Publish layers in bulk from a user-managed data store

You can publish layers in bulk from a database data store item in the ArcGIS Enterprise portal. When you do this, 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. Once created, you can share the layers with those who need access to them so they can use the layers in their own maps and apps.

Considerations before you publish in bulk from a database data store

• You must be the owner of the data store item to publish layers in bulk from it.
• 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.
• Feature and map image layers are created for all feature classes and tables in the database that can be accessed through the database connection. If any of the feature classes or tables have related tables, separate feature and map image layers will be created for each related table. Only you have access to the layers when you create them, but you or an organization administrator can share layers with other members of the organization or even the public. For this reason, it is important to consider what feature classes and tables the user specified in the connection file can access and what type of privileges the user has on those datasets.
  • The database user in the database connection should only have access to the subset of feature classes and tables that need to be published in bulk.
  • The privileges granted to the user specified in the database connection needs the appropriate privileges on each dataset.

    When you create feature layers in bulk, editing is not enabled on the layers. However, editing can be enabled on the feature service in ArcGIS Server Manager if the service is running on a federated server or, if the service is running on the hosting server, editing is enabled by the organization administrator in the ArcGIS Enterprise Administrator API site. If you do not want people to edit data through these bulk-published feature layers, connect to the database as a user who has only privileges to select data from the feature classes and tables, and do not enable editing on the feature service.

  • To meet the data accessibility and privilege levels that you require to publish the right layers in bulk, you may need to request a new database user from your database administrator.
• Data is published using default renderers and scales.
• Date and time values use the time zone of the referenced database.
• Editing is not enabled on the feature services.
• To allow efficient bulk publishing, the map services on the federated server use shared instances.
• 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.

Publish layers in bulk

Follow these steps to publish feature and map image layers from all the feature classes and tables available through a database data store item in the portal:

1. Open the details page for the database data store item from which you will publish.

   You must be the owner of the data store item.

2. Click the Layers tab and click Create Layers.
3. Choose an empty folder or create a folder in which to store the feature layers and click Next.

   This folder in My Content on the Content page helps you organize the items you own. Keeping the bulk-published feature layers in a separate folder will help you identify which feature layers were published in this way and, therefore, are dependent on and can be synchronized through the data store item. You cannot use your user folder (the one that has the same name as the user name used to access the organization) to store these layers.

4. You'll see a list of all the servers to which this data store item was added. Choose the server to which you want to publish the data. You can publish layers in bulk to only one server.
5. A folder will be created to store the services that power the map image and feature layer items. Choose one of the following to specify a name for this folder:
   • Use the same name as the folder in My Content—The folder will have the same name as the My Content folder you specified in step 3.
   • Use a custom folder name—Allows you to type a name in the field if you want the new folder to have a different name than the folder in My Content.

   The folder name is part of the information that identifies where each service is running. The folder name will be part of the URL of each service.

6. Click Start publishing layers.

   Publishing may take a long time to complete if the database connection you used for the data store item has access to a large number of feature classes and tables in the database.

When all layers are created, they appear on the data store item's Layers tab.

Click the layer name to manage the details for each layer and share them with groups, the organization, or everyone.

Note:

Because a feature layer item is a map service with feature access enabled on the ArcGIS Server site, you must share the feature layer and its associated map image layer to the same set of users (groups, the organization, or the public). If you only share the feature layer, it cannot be used by others.