Set up an ArcGIS Developer Subscription and assign an ArcGIS Pro license

November 19, 2019

Frédérik De Carufel

The ArcGIS for Developers Subscription gives you the tools to enhance your customization capabilities and really unlock the full potential of ArcGIS in your apps. This post is divided in two parts that will provide you with a clear step-by-step procedure to set up your annually paid ArcGIS for Developers Subscription and how to assign the included ArcGIS Pro license.

As a technical support analyst, I often assist customers with setting up their ArcGIS for Developers subscription. There are several steps in the process and it’s easy to miss one of them along the way, so I decided to write this blog. Hopefully, it can clarify the process and make it easier for you so you can get to what matters…coding!

The steps outlined below walks you through the creation of your personal Developer account but more importantly, how to setup your sandbox ArcGIS Online organization administrator account. This additional account will let you invite up to 5 members (3 viewers and 2 creators) to your organization to test the applications you create. Moreover, it is used to provision an ArcGIS Pro license to one of these members.

Often when I assist customers with an ArcGIS for Developers licensing support case, the root cause of the issue is simply not using the right account/username for the right purpose. All paid developer plans have two ArcGIS Online offerings available: a single-user ArcGIS Online subscription and a 5 user ArcGIS Online dev & test organizational subscription. The latter requires some additional setup steps, including setting up an additional account to manage the subscription. As a developer, you may only need the single-user ArcGIS Online subscription. However, if you plan to test scenarios using multiple users, want more credits to use in your testing, or want to leverage ArcGIS Pro, then you must set up the ArcGIS Online dev & test organizational subscription.

This blog post will be divided into two parts:

How to activate your ArcGIS for Developers account
How to assign the ArcGIS Pro license available with your ArcGIS for Developers subscription

Now let’s get started!

Part 1: How to activate your ArcGIS for Developers account

Step 1: Create an account on My Esri (my.esri.com)

Unless you already have an account and just want to renew your subscription, you’ll have to create that account first. Note that only one ArcGIS Developers Subscription can be activated per My Esri account.

Step 2a: Register your ArcGIS Developers Subscription

Once logged into My Esri:

Proceed to the My Organization tab
Click on Licensing. If the Licensing tab is not available, skip to Step 2b.
You can find the ArcGIS Developer Subscription registration in the Developers section (left side of the screen)
Select Developer Subscription Registration and in the Developer Subscription Code field, enter your ArcGIS Developer Subscription (ADS number). This number would have been provided to you by your My Esri administrator or Customer Care.
Click Register

*Note that the information message will not appear for new activations and that you need to turn Basic Mode Off to display the Developers section.

Once successfully registered, you see a new tab under My Organizations, called “Developer”. There you will find your authorizations and downloads for your ArcGIS products available with your ArcGIS Developer Program.

Step 2b: Register your ArcGIS Developers Subscription (alternate steps)

Once logged into My Esri:

Proceed to the My Organization tab
Click on Licensing Forms.
Click the Developer Subscription Registration button

In the Developer Subscription Code field, enter your ArcGIS Developer Subscription (ADS number). This number would have been provided to you by your My Esri administrator or Customer Care.

*Note that the information message will not appear for new activations.

Step 3: Activate your ArcGIS Developer Subscription

Once you have registered your ArcGIS Developer Subscription in My Esri:

Proceed to the Developer tab and click the Activate button. Don’t forget to read the information message displayed on this page. It contains some useful stuff!

*If you return to this page once activation is complete, you will see the Status change from ‘Pending’ to ‘Active’ and the button text will change from ‘Activate’ to ‘Access’.

You will be redirected to the ArcGIS for Developers site to continue the activation process for your ArcGIS Developer subscription. Note that if you attempt to activate with an existing account and receive the message pictured below, you will have to activate a new Developer Account.

Fill in the First name, Last name and Email fields and then click the Send Confirmation Email button.

You will receive an email from Esri Customer Service (service.esri.com). This confirmation email may be directed to your spam or junk folder so make sure to check for it there if you do not receive the email within a few minutes.

Click on the activation link contained within the email. This action should redirect you back to the ArcGIS for Developers website to complete the account creation process.
Provide the requested information on the form and click the ‘Create Developer Account’ button. Consider selecting a username that reminds you that this account is associated with a developer subscription.

