What’s New in Enterprise 10.7.1: Batch Publishing

Beginning with 10.7.1, you can publish layers in bulk from a data store item in the portal. You can also synchronize the data store item and layers within the portal. Any changes in content, feature classes and tables will be updated during the sync. This new functionality will make batch publishing from your database a breeze!

What’s New in Enterprise 10.7.1: Batch Publishing

There have been significant improvements to Enterprise 10.7.1; one I am ecstatic about is the ability to batch publish feature layers and map image layers in bulk from a database data store item. I've included the details for the workflow in this blog post and also created a tutorial video to share this fantastic improvement with you.

As a publisher or administrator, you can now add cloud storage locations, file shares and database connections as data store items in Portal for ArcGIS. When you add an item, it registers the data store with one or more federated ArcGIS Server sites.

You can also synchronize the data store item and layers within the portal. Any changes in content, feature classes and tables will be updated during the sync. Which means I don’t have to keep overwriting my services!

Considering the daunting amount of feature layers in my Enterprise geodatabase, this batch publishing will be a lifesaver!

There are some database administration steps to consider before implementing this workflow.

Database Administration

Ensure the database has a user with only read access to the subset of feature classes and tables when publishing in bulk from the data store item. Specific privileges vary by database, but the user needs the ability to connect to the database and select only the tables and feature classes to be published. Either contact your Database Administrator to implement these steps, or read our help document for more information.

I require the “Log on As” Service account, for ArcGIS Server, to have permissions to the database, this is because I use a Window’s Operating Authentication on my SQL Server Enterprise geodatabase. The local account is for testing purposes, the recommended best practice is to use an account in your organization’s domain.

I have already created an Enterprise database user, using the Geoprocessing tool “Create Database User”, in ArcGIS Pro.

My Portal for ArcGIS utilizes Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA), allowing the SQL Enterprise geodatabase connection with the Windows Active Directory name.

Ensure that your user has privileges to the data. You may check/update the privileges by selecting the Feature Layer-> Right Click -> Manage -> Privileges.

You may add other Users/Roles, for more information click here.

Now I am ready to add the datastore to portal by following the steps in this document.

1. Open the portal and sign in.

   • You must sign in as a member who has privileges to create content and register data stores.

2. From the My Content tab of the Content page, click Add Item and click A Data Store.

   • It is important to note that the portal user should have privileges to create content and register data stores. 

Click “Choose File” and browse to the database connection file (.sde) you want to register. 

I used the connection I created in Pro, the default location would be: C:\Users\ademedeiros\Documents\ArcGIS\Projects\ProjectName\database.sde

You will be prompted with two options:

1. Same as publisher database connection
   • If your clients and the federated servers will access data in the same shared folder, leave the default setting, “Same as publisher folder path”.
2. New Connection
   • If you have duplicated the data in two different file shares and want clients and the ArcGIS Server sites to reference different file shares, choose “New path” under Server folder path, and type the path to the second file share.

When the process finishes, you will notice that the database gets automatically registered in your server. Notice that you cannot edit nor delete the registered database in Server Manager.

This is now managed by the portal. Select the database in your content -> Settings -> Scroll to the bottom. If you require to update your password, you are required to perform the update in this page. Also, if you wish to delete the registered database, you will need to click “Edit Servers” then unregister the federated server before you can delete the registered database.

Batch Publishing

Now I am ready to batch publish my services, I followed the steps located in this document. 

Things to Note:

1. You must be the owner of the data store item to publish layers in bulk from it.
2. You must be a member of a role that has privileges to create feature layers in bulk from a data store item and publish server-based layers.
3. The time to finish publishing varies on the amount and the Enterprise environment.

After Publishing

When the publishing finishes, one feature layer item and one map image layer item are created for each accessible feature class and table in the database.

These layers reference the data in the database; the data is not copied to another location. If the data store item accesses an Enterprise geodatabase, each feature class or table that contains metadata will result in a feature layer that contains metadata. There is also a “Sync Layers” button on the page that will update your services and add new ones if there are new layers in your Enterprise geodatabase. Read more in this document. 

Things to Consider 

There are some extra steps once the publishing has been completed, for example:

1. Editing enabled on feature services for my users. 
2. Sharing the service to either: public, organization, or to groups. 
3. This process defaults to the shared instances pool (new at 10.7). If I know a published service will be popular, I will dedicate the instance in the pool.

If you want to know more about shared instances, read this blog post.

There is a lot more features to check out in Enterprise 10.7.1, be sure to check it out and happy batch publishing!