Major architectural changes were introduced into ArcGIS Server at version 10.1. Therefore, if you're upgrading to 10.8 from 10.0 or earlier versions, keep the following guidelines in mind. If you're upgrading 10.1 or a later version to ArcGIS Server 10.8, the following guidelines do not apply to you. Instead, see Existing ArcGIS Server users to review a list of common upgrade questions and links to topics that provide full upgrade instructions.
If you're ready to upgrade to 10.8 from 10.0 or earlier versions, begin working through the Migration checklist.
Upgrade approaches
The easiest way to upgrade from version 10.0 of ArcGIS Server is to install 10.8 on a new machine or set of machines. This allows you to go back and reference your existing apps and service properties while you're creating your new ArcGIS Server site. It also minimizes downtime because you can test the new site and immediately redirect traffic to it once you're ready.
The other approach, upgrading a machine in place, requires some downtime while you uninstall the 10.0 software, install 10.8, redeploy your services (which is not automatic), and update your apps. An in-place upgrade requires you to take careful notes about your service configurations before you uninstall. The upgrade checklist for ArcGIS Server 10.0 and earlier contains a list of essential properties you should record and files you should back up.
If you must perform an in-place upgrade from 10.0, it's recommended that you practice on a development server or on a virtual machine before you attempt the process on your production server.
ArcGIS Server and services
Preserving your server URL
By default, the ArcGIS Server 10.8 site exposes its web services through port 6443 and uses a site name of arcgis. The services you create will include port 6443 and arcgis as part of the service URL. For example:
| ArcGIS Server version | URL example |
|---|---|
10.0 and earlier | http://gisserver.domain.com/planners/rest/services/MyMapService/MapServer |
10.8 | http://gisserver.domain.com:6443/arcgis/rest/services/MyMapService/MapServer |
If you want to preserve your 10.0 URL with a later version of ArcGIS Server, you should install ArcGIS Web Adaptor. ArcGIS Web Adaptor connects ArcGIS Server with your enterprise web server, allowing you to configure a URL for your site that matches your version 10.0 deployment. For more information, see About ArcGIS Web Adaptor.
Migrating services
Services are not automatically migrated from version 10.0 to later versions. The migration path for these services is to re-create them using the newer version. In recent versions, items that you attempt to publish are put through a more rigorous analysis process to make sure they are ready to be exposed on the server in an efficient way. Although completing this analysis process can take time, it will help you to adapt your services to the various changes that were introduced at 10.1 and later versions. You will also likely discover ways that you can improve the performance of your services.
Migrating map and globe caches
Map caches that you created in ArcGIS Server 10.0 and earlier versions can be used in later versions, with the exception of multilayer caches, which are not supported after version 10.0. If you have a multilayer cache, you should rebuild it as a series of separate fused caches.
As of 10.5, globe caches are no longer supported.
Use the following sequence of steps to migrate a map cache:
- On your new ArcGIS Server site, create a server cache directory that references the folder holding your 10.0 cache. For instructions on creating a server cache directory, see Creating a server directory in Manager. Alternatively, you can move your 10.0 cache into your existing server cache directory. All ArcGIS Server sites are created with at least one server cache directory.
- Use the File > Share As > Service wizard in ArcMap to start creating a service with the same name as the existing cache. When you reach the Service Editor dialog box, stop and go on to the next step. Do not click Publish yet. If your existing cache is named with an underscore, that means you need to create the service in the ArcGIS Server folder, following the pattern <folder name>_<service name>.
- On the Caching tab of the Service Editor dialog box, modify the Cache directory property to point to the migrated cache directory that you registered in step 1.
- On the Caching tab of the Service Editor dialog box, modify the sliders for the minimum and maximum cached scales so they include all the scales for which you have existing tiles.
- In the Service Editor, click Publish to publish the service.
Migrating caching scripts
If you performed map or globe cache creation and updates through geoprocessing scripts, be aware that the parameter order, names, and data types in many tools in the Caching toolset changed at 10.1. You should carefully examine the geoprocessing tool reference topics and examples to understand how to update your scripts.
