For a while now ArcGIS Desktop has had a cosy relationship with ArcGIS Online and it all started like an arranged marriage configured by default via your GIS Administrator.

However this relationship will only work if you have an internet connection (to http://www.arcgis.com) , if not and you have a local Portal for ArcGIS server then you can Add a different portal URL and continue in a more secretive place.

So you can see if there is a relationship when you start ArcGIS Desktop which puts a globe icon in the system tray so you can see at a glance what the connection is like.

If you do not sign in you can only see Public content from Desktop, which may not be what you want.  Otherwise you will need to be a named user which you may be entitled to.  A named user (typically with a username and password) can be associated with just a single Organisation, the site administrator for your organisation or portal looks after the way you become a named user.

Next from Desktop we need to sign in, unless you have earlier opted to sign in automatically.

And now enter your username and password.

Once you are connected and signed in as a named user, you may be able to join and participate in  group (any number of which you could belong to) activity out of the gaze of the public, like being able to contribute.

Now we are ready to start taking a look at what this relationship with your collaborative GIS content management system called ArcGIS Online (or Portal for ArcGIS) can offer you via Desktop.

But the good stuff will have to wait until Part 2, promise to leave anything that is not Free or Easy until the end.

The first thing you may want to try is to see what other named users have already added and allowed you access to (including those items that are public).

If you Open an item from ArcGIS Online in ArcGIS Desktop you will have a new ArcMap Document and Table of Contents with the same name, and this will look and act very similar to the same Web Map opened in a browser in ArcGIS Online, Office, Sharepoint, or in ArcGIS Explorer on an iPhone etc.  That is as long as you meet any security constraints, for instance if a data source is on a different network or is secured by ArcGIS Server and you do not have credentials then it just will not show.

In this case the map was authored by a named user in a browser and the points added by dragging a csv file onto one of Esri’s base maps and saved.  Desktop has copied the points from the web map into a local file geodatabase, and copied the basemap tiles from one of Esri’s servers to the local display cache.

By using Details we can see some more of the metadata stored in ArcGIS Online, this time it some Australian Bureau of Statistics data uploaded to Esri’s servers by Map Data Services.

Following is a case where we have used Add to add a layer via an item that is a URL to an ArcGIS Server service hosted by Geoscience Australia.

Then we can Add the layer to the map, the description is held by ArcGIS Online but the content this time is from an ArcGIS Server not hosted by Esri.

You can choose to see what groups you have access to, and to extend the search beyond your organisation.  Detail will show items you have access to within the group.

And lastly there are some Desktop functions that use available ArcGIS Online content; ArcGIS Online basemaps, World Traffic service as a layer and single address search.

To summarise the relationship to date, we have a marriage between a GIS Professional and anyone else with sufficient interest to either create content, document existing content, or define a map, all via ArcGIS Online.  Note that so far we are just freely taking others content.

However there is one advantage of staying single and that is that the single line address search is free, geosearch vs geocoding.

A good relationship will require a bit of give, somethings can be given for free.

Many types of content can be saved from Desktop as a file and then uploaded into ArcGIS Online, such as file types of Map documents and Layer files.

All ArcGIS for Desktop users on maintenance are not only entitled to a named user account, but also get 100 credits a year as well.

However some giving can come at a cost with ArcGIS Online.  We are going to have a look some of the ways we can add to our ArcGIS Online organisation.

We can publish our map document as a hosted service.

And we can adjust the capabilities so the hosted services can deliver this content as either a tiled map (the default) or a feature service, or both.  If you use the Tiled Mapping capability be careful as by default the Esri servers will cache this for you which could use a lot of credits if your layers span a large extent and/or your caching to the lower scale levels.  For many simple layers where you don’t mind giving access to the attribute data, allowing Feature Access will be a cheaper option which can also support editing.

ArcGIS Desktop supports editing these feature services, by making a local copy of the features in the current extent. It is a very simple way to get around slow connections, and an alternative to the replication of data via GeoData services or at the database level.

Lastly Esri also provide some other good content in Ready-to-Use Services.

One of the most time consuming processes of map making is deciding how to communicate the intended message of your map and make it look good at the same time. Join us for a session on map making tips and tricks across three ArcGIS applications as we show you how to declutter and represent your intended information using a series of built-in automated tools and effects.

Our session on “Maps with Style” focuses on incorporating the 5 main principles of cartography (legibility, visual contrast, figure-ground organisation, hierarchical organisation and getting the right balance) using standard functionality available to you in ArcGIS for Desktop, ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online.

We look forward to showing you how to ensure your map’s message is clear and concise with just a few clicks of a mouse button.

Dani B

Directions LIVE begins in Adelaide, Tuesday 28 April, before visiting another eight cities around the country. If you haven’t registered for your local event, visit the Esri Australia website now.

Sharing Content in Seconds is the last session in our technical program for DirectionsLIVE, and this is definitely a case of last, but not least! This session will reinforce the concepts presented in the rest of the program, and give you some tips that you can start using immediately.

If you’re involved in any kind of major event or natural disaster – as an ArcGIS user – you know your information products are in high demand, and critical to decision making.  In this scenario, we’ll look at Rapid Damage Assessment following a Cyclone Event.

Where are the areas with the most damage?  Where do we need to deploy response teams?  Where is help needed?  What’s the progress of the field teams? Location is key in answering these questions, and the information best communicated via a map.

But it’s not as simple as just creating a map – particularly when the data is changing as rapidly as the event is unfolding, information needs to get quickly in and out of the field, and the people that need to see the up-to-date information could be the public, internal or even your executive decision makers.

There’s been shift from the one-size-fits-all GIS viewer approach to less complicated, focused maps and apps designed for the spectrum of use cases that exist in this scenario.  The ArcGIS Platform supports this trend, by providing an integrated framework to rapidly deploy authoritative information products to users via your organisation’s portal, recognising that they don’t all need to have access to the same map or app.

The workflow that we’ll demonstrate includes tips for publishing your authoritative information (including Basemaps) to ArcGIS Online, tricks for streamlining the process of getting information to and from field teams using Collector for ArcGIS, and advice for deploying configurable, focused applications that leverage the same content (no data duplication, and near-real time updates) for other users.

Alex G

P.S.  You don’t have to be in the midst of a Cyclone to leverage these tips for sharing content – your ‘major event’ could just be that disorganised colleague not giving you enough advance notice prior to their very important field trip!

Directions LIVE is currently travelling around the country until Tuesday 12 May. If you haven’t registered for your local event, visit the Esri Australia website now.

Smart mapping emerged with this year’s March release of ArcGIS Online, providing a smarter, more sophisticated approach to symbolising data. Replacing the formerly available ‘change symbols’ option, smart mapping is available to a variety of ArcGIS Online layer types (feature services, dynamic layers, stream services and CSV, SHP and GPX map added data, to name a few), and is accessed via a layer’s change style control () in the map viewer contents display.

The smart mapping toolset presents logical symbology options to the ArcGIS Online map maker. These options are derived based on a subject layer’s characteristics, the data type (point, line or polygon), as well as the spatial distribution of the layer’s features together with the variation of values across a subject display field.

Additionally, other evident display characteristics are assessed, such as symbology used by an underlying basemap. Consequently aesthetic, meaningful and size appropriate symbology options are proposed in this data driven, ‘smart’ approach to layer symbolisation.

The smart mapping capability also includes controls for ‘tweaking’ presented symbology classifications, removing unwanted values, and honing in on trends of interest. The tools allow patterns in data distributions to be explored, represented and emphasised.

Heat maps may be generated to accommodate high density point mapping, while useful symbology themes are available to readily represent rates of change and data values of interest. Transparency controls and symbol rotation controls allow additional attribute fields to be utilised in symbology display, proportional symbols are truly proportional, and well-known manual classification methods, such as equal interval and quantile, are also accessible.

These examples are just a snapshot of smart mapping capabilities, however, many others exist. For a quick look at further examples, you might like to view the below pre-recording I made for this year’s Ozri conference.

Next time you are working in ArcGIS Online, take a few minutes and explore the smart mapping toolset. The quality of the information product you’ll subsequently create will be testament to the fact you did.

Allison R

So there has been a new release of ArcGIS Pro and you want to update to the latest version so you can begin using all the new tools and tricks. However, when you access the licensing window within ArcGIS Pro you are met with a similar sight to the below.

The Esri update service is temporarily unavailable – what does this mean??

ArcGIS Pro cannot automatically check for an update while you are running ArcGIS Pro on a checked out license (offline mode). The resolution to this is to return your checked out license and run ArcGIS Pro with your ArcGIS Online sign in and licensing portal.

1. Open the licensing menu from the project tab in ArcGIS Pro
2. Un-check the ‘Authorize ArcGIS Pro to work offline’ box *
3. You will then be prompted to sign into ArcGIS Online
4. Once you have signed in, you can now download the update from the About menu from the Project tab

* If you find that the box is greyed out in step two, you will need to go through the below steps.

1. Select the portals menu from the Project tab
2. Right click your http://www.arcgis.com/ portal connection and select either sign in or sign out
3. If you had to sign out in step 2, repeat the process again and sign into ArcGIS Online
4. Go back to the Licensing tab, wait ~ 5 seconds, you can now un-check the ‘Authorize ArcGIS Pro to work offline’ box

Some further resources that have been published on this topic:

Step Four – http://blogs.esri.com/esri/supportcenter/2014/12/19/arcgis-pro-six-tips-to-get-you-started/

Authorise Pro to work offline – http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/get-started/view-software-licenses.htm

How to apply ArcGIS Pro software updates – http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2015/05/04/how-to-apply-arcgis-pro-software-updates/

While delivering Arc 2: Essential Workflows, I was enthusiastically describing the wonders and practical uses of the search widget in the Web App Builder for ArcGIS Online or Portal and the capability it has to search content within your feature layers. When asking my students, “which widget should I use?” Some referred to the functionality of the query widget which I had previously demonstrated, while others preferred the power of a search widget. Hopefully by the end of this post you will be well placed to make an informed decision as to whether you should use and configure a query or search widget for your web apps in ArcGIS Online or Portal.

Consider a web app that displays a feature layer of cities around the globe which contains simple demographic statistics.

The search widgets configuration has the initial default of the Esri World Geocoder. You can select Add Search Source, then Feature Layer, to allow the user to Set a specific feature layer from the current web map, ArcGis Online or a feature/map service. The end user can now use this widget to search the specified content using keywords and then navigate to these points of interest while opening the locations pop up of information. An important aspect of these widgets is that they rely upon the pop-up configuration to define the information that is passed to the user. The search widget will also display a drop down menu of options that ‘best fit’ the search, while a query will only display results that explicitly fit the expression.

The above screenshots indicate the major difference between the two widgets, the in/exclusion of a ‘best fit’ list for the returned results. This functionality is an important distinction to consider when planning end user behaviour for an application.Does the end user have the required knowledge of the dataset to create advanced queries? Or, will the basic functionality of the search widget allow for greater data exploration for the audience?

Further  information on configuring these widgets can be found in the following resources:

Search Widget resource article

Query Widget resource article

I hope this brief exploration of the fundamental differences in behaviour for these widgets proved useful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to comment on this post.

Angus Hooper

My work in our Technical Support team here at Esri Australia has exposed me to a variety of web traffic related incidents. You can find many useful resources to track and disseminate this web traffic online, but I have found one (free) program to be more useful and intuitive than the rest – Fiddler. Fiddler is a fantastic tool that provides information on any web interaction within your ArcGIS Enterprise system, web mapping and mobile applications. This can empower you with a better understanding of your problem, deployment or user workflows.This post will not explore the ins and outs of Fiddler, as this has been well documented by a large and involved community (including Esri), but I would like to introduce you to an easy and tangible way you can look ‘under the hood‘ of web GIS.

Let us consider the following scenario:

I cannot log into ArcGIS Online in ArcMap ?!?!

That is a tricky one and the potential issues/solutions are open-ended. Would it not be great if we had a diagnostic tool that could pinpoint an exact error, step or message that the application is hitting? Well we do have that diagnostic tool and we are about to look at it now.

This is Fiddler (version 4.6.2) and it has a very simple interface of web traffic/log object on the left and detailed information per object on the right.

Let’s start looking at some data that is captured when I successfully log into ArcGIS Online in ArcMap. Unfortunately, Fiddler gives too much information, so I have had to censor heavily for the purpose of this blog post.

The below image is of a single record that was captured and collated by fiddler. The information  indicates that a process called arcmap has requested information (HTTPS) from a host http://www.arcgis.com with the URL /sharing/files/esri.png. This URL and host is providing a content type of image/png. This single record is one of many that will appear in your Fiddler session and will only display the key information for that single request or process. If we want to learn more about this record, we will need to use the information that our Inspectors provide.

Here we can see the Inspectors and the information Fiddler has catalogued for further analysis. The inspectors that I tend to use the most are TextView, Raw, WebView and XML. You may need to use Cookies, Auth or JSON – it is entirely up to your question and scenario.

The Raw Inspector reveals that we have sent a GET request to https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/files/esri.png. We can see who the host is for this request location and any information about our connection, reference or client information.

The second Inspector is called WebView and as the name suggests, it displays the GET request as it would on the web. This request is calling for the esri logo that you see on the sign in page for ArcGIS Online in ArcMap. This example request is one of many that occurs when logging into ArcGIS Online and I would encourage you to use the process of signing into ArcGIS Online as an aid in learning how to understand Fiddler traffic.

Unfortunately, I cannot easily explore the requests that provide authorisation or log in details as they contain sensitive information. The issue of security is an important point to highlight as any user who accesses or receives your fiddler traffic (a .SAZ file) may be able to learn more about your machine and online profile than you would like! For the purposes of this blog, let us assume that the sign on worked correctly.

What if the sign on did not work correctly? What does this look like? The below screenshot is what Fiddler records when your machine does not have internet access while trying to connect to http://www.arcgis.com. Referring back to our scenario, why can’t this user sign into ArcGIS Online? Fiddler has reported that no network connections are available. If only all web traffic issues were this simple!

In addition to capturing web traffic for ArcMap, Fiddler also captured information from outlook, skype and any web browser that could not connect to the network. All of these processes look very similar in the inspectors and I want to stress that Fiddler is a fantastic diagnostic tool for ALL web traffic. Remember, do not restrict your searches to ArcGIS problems, as this program is used across all industries and workflows.

Tips

• Hopefully Fiddler identified the issue with a standard warning or error symbol, but these should not be relied upon
• If a specific user is experiencing the issue, it may be worth looking at requests with /auth/ or /token
• Some issues have been resolved by Fiddler reporting the specific proxy, firewall or anti-virus scanner that is blocking the request internally
• If  a fiddler log has been requested, it is best to provide a .SAZ
• Fiddler can log HTTPS traffic but this will require exceptions to your security which may conflict with your internal IT protocols
• Any HTTP status response of 4xx (i.e. 404) should be looked at closely
• Fiddler is a diagnostic tool, it will not solve the problem but it may reveal it

I hope this introduction on using Fiddler with ArcGIS proved useful as the learning curve can be quite steep when opening the program for the first time. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to comment below or contact me at ahooper@esriaustralia.com.au.

Links:

Capture traffic with Fiddler

Status Codes are very useful, particularly those pesky 4xx client errors.

This is an older post by an Esri analyst that highlights the capability of fiddler to debug issues on your mobile devices – perfect for those Collector for ArcGIS problems.

The same topic as above but written by the Fiddler team. 

Videos and tutorial created by the Fiddler team

Decrypt HTTPS traffic in Fiddler

Create a Session Archive Zip (.SAZ)

During my Directions LIVE presentation, I wanted to highlight some of the new and interesting functionality in both ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online, specifically around the areas of cartography and map design.

New symbology options in ArcGIS Pro

I opened the session with a dive into my location history.

For the past two years, I’ve been tracking my location using the Moves app, counting steps, calories, and my travels across Australia. The result was a large amount of data; every journey and every step was recorded. But visualising this was a problem.

Thankfully, in ArcGIS Pro we have access to the new graphics engine that allows us to quickly apply advanced cartographic effects to data.

By going into the layer’s symbology properties and applying colour transparency to the layer, I was able to create a much cleaner representation of the data. The more data we have in any one location, the denser that colour becomes.

From chaos to clarity in a few clicks.

I then showcased another new feature in ArcGIS Pro 1.2 – heat-mapping.

Those of you who have used ArcGIS Online in the last year or so will be instantly familiar with this technique; by applying a kernel density tool to our point data, we can dynamically convert large quantities of point features from their raw form into a density plot. From this:

To this:

These two techniques may appear simplistic, but they’re useful tools to add to your cartographic toolbox if you find yourself working with complex or visually dense information.

And hey, if you wanted to make a quick buck on the side, why not use this new knowledge to start up a personalised t-shirt company?

Map layouts

Next, I took a look at map layouts in Pro. The ability to combine 2D and 3D views of your data on the same page is powerful, and takes a lot of additional work out of creating compelling map outputs.

In this example, I chose Tongariro National Park in New Zealand. The park is an attractive sight from above by itself, but I really wanted to showcase the elevation within the region too. An overview plan of the park, combined with a couple of profile shots of the Ruapehu and Ngaruhoe peaks allowed me to easily create an attractive tourist information poster.

Custom basemaps

Next up, I switched to ArcGIS Online to showcase a recent addition to basemaps – the ability to create custom ones!

In order to create a relevant basemap for my organisation, I wanted to show sea temperature, but also include a hillshade layer to add depth to the map. I selected a couple of layers from the Living Atlas gallery on ArcGIS Online, Sea Surface Temperature and TopoBathy hillshade, and for flavour included some ocean currents.

Note the time slider at the bottom of the image – the sea surface temperature layer is time aware! This means that I can select which date I want to show on my map, or even animate it, even as a basemap.

By combining multiple layers into a basemap group and then sharing it, you can quickly provide your users a new and more relevant base layer for use in web maps, apps, or even in ArcGIS Pro.

Terrain visualisation

To round off the presentation, I demonstrated a variety of upcoming hillshade and shaded relief tools.

The ‘Maps We Love’ site contains a wide variety of interesting cartographic maps and examples, and one of them really caught my eye.

The Gorgeous Gorge map illustrated how much of a difference a hillshade can make to elevation data, and bring life to otherwise ‘boring’ maps.

The tools to recreate the map have been made freely available by Esri, and are available here.

With them, it’s possible to change the standard, grey hillshade…

…into works of art, creating dramatic depictions of elevation within your map:

or unusual ones:

The presentation ended with a rapturous applause, many tears of joy, and a solitary white dove exited stage right. Or a polite ripple of claps, followed by silence, it depended on how you were listening.

Rich S

In the last couple of years Story Maps have become quite popular with ArcGIS Desktop / Online users. They provide a quick and efficient way to deliver important information or a message in a form of an easily-configurable web application that uses geographic data and can be enriched by adding various types of media content. There are thousands of story maps that you can access through ArcGIS online and it’s very easy to create your own.

One of my areas of expertise is 3D GIS and from time to time people ask me whether it’s possible to display 3D information in a Story Map. Well, the answer is yes. This functionality has been available for more than a year and I believe it’s time to write a blog about the workflow that will make your story maps 3D –enabled.

In this blog I will demonstrate how to use CityEngine 3D scenes to publish your 3D data to ArcGIS Online and create an interactive Story Map that uses 3D web scenes.

For the purpose of this demo, I used one of the CityEngine Examples provided by Esri Inc. on their CityEngine Gallery web page, available here:>>

The example that I’m using is called Redlands Redevelopment 2016; it can be downloaded as a package that includes the CityEngine project, CGA rule files, data and documentation.

To follow the below steps, you will need CityEngine 2016 and an active ArcGIS Online organizational subscription.

To illustrate the capabilities of the CityEngine and ArcGIS software that can help you to publish your 3D data on the web and use it in an interactive Story Map web application, I will consider the following scenario.

Let’s assume that the Council is planning to re-develop a portion of the downtown area in Redlands and they’re currently evaluating several proposals that include a residential complex, a business / Technology Park and a shopping center with a multi-level car park. The task is to create 3D models that represent each proposed project and provide the general public with a simple tool to access this information before the final decision can be discussed and made.

I used the data and the CityEngine rules from the original Redlands Example to create a simple model of the central part of the City of Redlands and digitized the boundary of the fictitious proposed development:

In this blog I will avoid talking about the details of how the proposed development area was subdivided into individual footprints and then the CGA rules were applied to them to generate models of buildings, parks and open areas.  If you’d like to repeat the steps mentioned below, you can download a simplified version of the CityEngine project which I created for this demo. It’s available here:  >>

I used the CGA rules from the Redlands redevelopment CityEngine project supplied by Esri Inc. to create 3 separate CityEngine scenes, each representing a particular scenario of the proposed development.  Each 3D scene will be published to ArcGIS Online and used in the future Story Map as a separate tab / view.

So, my re-development scenario models are:

1. A residential complex

2. A business / technology park (offices)

3. A new shopping center

The first step in the process of publishing your 3D Scenes from CityEngine is to select all features and models within a scene and use the File > Export Models command to export the scene as an Esri Scene Layer Package.

Please note that it’s recommended that your CityEngine Scenes are using the WebMercator (WGS1984) projection, as shown below. This will help to avoid some common issues with aligning your 3D data in the web scene viewer in ArcGIS Online.

When exporting models to an Esri Scene layer Package you can choose between creating a local scene and a global scene. The geographic extent of the dataset is relatively small, so in this particular case we can use the Local Scene setting.

This process needs to be repeated for the two other scenes representing scenarios 2 and 3. Once the export has been completed, you should have the following Scene layer packages:

The next step is uploading the scene layer packages to ArcGIS Online. Navigate to www.arcgis.com, sign in to you ArcGIS Online for Organisations account and use the Add Item button (under MyContent) to load the scene packages.

You can also load the scene layer packages using the File > Share As command in CityEngine.

Once loaded, the scene layer packages will automatically be published as hosted scene layers.

You can then open them in the Scene Viewer

Then save each as a separate web scene

These web scenes will be referenced by the Story Map that will be created in the next step.

Now that the 3D scenes have been published, we can create a Story Map that will use them. Scenes can be viewed as a part of a Story Map in a browser that supports WebGL. The full list of system requirements is available here: >>

Users can create Story Maps using the downloadable examples or online template. Currently, there are several Story Map templates that support the addition of the 3D web scenes, including the Story Map Journal, Story Map Cascade and Story Map Series.  The full list of the available Story Map templates is available here:  >>

In this example, I will use the Story Map Journal template. Creating Story Maps using the interactive workflow on the website is easy – you need to start the wizard, enter the title and define the content of the main stage and the side panel. At each step the Map Journal Builder application will guide you by providing tips and instructions.

To add a Web Scene to your story map, in the Step 1 : Main Stage content, set the type of content to Web page

Copy the URL of one of the web scenes and press configure:

Depending on the extent of the web scene you can change the optimal position. “Fill” is default and it works best for most applications.

It’s also recommended to uncheck the option “unload when reader navigates away”. This will prevent the scene from being re-loaded every time a user returns to it in the Story Map application.

Another best practice is to simplify the user interface of the web scene viewer before embedding it to the Story Map. To minimize the UI, you can add &ui=min at the end of the scene’s URL as shown below:

On the next step, you will need to add some content for the Side Panel. This may include information about the area, images and other types of media content. In my example I added a brief description of the existing site before redevelopment and some information about each scenario.

Once you’ve finished with the first section, click the Add Section button in the side panel to add more sections (and more web scenes) to your Story Map. Repeat the procedure for the remaining web scenes.

Finally, change the settings (at the top of the app) if you’d like to use custom fonts and change the colors used by the app and share your Story Map to provide other users (in your organization or the general public) with access to you final web application.

My web app with 3 web scenes can be accessed here: >>

This example mentioned above is pretty simple, however this workflow allows creating some amazing Story Maps in which you can use both – your own 3D content or the content provided by Esri Inc. Check out this Story Map called Mountains of Fire. Good luck with 3D mapping!

January, 2019

Esri have recently announced upcoming improvements to ArcGIS Online in order to maintain the highest industry standards for data integrity and network security. Starting on 16 April 2019, ArcGIS Online will only accept TLS 1.2 connections for ArcGIS Online services. Some software, like ArcGIS Pro, are already TLS 1.2 enabled. Other Esri software, such as ArcGIS Desktop, uses TLS 1.0—this software requires a patch or configuration change to support TLS 1.2 connections. Esri is releasing patches and instructions to update existing software to support these connections.

What is TLS?
TLS or  “Transport Layer Security” is a widely deployed network security protocol. It provides privacy and data integrity between communicating applications over a network. You use TLS whenever accessing ArcGIS Online services, such as basemaps, geoprocessing services, and the Living Atlas, from ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Enterprise, and other applications.

Who is affected?
Users of most ArcGIS software or custom solutions using Esri technology may be affected by this planned update to TLS protocol v1.2.

What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
Go to the Esri TLS Support page for more information and specific actions you may need to take in advance of this update; or book a consultation with a Technical Support Specialist who can guide you through the update and the appropriate patches for your environment.

Release schedule for ArcGIS Desktop Patches

Test TLS 1.2 Connection to ArcGIS Online

After you have updated your software or operating system to support TLS 1.2 connections, you can verify the changes by testing the connections to sample ArcGIS Online services.

Further references?

• Esri Software Products Affected by TLS 1.2 Implementation
• Transport Layer Security – Wikipedia
• TLS Guidance document
• FAQ: What do I need to know about TLS 1.2 and the ArcGIS Platform?
• FAQ: How do I enable TLS 1.2 on ArcGIS Desktop?
• FAQ: How is the ArcGIS Enterprise and its associated software components, ArcGIS Server and Portal for ArcGIS, affected by disabling TLS 1.0 and 1.1?
• How To: Test ArcGIS TLS 1.2 connections to ArcGIS Online
• How To: Validate TLS 1.2 connections for ArcGIS Desktop

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your local Esri Distributor Support team (for Esri Australia clients, use My Esri, support@esriaustralia.com.au or 1800 447 111); or book a consultation).

Last updated: 23 January, 2019

Earlier last month Esri published a blog post titled Prepare for Next Major ArcGIS Online Security Advancement Now. I have to admit when I first read it; I didn’t pause for long – thinking it was related to another recent web-security related change by Esri – the switch to TLS 1.2

If your eyes are glazing over already, hang in there. There was more to this post than I first thought, and it’s something you should be thinking about now if you’re administering an ArcGIS Online organisation that has been in place for some time. To be specific, if you created your ArcGIS Online site before September 2018, then you should read on.

What’s going to happen in 2020 is that ArcGIS Online will no longer work with external references to resources that use HTTP in the referring URL. Only HTTPS references will be supported. This is the way the web is moving and Esri is simply following best practice.

If you created your ArcGIS Online organisational after September 2018, then you will have been subject to this restriction from the get-go and won’t have a problem (it has been the default position since that time). If the organisational site is older than that, then there’s a chance you could have these less secure references to resources lurking in your web maps, web scenes and other items. If you do nothing, a bunch of things may stop working at some point in 2020, and you’ll be scurrying to try and fix them in a hurry.

For any of you utilising Story Maps you may have already encountered this. In 2018 the Story Map team implemented HTTPS only compliant web apps. This meant not only did the story map have to be secured with HTTPS but also any referenced site in a story map  also had to be secured in the same fashion. In 2020 ArcGIS Online in its entirety will follow suite. Details on that earlier Story Map change here.

How would you know you’ve got a problem to solve? Esri has created a tool called the ArcGIS Online Security Advisor that will scan all the items in your organisation, looking for the issue. You’ll need to be logged in as an administrator of the organisation to do this. The HTTP Check component of that tool is in Beta right now with new capabilities being added regularly.

It can’t directly fix the issues because a simple replacement of HTTP with HTTPS in the reference may not work  if the target server doesn’t support HTTPS. However, it will give you the feedback you need to go triage each of the problems it flags.

A typical scenario that could impact many users is where a GIS service is coming from an older version of ArcGIS Server and added as an item to an ArcGIS Online organisation. That older ArcGIS Server version would have allowed the specification of just HTTP, or both HTTP and HTTPS when exposing services.

Here’s an example. Way back, I created a web map in my ArcGIS Online organisation that refers to the Australian Coastal Sediment Compartments web service from GeoScience Australia.  The link here is for the HTTPS version (since this is all about best practice), but when I created that map, I used the HTTP version. Both forms are currently supported by the GeoScience Australia GIS Server.

The map displays the GA map service on top of the Esri Oceans basemap and works fine. Come 2020; this won’t be the case. If I use the beta HTTP Check tool in the ArcGIS Online Security Advisor, it picks up two problems with the web map.

 
In scanning the web map item, it detected that I have the URL of the GA web service in the Description. While that won’t break the map when HTTP is no longer supported, it still needs attention given the resource it refers to will change.

The second pickup by the tool was the actual URL to the GA service in the JSON data describing the web map.

Equally, if you’ve created items in your portal that refer to resources coming from external sources  – say a web service from an external agency that you collaborate with, then you may come up against the same issue if they’re using HTTP.

When you interact with a web site that doesn’t use HTTPS to encrypt traffic these days, you get to know it. It’s no longer just a small broken padlock icon – mainstream browsers are now calling it out and telling you that the site is not secure. That’s a good thing, and Esri is just doing its part to ensure web security best practices are adhered to.

Read the original blog post here and use the ArcGIS Online Security Advisor tool to determine whether you need to take any action.

Survey123 for ArcGIS is a complete, form-centric solution for creating, sharing and analyzing surveys. It is used to create smart forms and can be submitted from a web browser or dedicated Survey123 for ArcGIS native app by a defined audience.

Surveys can be designed on the Survey123 website or via the desktop with Survey123 Connect. Once designed, the survey is published, and in this process a survey form and service layers are created in the designer’s portal (ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise). The survey form item represents the questions and survey settings, and the survey layers storing the submitted data.

After publishing you can collaborate with other users via the Survey123 website. Collaboration options apply to Submitters and Viewers, giving control on who can submit, what they submit and then also who can view the results. As these collaboration settings are applied in the Survey123 website the settings on the items in portal are updated. In the example below, updating ‘Who can submit to this survey’ to ‘Everyone (Public)’ changed the sharing on the survey form and fieldworker service layer to ‘Everyone (Public)’:

This highlights several things:

• Survey123 leverages the storage, sharing and security model of the ArcGIS platform
• You can access the content directly to apply granular settings or use the layers in other maps and web mapping applications
• The Survey123 platform is reliant on these items. Care needs to be taken not to make sharing or item setting changes that would break the platform’s ability to function.

In general it’s best to configure settings through the Survey123 website, as this will ensure that all items are updated as necessary while retaining platform functionality. A somewhat common mistake is sharing only the ‘form’ via the portal Content screen. This allows users to access the survey form but will fail on submission as they don’t have access to view/edit the associated feature layer. Sharing through the Survey123 website ensured that both items were shared at the appropriate level.

When working with public surveys, greater control is often desired over who can submit and view survey data. If not secured, public survey results containing private or sensitive information could be viewed or manipulated. By configuring the securing options for the underying survey layers that support the survey, you can allow public users to submit surveys without exposing previously collected data. Other stakeholders can be provided access to the data, in part or its entirety, through Feature Layer Views.

Esri recently released two key resources to help you with securing your survey data:

• A document on Discovering and Limiting Access to Public Survey123 Results. It describes the security considerations, best-practices and step-by-step guidance for identifying and mitigating potential survey security issues.
• A new Security Advisor tool to help explore existing pubic surveys and identify potential security mis-configurations

If you’re a Survey123 publisher or organization administrator, you’ll want to take a look at the above two resources to ensure that you understand the level of access to your survey data. It’s important to remember that some surveys intentionally share their results publicly. If you have any additional questions about implementing these best practices, please contact Tech Support.

Additional information:

• ArcGIS Blog: Getting started with hosted feature layer views
• StoryMap: Hosted Feature layer Views – A practical example
• ArcGIS Online documentation: Create hosted feature layer views
• Survey123 Blog on GeoNet: Getting Started with Public Surveys
• ArcGIS Online documentation: Manage editor settings

ArcGIS Online will enforce HTTPS Only on all organizations on December 9 2020 (AEST).
This important security update is likely to affect some ArcGIS Online organizations, their content, software and custom solutions.

Customers affected by this update who have not enabled HTTPS Only for their ArcGIS Online organizations as yet, should act now. Preparing and testing now will help avoid surprises before the policy is enforced on December 9 2020 (AEST).

Am I Affected?

HTTPS Only is a configurable setting in ArcGIS Online. It’s been enabled by default for newer subscriptions (from September 2018) and will be enforced for all organizations on December 9 2020 (AEST). The result is four categories for consideration:

1. Customers who created their ArcGIS Online subscription after September 2018
   • HTTPS Only is already enforced by default.
   • There is no option to disable HTTPS Only
   • These users are not affected and no action is required.
2. Customers who created their ArcGIS Online before September 2018 and have already enabled HTTPS Only via their Organization settings:
   • The option to revert HTTPS Only will disappear after a period, and may already no longer be available for users if 60 days have passed since enabling
   • These users won’t be affected by the update (as the update enforces the policy); however
   • These users should explore the tools below to ensure that there are no remnant HTTP references.
3. Customers who have not enabled HTTPS Only for their ArcGIS Online organizations, created before September 2018
   • ArcGIS Online administrators will have the option to enable HTTPS Only in their organization settings
   • This can be enabled, and reverted if required, but will be enforced by December 9 2020 (AEST)
   • These users need to prepare for HTTPS Only now. The aim should be to revise HTTP content using the tools below and enable HTTPS Only while the option to revert is still available – before Dec 9 2020 (AEST).
4. Additional considerations external to ArcGIS Online:
   • ArcGIS Server services added to ArcGIS Online with HTTP Only URLs will be inaccessible. Providers will need to enable HTTPS on these services to allow further usage in ArcGIS Online
   • Customers with map documents or packages (. mxd or. Aprx) that contain layers from ArcGIS Online that were added using plaintext (HTTP), will need to update the references to the layers.
   • Customers with Python scripts for administration or backup of data in ArcGIS Online using HTTP URL references will no longer work. The scripts must be updated to use HTTPS URLs.

What do I need to do?

If your organization is affected, you must take action for continued access to your resources. For example, you acquired your ArcGIS Online subscription prior to September 2018 AND your subscription is still set to allow both HTTP and HTTPS.

The actions below provide more information about what to do next to eliminate downtime before the switch to HTTPS only.

• All customers need to review their organization’s settings to make sure HTTPS Only is enabled. For example, if you do not see the option to toggle between HTTPS Only and both HTTP/HTTPS, then your subscription already requires HTTPS.
• Customers must update all the items in their organization that are HTTP Only.

There are two main tools available to ensure your content is ready for HTTPS Online

1. Web Map > Layer Settings >
   • Update Layers to HTTPS (Validates layers in the web map, and updates references where possible)
   • Update ArcGIS Server Site references (validates server support for HTTPS and updates root FQDN to HTTPS – it’s strongly recommended validating the server supports HTTPS first).
2. The ArcGIS Security Advisor
   • An external tool with a range of security functionality for ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online
   • Includes a HTTP Check that can be accessed by non-admin users. It will identify HTTP references and potential paths to resolve them.
   • The ArcGIS Security Advisor is not supported by technical support. Users are encouraged to read through the help documentation and other resources.

What to see these tools in action? Take a look at this excellent video from Esri Canada. Timestamps are in the video description to help navigate communicating to members, using the tools to review content, as well as configuring ArcGIS Server to HTTPS Only.

Video: How to Prepare for ArcGIS Online Enforcing HTTPS Only

What’s the impact if I don’t act?

After the update, customers who use HTTP services or URLs in their ArcGIS Online items will no longer be able to load HTTP layers. An error message will be received indicating the protocol is not supported.

Tools and resources available:

Essential resources – start here:

• Important Updates for the ArcGIS Platform and HTTPS Only Enforcement
• FAQ: What do I need to know about HTTPS Only and the ArcGIS Platform?
• ArcGIS Security Advisor

Additional Resources:

• How can I update layers in my web map or web scene to use HTTPS?
• How can I update layers in a web map that reference my ArcGIS Server layers?
• How can I change the data source URL protocol for my secure service with embedded credentials to HTTPS?
• How can I configure HTTPS on ArcGIS Server?
• How can I update my ArcMap portal connections?
• FAQ: How is the World Geocoding Service affected by HTTPS Only enforcement?
• FAQ: What do I need to know about ArcGIS Hub regarding enforcement of the HTTPS-Only Standard, update to HTML Rules, and legacy site shutoff?
• ArcGIS Trust Center

More context on the move:

• Updating Web map layers to use HTTPS
• Prepare for your next Major Security Advancement Now

For further information please reach out to Esri Australia Technical Support at support@esriaustralia.com.au or 1800 447 111.

Do you have guests or temporary workers in your organisation’s ArcGIS Online or Portal for ArcGIS?

Their accounts can often see anything that is shared to the organisation. This can be undesirable.   How do you enable your organisation’s core-staff to have access to a wide range of content but have that content unavailable to these temporary users? 

If this is something that your organisation has concerns about, it’s a great time to start using Groups to divide and organise your content into sections or categories for your different types of users. This process is called Compartmentalization.

In ArcGIS Online and Portal you have four ways to share your items.

• With Yourself
• With the Public
• With your Organisation
• With a Group

If your account has the User, Publisher or Administrator role then you have the privilege to Create Groups in ArcGIS Online and Portal for ArcGIS. What you can do with these groups is create a group for every group of user you might have in your organisation.

Some examples of this might be a group for each project demonstration you’re working or presenting, a group for all the content you will publicly share, a group for your temporary workers and a group for general useful content for your organisation’s members.

