Before users can access Insights, you must set up a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment that includes Portal for ArcGIS with a federated ArcGIS Server site as your hosting server.
You will also need to install Insights for ArcGIS. For instructions, see Install Insights for ArcGIS.
Required base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment
All of the components listed below, which together make up a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, are required. A Workgroup deployment is also supported. For a tutorial on how to create a base deployment, see Tutorial: Set up a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment.
- ArcGIS Server, licensed as ArcGIS GIS Server Standard or ArcGIS GIS Server Advanced.
- Portal for ArcGIS.
- ArcGIS Web Adaptor (one for portal, and one for server).
- ArcGIS Data Store (configured as a relational data store).
Note:
If ArcGIS Web Adaptor for ArcGIS Server is not configured to enable administrative access, ArcGIS Server must be configured to use a CA-signed certificate to support creating database connections.
ArcGIS Server must be licensed as ArcGIS GIS Server Standard or ArcGIS GIS Server Advanced. For more information about ArcGIS Server licensing roles, see ArcGIS Enterprise licensing in the Portal for ArcGIS administrator guide or ArcGIS Server help.
After you build your deployment, you will also need to configure required portal settings (see below).
Required portal configuration settings
After you set up the base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, do the following:
- Ensure that users in your organization have the appropriate role, privileges, and user type to access and use Insights.A user requires the following:
- The Publisher or Administrator role, or an equivalent custom role to add data, create visualizations, and use spatial analytics
- One of the following user types or user accounts:
- Creator or GIS Professional user type (ArcGIS Enterprise 10.7)
For more information, see User types, roles and privileges in the Portal for ArcGIS Administrator Guide.
Next, configure other settings to enable important services and features such as geocoding and routing (see below).
Important settings for Insights for ArcGIS features
These configuration settings are not required, but they allow portal members to connect to data warehouses, geocode data, use maps (and extents) suitable for their region, and more.
Register relational data store types
To support database connections that allow users to add datasets from a business database, your portal's hosting server site must have the required relational data store types registered for use. Follow these steps to ensure Insights can work with your database.
- Upload the required vendor files to ArcGIS Server.
- Get the required vendor files for the database type you want to register (see Supported databases to get the list of required vendor files).
- Package vendor files into a ZIP file (.zip) for a single database type.
Note:
When zipping the JDBC drivers for upload, .jar files should be located in the root of the zip archive. There should not be any folders in the .zip file.
- Using an administrator account, sign in to the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory (http://server:port/arcgis/admin).
- Navigate to Uploads.
- Click Choose File.
- Browse to the ZIP file containing the vendor files for the database to be registered.
- Select the ZIP file and click Open.
- Optionally add a description to the file to upload.
- Click Upload.
- Note the Item ID of the uploaded file.
- Navigate back to Home.
- Register the data store type on ArcGIS Server.
- Navigate to Data in the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory.
- Navigate to relationalDatastoreTypes.
- Navigate to Register.
- Select the ZIP file using the Item ID from the Uploaded item ID drop-down list.
- Select the corresponding type from the Relational Datastore Type drop-down list.
- Click Register Item.
- Restart ArcGIS Server.
- After registering all required data store types following steps 1 and 2, you have to restart ArcGIS Server on each machine in your site. To do this, you need to restart the Windows Service or use the stopserver and startserver scripts on Linux.
- Validate user database privileges.
- Make sure that Insights users have the required database privileges to create database connections and query data.
Tip:
Insights displays spatial data in the spatial reference system of your portal organization's default basemap. This is for display and query purposes only; the underlying data is not altered. If the two spatial reference systems' underlying geographic coordinate systems are incompatible, alignment and accuracy problems may be observed. To ensure fast performance and accurate display of spatial data, it is recommended that organizations use the same spatial reference system for their default basemap and their spatial data. You can change the default basemap of the portal or re-project your spatial data to match your organization's basemap.
Edit relational data store types
Edit a registered relational data store type to update its properties. Before proceeding with any edit, make a backup copy of the JSON properties. To edit the relational data store type, use the following steps:
- Edit the registered relational data store type on ArcGIS Server.
- Using an administrator account, sign in to the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory (http://server:port/arcgis/admin).
- Navigate to Data in the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory.
- Navigate to relationalDatastoreTypes.
- Click on the registered relational data store type that needs to be edited.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on edit.
- Modify the properties and click on update.
- Restart ArcGIS Server for the changes to take effect.
After editing registered relational data store types, you have to restart ArcGIS Server on each machine in your site. To do this, you need to restart the Windows Service or use the stopserver and startserver scripts on Linux.
Configure utility services
Configure utility services required to power specific functionality in your portal, such as performing analysis with tools that depend on utility services. The table below lists each utility service and the Insights feature it supports.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
Allows users to add location to their datasets by specifying an address. For user instructions, see Enable location for your data. | |
Enables the use of dissolved boundaries for the Create Buffer/Drive Times tool. | |
Enables the Find Nearest spatial analysis tool. | |
Allows users to add demographic information to a location or area using the Enrich Data tool. | |
Allows users to specify a means of transportation, such as walking time or trucking distance, for spatial tools such as Create Buffer/Drive Times. |
Note:
- You can configure your portal to use utility services from ArcGIS Online. See Configure ArcGIS Online utility services for details.
- If you are running Insights in a disconnected environment, you must configure the service from a federated or hosting server.
Configure boundary layers
Configure boundary layers to allow users to use feature layers containing boundary information for supported countries in their maps and analyses.
When you configure boundary layers, users can add these layers from the Boundaries tab of the Add To Page window. Boundary layers are another way for users to add location to their data. For user instructions, see the following:
Specify a default region
Specify a default region to control the default map extent and to make boundary layers for the default region available to users on the Boundaries tab of the Add To Page window.
Configure Living Atlas content
Configure subscriber and premium content from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World to make this ArcGIS Online collection available in your portal. Living Atlas content that does not require you to sign in to an ArcGIS Online account is available by default.
Once the portal has been configured to support Insights, users can access it through a URL in the format http://webadaptorhost.domain.com/<webadaptorname>/apps/insights. Help documentation can be accessed from the Help menu in Insights.
Use the Insights for ArcGIS web help to get the most up-to-date help online.