Next you should be prompted to do a single-user ArcGIS Online activation. Consider selecting a name that reflects that this is related to your developer account - particularly if you need to differentiate it from any other ArcGIS Online organizational account you may have. Click Continue Activation.

Once successfully activated, you will be able to access your single-user ArcGIS Online developer subscription (1 Creator User Type and 50 credits/month) from the purple banner pictured below.
You may directly log in to your ArcGIS for Developers Dashboard using this link: https://developers.arcgis.com/dashboard

As an optional step, you may now set up an ArcGIS Online Organizational Subscription (Dev and Test). This will allow for testing with up to two Creator user types and three Viewer user types. This will require a new account. Now, if you intend to leverage ArcGIS Pro as part of your ArcGIS for Developers subscription, continue to Step 4.

Step 4: Set up your Organizational ArcGIS Online Account (Dev and Test)

Once you have activated your ArcGIS Developers subscription, you may set up your Organizational ArcGIS Online Development and Test Account.

Navigate to the ArcGIS for Developers (https://developers.arcgis.com/sign-in/) website and sign in using the developer account created in Step 3.

Select the Dashboard tab at the top of the page and then select ‘Setup Organization’.

Fill in the required information and click the Create Organization Admin Account button. Please note, the username for your organizational subscription must be different from the username for your developer subscription. Write down this username information as you’ll need it in Part 2 of this blog.

You may now access your new ArcGIS Online Dev & Test organization by clicking the View Organization link pictured below or by navigating directly to: https://devorg_accountname.maps.arcgis.com

Part 2: How to assign the ArcGIS Pro license available with your ArcGIS for Developers subscription

All paid developer plans (Builder, Professional, Premium, Enterprise) include one ArcGIS Pro license. For a full plan comparison, check out the following webpage: https://developers.arcgis.com/pricing/compare-plans/#extend-arcgis

To assign your ArcGIS Pro license, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the ArcGIS for Developers website (https://developers.arcgis.com/dashboard) and login using your ArcGIS for Developers account. Be sure NOT to use the ArcGIS Online Dev & Test admin account discussed in Part 1 of this blog. If you have successfully setup the ArcGIS Online Development and Test organization, you should see the “View Organization” link on the Dashboard page under Dev & test organization (pictured below). If not, no worries! Simply go back to Part 1 (Step 4) of this blog to set it up. Another hint that this organization setup has not been completed are the words “Sign In”. In either case, follow the link and provide the necessary details to complete this part of the process.

Clicking on the “View Organization” link will redirect you to your ArcGIS Online dev & test organization. Use your ArcGIS Online Dev & Test admin username to login.

2. Under the Organization tab > Overview subtab, note that you have 2500 credits…who doesn’t like extra credits? If you had not set up the organization and opted instead to leverage the single user ArcGIS Online subscription (pictured below) accessible from the ArcGIS for Developers dashboard, you would have only had 50 credits!

3. Under the Organization tab > Members subtab, you can invite up to 4 additional new members, assign roles and manage the current members of your organization.

4. Under the Licenses subtab, you should see your included ArcGIS Pro license as well as all its available extensions. Click the Manage link to toggle on/off the license for a specific user.

5. To download ArcGIS Pro, go to https://developers.arcgis.com/downloads/pro or navigate and login to the Dashboard. Next, click the ‘Download APIs and SDKs’ button and then click the ArcGIS Pro tab. Depending on your plan level, you may also see a ‘Download ArcGIS Pro’ button on the purple banner as well. This is a shortcut to the same download.

Tip: Make sure you log in to the dashboard using your developer account!

6. After successfully installing Pro, you will be prompted to sign in to your portal. Click the “Configure your licensing options” link.

You can also sign in and out by clicking “Sign in” / “Sign out” in the upper right corner.

7. Enter the URL for the ArcGIS Online Dev & Test organization and click Ok.

8. Sign in with the username of the member you assigned the ArcGIS Pro license to.

9. You can now start using ArcGIS Pro! Note that the ArcGIS Online Dev & Test organization is now the active portal. You can manage which Portal you are using under Project > Portals. You can also manage your extensions and take ArcGIS Pro offline (if the user has permission) under Project > Licensing.