There are several settings that the group owner can configure for their groups. Some of the key settings are:

• Who can join
• Who can see the group and its content
• Who can contribute content to the group

Here is an example of what ArcGIS Online might look like for a user signing into a temporary account where groups haven’t been set up:

The following example is what it might look like if the user is part of a group where their project’s data is being shared:

As you can see, creating several groups for sharing specific content to can be a very effective method of organising the data in your organisation.

For documentation related to this workflow, see below:

• Create Groups – https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/share-maps/create-groups.htm
• What is a group? – https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/share-maps/groups.htm
• Share items – https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/share-maps/share-items.htm
• User roles and privileges – https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/reference/roles.htm
• FAQ: Is it possible to have guest accounts in ArcGIS Online that can only see what’s in a particular group – https://support.esri.com/en/Technical-Article/000022296

Esri has announced that they will be removing security policy files that are used by the ArcGIS API for Flex (January 26, 2021) and the ArcGIS API for Silverlight (October 12, 2021) from ArcGIS Online. This means that Flex and Silverlight apps will no longer be able to access any content / services from ArcGIS Online. Furthermore, due to security vulnerabilities associated with running Flash, Adobe no longer supports Flash as of 12/31/2020 and is taking steps to block Flash-based apps from running altogether.  

Background

The ArcGIS API for Flex and ArcGIS API for Silverlight were retired in June 2016. However, Esri kept the policy files accessible so that developers who wanted to continue to use their deployed Flex and Silverlight apps could access content and services on ArcGIS Online. These policy files include:

• crossdomain.xml for Flash-based clients
• clientaccesspolicy.xml for Silverlight-based clients

Steps taken

These policy files are being removed in order to protect customers from security vulnerabilities; in line with Adobe, Microsoft, and major browser vendors:

• Adobe will actively block Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning January 12, 2021 
• “Adobe does not intend to issue Flash Player updates or security patches. Therefore, Adobe will continue to prompt users to uninstall Flash Player and strongly recommends that all users immediately uninstall Flash Player.”
• According to Microsoft, “Flash will be completely removed from all browsers by December 31, 2020, via Windows Update” (KB4577856).
• Google Chrome is removing Flash Jan 2021 – https://www.chromium.org/flash-roadmap#TOC-Flash-Player-blocked-as-out-of-date-Target:-All-Chrome-versions—Jan-2021-
• Firefox is removing Flash Jan 26, 2021 – https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2020/11/17/ending-firefox-support-for-flash/
• Safari disabled Flash in Sept 2020
• Per Microsoft, Silverlight support will end 10/12/2021.

What should you do?

Organizations should be taking several critical steps now, which include:

• Line up a replacement app (ArcGIS API for JavaScript);
• Make Flash removal a top priority;
• Avoid downloading Flash from third-party sites after Adobe removes Flash from its website.

Esri is encouraging customers to migrate to a JavaScript-based app using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript. ArcGIS API for JavaScript is the focus of Esri’s web-based development and innovation, and far exceeds the capabilities of the older Flex and Silverlight APIs on many fronts.

Resources

• Microsoft Docs: Adobe Flash end of support on December 31, 2020
• Adobe Flash Player End of Life General Information Page 
• Microsoft Docs: Silverlight end of support on October 12, 2021
• Flash Roadmap – The Chromium Projects: Google Chrome is removing Flash in January 2021
• Firefox is removing Flash Jan 26, 2021

You may have been working with ArcGIS Web AppBuilder for some time now, and mainly see it as your interactive Web AppBuilding friend. But did you know you can easily swap out your web map from the application, by simply modifying the URL?

This could you be useful to you if you were creating a web application template for users and you wanted to quickly see how your application template would look, referencing a variety of maps. Or, if you wanted to promote the use of your web application to your users, in a way that showcases a variety of web maps.

You can do this quickly using a URL scheme. The scheme essentially adds the item ID value of the applicable web map, to your existing web application URL, using a key/value pair. The key is the “webmap” property, whilst the “value” references the web map via its ID.

Working with the URL Scheme to Swap Out  a Web Map

After logging into your ArcGIS Online (AGOL) account, navigate to the Item Details page of a web application item that you want to use (via Content). You can either click ‘View Application’ or copy and paste the URL value (found at the lower right of the Item Details page) into a new browser tab. Your existing web application should appear.
From here open up another browser tab and go to the Item Details page of an alternate web map that you would like to use in your web application (via Content). Grab the item ID from the end of the content item’s URL (in the address bar of the web page), as shown below.

Now, switch back to the tab displaying the web application. The address bar will be displaying a URL of the form :

https://<organistionName>.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=<webAppId>

Add the below string to the end of your existing web application URL.

&webmap=[paste your web map item id here]

For example: 
https://yourOrg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=97a56c4ea41d4a379d1e2d06f9373356&webmap=05de2fb7c116420cbfd2be9446da099b

Your Web AppBuilder web application should now be referencing the web map you have selected and all of its saved configurations (i.e. layers, popups, symbology etc.)! 

Breaking down the URL components

Below is a breakdown of the URL scheme syntax used to change a web map within a Web AppBuilder web mapping application (in AGOL):

https://yourOrg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappbuilder/index.html?id=WEB_APP_ITEM_ID&webmap=WEB_MAP_ITEM_ID 

• yourOrg– This is your AGOL organizational short name.
• WEB_APP_ITEM_ID – This is your web application item ID
• ? – This symbol represents the start of the URL scheme query string
• & – Joins another key/value pair to the query string
• id= or webmap= – These represent a property key term, which is to be assigned
• WEB_MAP_ITEM_ID – This is your web map item ID

Notice then, the general pattern of the web app URL. First there is the specification of the web app :

https://yourOrg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappbuilder/index.html?id=WEB_APP_ITEM_ID

followed by a key/value pair specification:

&webmap=WEB_MAP_ITEM_ID

A succession of key/value pairs may be appended, as shown the below example. The first key specifies a web map, the second specifies the coordinate location, over which the web map will be centred.

https://yourOrg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=97a56c4ea41d4a379d1e2d06f9373356&webmap=05de2fb7c116420cbfd2be9446da099c&center=145,-42.3

What are the benefits of doing this?

• CONSISTENCY – It will allow the user to use different maps within the web application, honoring the same template (widgets, themes etc.). This a huge benefit for consistent branding.
• SAVES SPACE – It can reduce the number of content items in your AGOL portal. For example, 5 web applications to show 5 web different maps, can now be 1 web application used to show 5 web maps, therefore reducing storage space and saving valuable service credits).
• SIMPLICITY – It’s very easy to implement.
• SAVES TIME – Creating one application is a lot faster than creating multiple applications for each web map you want to display. Additionally, if changes are made, they only need to be made to one application. Each time you want to reference another map, changing the web map in Web AppBuilder takes time to launch, choose a map and save. This URL scheme method takes seconds to implement.
• IMPORTED PROPERTIES – The properties of the web map you are referencing should carry through to the Web AppBuilder application (i.e. popups, symbology, layers).

So next time you’re working with a web application, just remember that the humble URL you are seeing can be quite powerful. You may be interested to know how the web application URL may be manipulated further, to quickly and easily modify other application characteristics.

Read more about what is possible via the following links :

• https://doc.arcgis.com/en/web-appbuilder/manage-apps/app-url-parameters.htm
• https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/reference/use-url-parameters.htm
• https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/reference/embed-map-parameters.htm

Read more about configuring widgets with your URL Scheme web application:

• https://support.esri.com/en/Technical-Article/000025087

You’ve purchased an ArcGIS Student license; now, how do you to use it?

This is your one-stop-shop for getting up and running with your new ArcGIS for Student Use subscription. This blog will step you through each stage of the setup process, using the following FAQs as our guide:

1. What is included in my subscription?
2. What is My Esri, and why do I need it?
3. How do I configure my My Esri permissions?
4. How do I download and install the software?
5. What is ArcGIS Online, and why do I need it?
6. How do I activate my ArcGIS Online Organization?
7. How do I assign an ArcGIS Pro license?
8. How do I use my ArcGIS Pro license?
9. How do I authorize ArcMap?
10. Where do I go for training, support, and help?

1. What is included in my subscription?

So, what’s under the hood?

When you purchase an ArcGIS for Student Use subscription, you get:

• An ArcGIS Desktop Advanced license level (for both ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap).
• The following ArcGIS Desktop Extensions:
  • ArcGIS 3D Analyst
  • ArcGIS Data Interoperability
  • ArcGIS Data Reviewer
  • ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst
  • ArcGIS Image Analyst
  • ArcGIS Network Analyst
  • ArcGIS Publisher
  • ArcGIS Schematics
  • ArcGIS Spatial Analyst
  • ArcGIS Tracking Analyst
  • ArcGIS Workflow Manager
  • ArcGIS Desktop software updates
  • ArcGIS Online Creator user type
• 100 service credits for data storage, premium data access, and geocoding and analysis in ArcGIS Online.
• A suite of ready-to-use apps for use anywhere, on any device.
• ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World with maps and data on thousands of topics, including access to foundation content from Esri.
• Installation support.
• Access to self-paced e-Learning on the Esri Training website.

2. What is My Esri, and why do I need it?

My Esri is where you manage your Esri products. This includes software downloads, and obtaining licenses to install and authorize Esri products. After purchasing your subscription, your first step should be to set up your My Esri account.

On purchasing your ArcGIS for Student Use subscription, you should receive an email with a link to connect to your My Esri Organization.

You may also receive a token which can be manually entered to enable visibility of the ‘My Organizations‘ tab for your account. This option can be found by navigating to:

• My Esri > My Profile > Connect to Your Organization > Connect with a Token.

Note: These tokens have a shelf-life, so activate them as soon as possible.

If you did not get the email and / or token, contact Technical Support.

3. How do I configure my My Esri permissions?

Once you are logged in to My Esri, take a moment to ensure that you have all the required permissions. Permissions allow you to undertake certain actions in My Esri, including downloading software.

• Click on the My Organizations tab, then click Users.

Beside your name, you should see a little yellow ‘Admin’ badge.

• Click the little pencil icon to the right of your name, to check your permissions.

You can also now provide yourself with additional permissions, if required, by switching them from ‘No’ to ‘Yes’ . The following permissions might be useful: download software, license products, and access training.

If you don’t have the My Organizations tab, and / or the yellow Admin badge beside your name, and / or you cannot change the permissions, contact Technical Support.

For further My Esri-related information, see: My Esri FAQs.

4. How do I download and install the software?

To download the software, do the following in My Esri:

• Click the My Organizations tab > then click Downloads just beneath it.

This should default to Products (selected on the left-hand side), and your products, ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Desktop (a.k.a. ArcMap), should be available to download from here.

• Beside the product you wish to download, click View Downloads > then Download.

Before installing any of these products, it’s important to take a moment to check the System Requirements for both products. See here for system requirements for ArcMap, and here for the system requirements (including a system check application) for ArcGIS Pro.

Once you are happy that your machine meets the system requirements for your products, you can proceed with installation. The full installation guides for ArcGIS Desktop (ArcMap) can be found here, and here for ArcGIS Pro.

5. What is ArcGIS Online, and why do I need it?

Next, you must activate your ArcGIS Online Organization – but what is ArcGIS Online, and what is an ArcGIS Online Organization?

ArcGIS Online is a ‘cloud-based mapping and analysis solution’, and is accessed via arcgis.com. ArcGIS Online allows you to make maps, carry out analysis, and to share or collaborate. See here for more about ArcGIS Online.

It is possible to set up a Public account with ArcGIS Online; and you may already have a Public account. However, a Public account does not have access to ArcGIS Pro – so if you try to sign in to ArcGIS Pro using those credentials, you will receive an error.

In order to use ArcGIS Pro, you must have a license assigned to you via a special type of ArcGIS Online account called an ArcGIS Online Organization.

As part of your subscription, you have an ArcGIS Online Organization, waiting to be activated. This is a special version of ArcGIS Online that provides you with more functionality, the ability to customize the website, and the ability to manage and assign ArcGIS Pro licenses and extensions. So, in order to assign an ArcGIS Pro to yourself, you first need to activate your ArcGIS Online Organization.

6. How do I activate my ArcGIS Online Organization?

On purchasing your ArcGIS for Student subscription, you will receive an email with an activation token for an ArcGIS Online Organization. Again, these tokens have a shelf-life, so complete the activation process as soon as possible. If you’ve left it a while, and the token no longer works, contact Technical Support.

Once you have clicked the link / token you received, you will be prompted to begin the process to Create an organizational account [this is how you activate your ArcGIS Online Organization account].

• The complete set of steps required to activate your ArcGIS Online Organization can be found here.

Pro Tips:

1. When activating your ArcGIS Online, select Create a New Account if possible; and
2. Never use any social credentials to access ArcGIS Online. Set up a username and password.

You will now have a set of credentials [username/ password] that are associated with an ArcGIS Online Organization.

In addition, your ArcGIS Online Organization comes with 100 credits. Credits are the usage currency for your ArcGIS Online Organization. You can manage and monitor your credit usage, and purchase additional credits, if needed. There is a really good resource available here that covers what credits are, and how they are consumed within ArcGIS Online. I would strongly recommend that you take a look at this before you carry out analysis in ArcGIS Online.

Pro Tip:

1. Don’t use ArcGIS Online to store raw imagery!

7. How do I assign an ArcGIS Pro license?

Now that you have activated your ArcGIS Online Organization, you would like to assign an ArcGIS Pro license to yourself.

Your subscription comes with a Named User ArcGIS Pro license [see here, for more]. This is the default license type for ArcGIS Pro. This license requires you to sign in to ArcGIS Pro on your machine with a set of credentials [username, password]. These credentials are linked to your ArcGIS Online Organization. As stated earlier, if you attempt to log in to ArcGIS Pro on your machine before activating your Organization, you will receive an error re: a Public Account not having access to ArcGIS Pro.

So, after activating your ArcGIS Online Organization, your next step is to assign an ArcGIS Pro license to yourself within your ArcGIS Online Organization i.e. via arcgis.com.

• The complete set of steps to assign ArcGIS Pro licenses via your ArcGIS Online Organization can be found here.

You can also assign software extensions, e.g. Spatial Analyst, using the same method.

8. How do I use my ArcGIS Pro license?

Once you have assigned the licenses in ArcGIS Online, open ArcGIS Pro on your machine, and, in the sign-in window, sign in using your ArcGIS Online credentials.

• See here for an example of this process.

9. How do I authorize ArcMap?

Before we dive in to authorizing ArcMap, let’s take a moment to discuss what is happening with the product. The current version of ArcMap [10.8.1] will be the final release of the product. There are no plans to release a 10.9. See here for a full overview of Continued Support and the Product Lifecyle. While support for the product will continue until March 2026, I strongly recommended that you start the transition to ArcGIS Pro now. To help with this. I’ll provide you with some links and resources towards the end of this blog.

However, in the meantime, there may be several reasons you need to continue using ArcMap; be it to complete assignments, finish projects, or to continue working in a familiar space while you learn the ropes in ArcGIS Pro. So, let’s take a look at authorizing your ArcMap license.

By now, you should have successfully downloaded and installed the software; you now need to authorize your version of the product.

Your subscription comes with a Single Use license. A single use license is a machine-locked license, tying your ArcMap license to one-machine only. This single user license is applied using an authorization code, that can be obtained via My Esri.

So, to authorize ArcGIS Desktop [ArcMap]:

• Log back into My Esri.
• Click the My Organizations tab > Licensing > Authorizations (on the left-hand side).

You should have a product called ArcGIS for Student Use available.

• Click Details to the right of it.
• You may need to scroll down, but an authorization code should be available (a code beginning with ESU, and followed by a series of numbers). Make a note of this code, you’ll need it.

Now you’re ready to authorize your software.

• The full authorization guide for ArcGIS for Desktop can be found here.

If you have any difficulty with authorizing ArcMap, contact Technical Support.

10. Where do I go for training, support, and help?

Let’s start with Technical Support. When it comes to Technical Support, the Student Subscription has limited access beyond installation and licensing.

However, there are numerous ways to get additional assistance, discuss workflows, and to upskill, depending on your experience and need. For example, you may have access to data, and want to dive straight into exploratory analysis or visualization in ArcGIS Pro. Maybe you’re only starting out on your GIS path, and are looking to gain some new skills. Maybe you’re finally making the move From ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro. Whatever the motivation, you need examples, data, workflows, and, importantly, a community to bounce questions and ideas off.

If you’re looking for additional GIS training:

• Esri Academy
• Esri Australia Training
• Learn ArcGIS
• Esri MOOCs

Getting started with ArcGIS Pro:

• Migrating to ArcGIS Pro
• ArcGIS Pro Resources
• ArcGIS Pro Quick-start Tutorials
• Get started with ArcGIS Pro [free tutorial]

If you’re looking for your GIS community:

• GeoNet
• Directions Podcast
• Mapping Evil Podcast
• Directions LIVE Online [free webinars]
• ArcGIS Ideas [submit your ideas!]
• Esri Australia | LinkedIn

If you have issues with installation:

• Contact Technical Support

If you have questions about tools or workflows:

• Get Started with ArcMap
• ArcGIS Pro Resources
• ArcGIS Pro Help
• Try ArcGIS Online

Bonus FAQ: “I haven’t purchased a student license; I obtained an authorization code or an ArcGIS Pro license from my University or Professor. Where do I go for help?”

If this is you, and you have obtained a license from your University or similar [ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro], as part of a course or your studies, many of the resources outlined here are still of use to help you to understand your product, and to upskill. Feel free to use them!

However, you most likely do not have access to licensing or administration privileges in ArcGIS Online or in My Esri. This is managed by another Admin [or Admins] within the educational organization you are a member of. So, what do you do when you have a technical issue or a licensing issue?

To obtain support for an issue using this type of license, e.g., trouble with installation, authorization code is not working, unable to use an extension, unable to use a tool, unable to update a version, something crashing or freezing, etc., you need to reach out to the relevant IT / GIS contacts within your University. This may be the person / professor / TA who provided you with the license. Even if they are not the contact, they may know who the relevant person is.

The designated contact will attempt to resolve the issue for you. If the designated contact cannot resolve the issue themselves, they will then reach out to Technical Support on your behalf. In order to troubleshoot the issue, Esri Australia’s Technical Support needs to liaise with a designated contact at the educational institute in question.

And finally, what’s next, license-wise?

You may wish to continue your ArcGIS journey beyond your Student subscription. A similar license to your Student subscription [i.e. non-commercial-use] is the Personal Use license. If you wish to purchase a commercial-use license, you may wish to peruse the options available here!

Best of luck on your ArcGIS journey! We look forward to seeing what you get up to!

As the administrator of an ArcGIS Online organization, you have the ability to review your organization’s subscription details and credit status, manage members and licenses, monitor activity, generate usage reports and configure settings. Understanding and managing your organization’s credits may be new to you; but there is a wealth of resources available to help you navigate this task.

This article aims to provide you with a step-by-step guide of these key resources, to point you in the right direction, and ultimately get you started with managing credits in ArcGIS Online.

Step 1. Understand credits

In order to effectively administer your organization, you need to understand what credits are, and how they are used. In a nutshell, credits are currency across ArcGIS; they may be consumed during certain processes or transactions, storage scenarios, or when undertaking certain analysis processes, for example.

There are a number of excellent resources aimed at both helping you understand which actions consume credits, and at helping you estimate the number of credits your organization may require:

• Understand credits
• ArcGIS Online Service Credits
• Credits by capability
• Geoprocessing tools that use credits

It is also important to note that some processes consume more credits than others. For example, some commonly used workflows, such as Imagery Storage, Geocoding, and ArcGIS GeoEnrichment Services, consume more credits than most other processes.

Step 2. Manage credits with credit budgeting

Now that you know what credits are, and how they may be consumed, you may now wish to consider credit management strategies for your ArcGIS Online organization.

To do this, you first need to know: 1) your estimated usage [see Step 1 resources to help estimate your credit usage], and 2) how many credits your organization currently has.

You can obtain your current credit status by doing the following:

• Sign in to your ArcGIS Online organization using your administrator credentials [via arcgis.com].
• If necessary, click the Organization tab.
• If necessary, click the Overview tab [underneath the Organization tab].

• Inspect the Credits window on the right-hand side of the page to find your Total remaining credits.

Once you have identified the current credit status of your ArcGIS Online organization [i.e., Total remaining credits], you may wish to implement credit budgeting.

There are a number of ways to manage an ArcGIS Online organization’s credit budget. For example, you may wish to manage the roles of your members in order to restrict access to credit consuming tools to only those who need them; or you may wish to enable credit budgets for your members.

You can enable credit allocation in the following way:

• Sign in to your ArcGIS Online Organization using your administrator credentials.
• If necessary, click the Organization tab.
• Click the Settings tab [underneath the Organization tab].

• On the left-hand side, click the Credits tab.
• Toggle the relevant button to enable credit budgeting tools.

The following resources will help you to navigate credit budgeting:

• User types, roles, and privileges
• Configure member roles
• Enable credit budgeting
• Configure new member defaults

Step 3. Manage credits with monitoring and usage reports

A key part of managing your ArcGIS Online organization’s credits is monitoring usage. An ArcGIS Online administrator can obtain a snapshot of usage in the Credits section of the Overview tab in ArcGIS Online. However, more advanced monitoring and reporting tools are also available via the status dashboard.

To view the status dashboard:

• Sign in to your ArcGIS Online Organization using your administrator credentials.
• If necessary, click the Organization tab.
• If necessary, click the Status tab [underneath the Organization tab].

• Ensure Dashboard is selected underneath the blue bar with the Status tab active.

From here, you will encounter a selection of tabs: Credits, Content, Apps, Members, and Groups. There is also an additional Reports tab, next to the Dashboard tab.

The following resource steps through each of these tabs, and outlines how you can use them to monitor and report credit usage:

• View and report status

Step 4. Purchasing additional credits

If you find that your organization has used more credits than were available [i.e., you now have a negative credit balance], that you require more credits than initially estimated, or that are coming close to exhausting your existing credits, you may wish to purchase additional credits.

You can purchase additional credits here:

• ArcGIS Online service credits

Step 5. Additional training for ArcGIS Online Administrators

There are a number of training options available to help you prepare for administering an ArcGIS Online organization:

• Learn ArcGIS Learning Path: Administer your ArcGIS Online organization.
• Esri Academy Learning Plan: Manage an ArcGIS Online Organization.

Next Steps: Administering an ArcGIS Online Organization

You may wish to explore the following resources for further help, tips, and tricks for administering your ArcGIS Online organization:

• ArcGIS Online Resources
• Get started with administration
• Video: ArcGIS Online: Administration Basics
• Named User Licensing in ArcGIS Online
• Get started performing analysis
• Esri Community