Administrators and publishers in an ArcGIS Enterprise organization can register user-managed data stores with federated ArcGIS Server sites. User-managed data stores contain source data for ArcGIS Server web services that run on federated servers. When you publish, no data is copied; the web services reference the data in the registered data store.
There are multiple types of data stores you can add as an item in a portal. Each type provides different functionality, as described in the next section. Register these user-managed data stores by adding a data store item to your organization. When you add a data store item, you register a data source with one or more federated ArcGIS GIS Server or ArcGIS Image Server sites. Each federated server can have multiple data store items registered to it.
You can add a data store item in the portal. Another way to create a data store item is to register a data store to a federated ArcGIS Server site in ArcGIS Pro.
These data store items allow you to control use of the data store contents by sharing the data store item. How you share the data store item determines who can use it when publishing in ArcGIS Pro. As the owner of the data store item, you can also publish map image and feature layers from the item in bulk.
Types of data store items
When you add a data store item to an organization, you choose a data source that contains data to publish, and (for most data stores) you choose the federated servers that can access the data.
The following table describes the type of data stores you can add as items and the purpose of each:
| Data store item type | What you can register | Purpose of the data store item |
|---|---|---|
Folders | File shares | From ArcGIS Pro 2.8 or later, you can publish map image layers from files in the registered folder, and you can publish a tile layer, vector tile layer, or scene layer that references a cache stored in the folder. |
Databases | Database connection files (.sde) that access supported versions of the following database management systems:
Databases can contain an enterprise geodatabase, but they don't have to. Geodatabases are not supported in Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, or Snowflake. See the ArcGIS Enterprise on Kubernetes system requirements for information on what geodatabase versions are supported. | For data store items that reference a cloud data warehouse, you can publish a map image layer in ArcGIS Pro 2.9 or later. For data store items that reference a database management system, you can publish map image layers and feature layers in bulk. One feature layer and one map image layer* is created for each feature class and table to which the registered database user has access. Note:If you do not want anyone to edit data using these feature layers, be sure the database connection you use when you add the data store connects as a user that has been granted only select privileges on the feature classes and tables in the database. Bulk publishing and editing are not supported for data in a cloud data warehouse. |
Cloud storage | Any of the following cloud storage locations:
| Using ArcGIS Pro 2.8 or later, you can publish a cached map image layer that references cached content stored in a cloud store. From the portal, you can publish a tile layer, vector tile layer, or scene layer that references a cache stored in the cloud store. You can also publish these layers from ArcGIS Pro 3.0 or later. |
*To bulk publish map image and feature layers, the data store must be registered with a federated ArcGIS GIS Server site.
Adding a data store item in the portal registers the data source with the federated servers that you specify. Database data store items that reference cloud data warehouses are registered with the system managed server only. If you access the same source location (folder, database, or cloud data warehouse using the same credentials) from ArcGIS Pro and publish to one of these servers, you don't need to register the data store again.
Data access
Adding data store items to your portal makes it easier to share GIS data across your organization. You need to balance ease of access with the need to keep data secure. When you use data store items, access is controlled at multiple levels. See Controlling access to data published from data store items for details.
Methods for adding data store items
There are three workflows for adding a data store item to your portal. The one you use depends on whether you need to register a new data store, want to create a data store item for an existing data store, or your existing data store is registered with multiple federated servers.
Register a data store
To register a data store with ArcGIS Enterprise on Kubernetes, add a data store item in the portal. You can also register a data store and add a data store item from ArcGIS Pro under the following conditions:
- You're registering a database or cloud data warehouse.
- You're registering a file share that is a subfolder in a file share that the organization administrator has registered with the organization.
- You're using ArcGIS Pro 2.8 or later for database or file share data stores or ArcGIS Pro 2.9 or later for cloud data warehouses.
Get started using data store items
See the following to learn how to use and manage data store items in the portal: