Add a data store item

There are several types of user-maintained data stores you can connect to from your organization by adding a data store item. Each one requires you to provide different information and each is used for a different purpose.

Note:

Even though you add the data store to the portal, this process registers the data store with federated servers or the hosting server. Therefore, each machine in federated ArcGIS Server sites must be configured to access the file share location when you add a folder data store and be able to access the cloud storage location when you add a cloud storage data store.

Only the administrator can add folder data store items to the organization (which is shown as the hosting server in the New item interface in the portal) that access a new file share location. It is recommended to set folder storage locations when creating the organization. After the organization is configured, administrators can set new file share locations from the portal using the Add a folder data store item workflow or add persistent volumes as folder data stores from ArcGIS Enterprise Manager.

The following sections describe how to add connections to each type of data store. Use the links below to access instructions to add the user-maintained data store type you need.

• Folder
• Database (includes relational databases—with or without enterprise geodatabases in them—and cloud data warehouses)
• Cloud storage

Add a folder data store item

Add a folder data store item that connects to an existing network file share (NFS) location. If you are an administrator, you can also use the steps below to connect to a new NFS location.

1. Ensure the folder functions as a network file share location.
2. Open the portal and sign in.

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

3. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item, and click Data store.
4. Choose Folder for the type of data store item to create and click Next.
5. Type or paste the path to the folder in the Publisher folder path field.
6. Provide information for your data sources.

   If ArcGIS clients used to publish the data will access data in one folder but the system (hosting) server needs to access a copy of the data in a second folder, you must provide information for both data sources. If the second location has already been mounted to the nodes in the Kubernetes cluster, you can use the New path option to directly register the server path. To have ArcGIS Enterprise mount the system server location, without requiring preparation of the nodes in the Kubernetes cluster, use the NFS host and path option.

   • If the publishing clients and the system server will access data in the same shared folder, leave the default setting, Same as publisher folder path.
   • If you have duplicated the data in two different file shares, the publishing clients and system server will reference different file shares, and you will provide the path to the premounted file shares, choose New path under Server folder path, and type the path to the second file share.
   • If you have duplicated the data in two different file shares, the publishing clients and system server will reference different file shares, and you will provide the file share's host name and directory information so that ArcGIS Enterprise can mount the directory, choose NFS host and path, and type the file share's host name and the path to the directory on the host. This method is recommended because it does not require you to prepare cluster nodes in advance. The only requirement is to be able to access the NFS host and shared path from your system.

   If this is a new file share location, only the ArcGIS Enterprise administrator can add it. You will be prompted to confirm to proceed, because adding a new file share location causes all system services, utility services, and map and feature services running on shared resources to restart. These services cannot be used while they are restarting, which can take up to 15 minutes.

7. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Server sites with which this data store will be registered.
8. Choose the servers with which to register this data store.

   If you are unsure which sites fill these roles, contact your organization administrator. You can only select a site if the status is normal, if the site has access to the file location you specified in step 6, and if the site is not labeled (Hosting Server).

9. Click Next.
10. Provide a title for the data store item.

    This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

11. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag, and Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you previously added.

12. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
13. If your administrator has configured a classification schema, classify the data store item as needed under Classification.

    If your administrator has defined a schema help document, you can access it by clicking Information at the top of the classification form. Refer to this document for details about the classification options.

    Note:

    Classifying a data store item does not restrict access to it. The classification you assign to the item, which appears on the item page, provides a visual indication of the extent of security and safeguarding it warrants and can help organization members identify the correct way to interact with it. You need to set the appropriate sharing level to restrict access to the item.

14. Click Create connection.

Share the data store item with groups whose members need to publish layers that reference files in that folder.

Add a database data store item

To create a database data store item that accesses data in a cloud data warehouse or a relational database (which can contain an enterprise geodatabase but does not have to), you will upload an existing database connection file (.sde file).

Follow these steps to create a database data store item:

1. Create a database connection file (.sde file) connecting to a supported database or cloud data warehouse.

   Connect using credentials for an account or user that has access to the data you need and the required permissions on the data. You must save the credentials with the connection file. You cannot use an .odc file.

2. Open the portal and sign in.

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

3. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item, and click Data store.
4. Choose the Database data store type and click Next.
5. Choose the type of database to connect to through the data store item.
   • Relational database—Choose this option to connect to a database or enterprise geodatabase.
   • Cloud data warehouse—Choose this option to connect to a cloud data warehouse.
6. Click Next.
7. Click Select File and browse to the database connection file (.sde) that accesses the database, enterprise geodatabase, or cloud data warehouse content you require.
8. Provide information for the data sources.

   In most cases, the clients used to publish layers from this data store will use the same database, enterprise geodatabase, or cloud data warehouse as the ArcGIS Server site. In which case, leave the default setting enabled—Same as publisher database connection.

   However, if your ArcGIS clients will access data in one enterprise geodatabase but the federated ArcGIS Server sites need to access a copy of the data in a second enterprise geodatabase, you must provide information for both data sources. In this case, choose New connection under Server database connection (.sde file), and choose the database connection file that the federated ArcGIS Server sites will use to connect to the data in the other geodatabase. This option is only supported when the data sources are enterprise geodatabases.

9. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Server sites with which this data store will be registered.
10. Select the ArcGIS GIS Server sites with which to register this database.

    If you are unsure which sites fill this role, contact your ArcGIS Server administrator.

    You can only select a site if the status is normal and the site can connect to the data source.

11. Click Next.
12. Provide a title for the data store item.

    This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

13. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag, and Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you previously added.

14. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
15. If your administrator has configured a classification schema, classify the data store item as needed under Classification.

    If your administrator has defined a schema help document, you can access it by clicking Information at the top of the classification form. Refer to this document for details about the classification options.

    Note:

    Classifying a data store item does not restrict access to it. The classification you assign to the item, which appears on the item page, provides a visual indication of the extent of security and safeguarding it warrants and can help organization members identify the correct way to interact with it. You need to set the appropriate sharing level to restrict access to the item.

16. Click Create connection.

You, as the owner of the database data store item, can publish map image and feature layers in bulk from the data store item in the portal provided the data store does not access a cloud data warehouse.

If members of your organization will publish data from this database connection in ArcGIS Pro, share the data store item with a group to which those members belong. This allows these members to publish data using the same database credentials to any of the federated servers you specified in step 10.

Add a cloud storage data store item

Add a cloud storage data store item to publish cached map layers that reference cache content stored in a cloud storage location and to publish 3D tiles, scene, tile, or vector tile layers that reference precreated caches in a cloud storage location.

1. To add a cloud storage data store, you must have an account with a supported cloud storage provider, and the cloud storage location must exist.
2. Open the portal and sign in.

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

3. On the My content tab of the Content page, click New item, and click Data store.
4. Choose Cloud Storage for the type of data store item to add and click Next.
5. Choose one of the cloud storage providers, click Next, and specify the credentials to connect to the cloud storage location.

   The information you must specify varies by provider type.

   • Amazon S3

     Provide the following to connect to an Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) bucket:

     • Choose a credential type: either use an IAM role or an access key. If you use an access key, you must provide the access key ID and corresponding secret access key you obtained from your Amazon Web Services (AWS) account.
     • Choose the region where the bucket exists and type the name of the bucket.

       Note:

       To connect to a custom S3 endpoint, choose Custom from the Region drop-down menu and type or paste the URL to access the private cloud in the Private URL field.

     • To register a subfolder in the bucket, type the path to the folder.

   • Google Cloud Storage

     Provide the following to connect to a Google Cloud bucket:

     • Provide the access key ID and corresponding secret access key you obtained from your Google Cloud account.
     • To register a subfolder in the bucket, type the path to the folder.

   • Microsoft Azure Storage

     Provide the following to connect to a Microsoft Azure Blob storage location:

     • Choose one of the following authentication types. Each type requires different information to authenticate.
       • Microsoft Entra ID—Choose the identity type, either Service principal or User-assigned managed identity. Provide the credentials necessary for the identity type that you choose.

         Ensure that the user-assigned managed identity is assigned to the instances on which the hosting and federated ArcGIS Server sites are running. Also ensure that the user-assigned managed identity has at least read-only access to the storage account container. If more than one user-assigned managed identity is assigned to an instance or storage container, you must specify a client ID.

         If you use the service principal identity type, you must have Storage Blob Data Contributor access to the service principal account.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about Entra ID authentication.

       • Shared Key—Provide the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account and the account key.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared key authentication.

       • Shared Access Signature—Provide a shared access signature (SAS) token and the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account.

         Generate the SAS token from the container level.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared access signature authentication.

       • Anonymous—Use this to access public containers for imagery layer workflows. This authentication method is not supported with any other workflows.
     • Choose the Azure storage domain where the Blob Storage container exists.

       Note:

       To connect to a custom Azure Blob endpoint, choose Other from the Storage domain drop-down menu and provide the URL or DNS endpoint to access the storage location.

     • Provide the name of the Blob Storage container.
     • To register a subfolder in the storage container, provide the path to the folder.

   • Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2

     Provide the following to connect to a Microsoft Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 location:

     • Choose one of the following authentication types. Each type requires different information to authenticate.
       • Microsoft Entra ID—Choose the identity type, either Service principal or User-assigned managed identity. Provide the credentials necessary for the identity type that you choose.

         Ensure that the user-assigned managed identity is assigned to the instances on which the hosting and federated ArcGIS Server sites are running. Also ensure that the user-assigned managed identity has at least read-only access to the storage account container. If more than one user-assigned managed identity is assigned to an instance or storage container, you must specify a client ID.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about Entra ID authentication.

       • Shared Key—Provide the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account and the account key.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared key authentication.

       • Shared Access Signature—Provide a shared access signature (SAS) token and the name of your Microsoft Azure storage account.

         Generate the SAS token from the container level.

         See the Microsoft Azure documentation for information about shared access signature authentication.

       • Anonymous—Use this to access public containers for imagery layer workflows. This authentication method is not supported with any other workflows.
     • Choose the Azure storage domain where the Blob Storage container exists.

       Note:

       To connect to a custom Azure Blob endpoint, choose Other from the Storage domain drop-down menu and provide the URL or DNS endpoint to access the storage location.

     • Provide the name of the Blob Storage container.
     • To register a subfolder in the storage container, provide the path to the folder.

   • Alibaba Cloud Storage

     Provide the following to connect to an Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket:

     • Provide the access key ID and corresponding secret access key you obtained from your Alibaba account.
     • Choose the region where the bucket exists and type the name of the bucket.
     • To register a subfolder in the bucket, type the path to the folder.

6. Click Next to choose the ArcGIS Server sites with which this data store will be registered.
7. Select the ArcGIS GIS Server and ArcGIS Image Server sites with which you want to register this data store. If you are unsure which sites fill these roles, contact your ArcGIS Server administrator.

   You can only select a site if the status is normal, which means the site can connect to the data source.

8. Click Next.
9. Provide a title for the data store item.

   This is the name of the item that will appear in the portal and ArcGIS Pro.

10. Optionally, type tags that describe the item.

    Separate the terms with commas (for example, Federal land is considered one tag, and Federal, land is considered two tags).

    As you type, you can select any of the suggested tags that appear; suggestions are generated from tags you previously added.

11. Choose the folder in My content where you want to store the data store item.
12. If your administrator has configured a classification schema, classify the data store item as needed under Classification.

    If your administrator has defined a schema help document, you can access it by clicking Information at the top of the classification form. Refer to this document for details about the classification options.

    Note:

    Classifying a data store item does not restrict access to it. The classification you assign to the item, which appears on the item page, provides a visual indication of the extent of security and safeguarding it warrants and can help organization members identify the correct way to interact with it. You need to set the appropriate sharing level to restrict access to the item.

13. Click Create connection.