Migrating code to server object extensions (SOEs)
At 10.0 and earlier versions, many developers accessed ArcObjects by making a local (DCOM) connection through the Web ADF. These local connections to ArcGIS Server are not available beginning at 10.1. Instead, you are encouraged to develop server object extensions (SOEs) and expose them as REST web services. Your GIS services enhanced by the SOEs can be displayed in the ArcGIS Services Directory and used through the ArcGIS Web APIs.
For more information on developing SOEs, see What is a server object extension?
Migrating existing SOEs
As mentioned in the previous section, SOEs that rely on ArcGIS Server local connections are incompatible with 10.1 and later versions and must be refactored to act as REST or SOAP web services.
If you developed a REST or SOAP web service SOE in 10.0 or earlier versions, you must build or rebuild it with references to 64-bit libraries before the SOE can be used with a later version. You must also package your SOE as an .soe file so it can be deployed. The IDE templates for SOEs included with ArcGIS Server can do this packaging. You will find instructions in Migrating a Java server object extension to 10.8 and Migrating a .NET server object extension to 10.8.
Upgrading secured deployments
ArcGIS Server does not attempt to automatically migrate security settings from previous versions. This is because ArcGIS Servercannot discern enough information about a previous installation's security configuration to guarantee a complete migration of security settings.
Security is already enabled when you install ArcGIS Server, with anonymous users being allowed to use your services by default. You can sign in to Server Manager at any time and specify the user and role stores that you want to use for security. You can then apply more restrictive permissions on your services. For more information, see Configuring ArcGIS Server security.
Migrating web apps
ArcGIS Server Manager is solely focused on hosting and administering services. It does not build web apps. If you want to build a GIS web app without having to write code, you can use the ArcGIS Enterprise portal or ArcGIS Online. These now include interactive app builders that allow you to design a web app by pointing to and clicking the features you want, similar to the way you built web apps with Server Manager in earlier releases.
The Web Application Developer Framework (ADF) that shipped with earlier versions of ArcGIS Server has been deprecated, and developers should use the ArcGIS API for JavaScript when writing new web apps. Printing, editing, and other tasks previously accomplished through the ADF are now readily available using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript.
Common upgrade questions
This section lists questions you might have when migrating and suggests possible solutions. If you don't find your question here, you can also search for articles on the Esri Support center.
In what order should I upgrade different ArcGIS components? If ArcGIS Desktop is on the same machine as ArcGIS Server, does that affect the order?
If ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server are installed on the same machine, everything must be upgraded in one event. If ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server are spread out among multiple machines, you can upgrade different ArcGIS components in stages. For example, you could follow the steps below:
- Upgrade a few ArcGIS Desktop clients. After confirming the upgrade process was successful, upgrade all ArcGIS Desktop clients.
- Upgrade ArcGIS Server.
Should I upgrade my operating system at the same time I upgrade ArcGIS Server?
ArcGIS Server is a 64-bit application and requires a 64-bit operating system. If you are currently using a 32-bit operating system, you'll need to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system before you can install ArcGIS Server.
If you are unsure whether or not your operating system is supported with ArcGIS Server, see the system requirements.
When I create the ArcGIS Server site, can I reuse the server directories I used in earlier releases, or should I type a new path for my server directories?
When you create a site, you'll be asked for the root location of your server directories. You can specify a new location to have empty directories created for you, or you can point to a location that contains server directories from earlier releases.
If you reuse your previous server directories, use your web server management software to remove the virtual directories that were associated with your server directories in earlier releases. ArcGIS Server handles directory virtualization for you beginning with version 10.1, so you do not need your old virtual directories.
If your server directories contain map caches in the exploded storage format, be aware that it could take awhile to create your site. The site creation process applies permissions for the ArcGIS Server account on the cache folders, and this can take a long time with large exploded caches.
My SOC account from earlier releases already has permissions to my data folders. When I install 10.8, can I reuse that account as the ArcGIS Server account?
The 10.0 and earlier versions of ArcGIS Server required you to create an account called the SOC account and grant it permissions to all data folders. If you already have an SOC account and its permissions in place, you can specify it as the ArcGIS Server account. This can reduce or eliminate the reassigning of permissions you need to perform during migration.