ArcGIS Web Adaptor is an application that runs in your existing website and forwards requests to your ArcGIS Server machines. It polls your site at a regular interval to learn which machines have been added or removed. It then forwards traffic to only the currently participating machines. The Web Adaptor forwards requests to the machine hosting Portal for ArcGIS. It is compatible with IIS and Java EE servers such as WebSphere and WebLogic.
When you prepare to expose your ArcGIS Server site to an external audience, you should install the Web Adaptor or implement comparable request forwarding and security technology.
Benefits of ArcGIS Web Adaptor
ArcGIS Web Adaptor provides the following benefits:
Allows you to integrate ArcGIS Server with your organization's existing web server. By including a web server in your site, you gain the ability to host web applications that use your GIS services.
Allows you to provide a single endpoint that distributes incoming requests to the ArcGIS Server machines in your site.
Allows you to expose your ArcGIS Server through your organization's standard website and port. Use the Web Adaptor if you don't want users to see the default port 6080 or the default site name arcgis.
Allows you to block the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory and ArcGIS Server Manager from the view of external users.
Allows you to block ArcGIS Desktop users from establishing administrative or publisher connections to ArcGIS Server.
Allows you to use your organization's identity store and security policies at the web-tier level. For example, if you're using IIS, you can use Integrated Windows Authentication to restrict who enters the portal. You can also use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) or any other identity store for which the web server has built-in or extensible support. This allows you to provide a single sign-on or other custom authentication experience when logging in to use services, web applications, and ArcGIS Server. For more information, see Configuring ArcGIS Server's authentication tier.
ArcGIS Web Adaptor deployment scenarios
The ArcGIS Web Adaptor is platform independent of ArcGIS Server; therefore, the ArcGIS Web Adaptor you deploy does not have to match the operation system platform of your ArcGIS Server site. For example, if you have a site comprised of Linux machines, you can deploy ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) or ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) to work with ArcGIS Server. Conversely, if your portal is running on Windows, you can deploy ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) on Linux to work with ArcGIS Server.
The Web Adaptor can be used in various ArcGIS Server site configurations. For example, in a site with a single ArcGIS Server machine, you can install the Web Adaptor on the same machine as the ArcGIS Server machine, or offload it to a dedicated web server. In a multiple-machine deployment, you can have one entry point into your site by installing the Web Adaptor on a single web server, or you can establish redundancy at the web server tier by installing the Web Adaptor on multiple web servers.
For a detailed description of the different ways you can integrate the Web Adaptor into your existing site architecture, see Deployment scenarios.
Accessing URLs with ArcGIS Web Adaptor installed
After installing and configuring ArcGIS Web Adaptor, the URLs that you use to access your services will change. Below are some examples of URLs that would change after installing ArcGIS Web Adaptor:
Services Directory (REST web services)
Without the Web Adaptor: https://gisserver.domain.com:6443/arcgis/rest/services.
With the Web Adaptor: https://webadaptorhost.domain.com/webadaptorname/rest/services. For example, if the machine hosting your Web Adaptor is named wa with the domain myorg.net and your Web Adaptor is named arcgis, you'll access the Services Directory using the URL https://wa.myorg.net/arcgis/rest/services.
SOAP web services
Without the Web Adaptor: https://gisserver.domain.com:6443/arcgis/services.
With the Web Adaptor: https://webadaptorhost.domain.com/webadaptorname/services. For example, if the machine hosting your Web Adaptor is named wa with the domain myorg.net and your Web Adaptor is named arcgis, you'll access SOAP web services using the URL https://wa.myorg.net/arcgis/services.
ArcGIS Web Adaptor setup experience
ArcGIS Web Adaptor has its own setup and installation guide which is separate from the installations for ArcGIS Server. You must install ArcGIS Web Adaptor on a machine running a web server. This can be a machine already running a ArcGIS Server site or a separate machine.
There are multiple setups available for ArcGIS Web Adaptor and, depending on your web server and operation system, you will choose one of them:
- ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS) setup allows ArcGIS Server to integrate with your IIS web server running on Windows. For more information, see Installing ArcGIS Web Adaptor (IIS).
- ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) setup allows ArcGIS Server to integrate with Java EE servers such as WebSphere and WebLogic. The setup is available for Windows and Linux. For more information, see Installing ArcGIS Web Adaptor (Java Platform) on Windows.