a highly available deployment by adding standby machines for Portal and Server. Set up Azure Application Gateway as the reverse proxy and load balancer, with health probes monitoring the ArcGIS health check endpoints.
Troubleshooting
Common issues include SSL certificate configuration errors, firewall rules blocking internal communication, and insufficient VM sizing. Check the ArcGIS Enterprise logs at /arcgisportal/logs and/arcgisserver/logs for detailed error messages. Eagle Technology’s support team can assist with
complex deployment issues.