Step by step: ArcGIS Server Distributed Setup on Linux/Solaris

The following steps describe configuration of a setup of multiple server object managers (SOMs) and server object containers (SOCs). A distributed setup such as this can yield better performance, fault tolerance, and scalability.

The installation described below includes two SOM machines and two SOC machines for a total of four physical machines. In this setup, each SOC machine is utilized by both SOM1 and SOM2 and remains operational in case one of the SOMs goes offline. In addition to this, server processes are automatically distributed by SOMs between SOC1 and SOC2 to achieve a balanced load.

In the steps below, all the installations are under the same user and password as user1/passwd1.

Note:

It is highly recommended that you use the same user name and password for all SOM or SOC components, like the installation steps described below. If that is not possible, all install users on all the SOM and SOC machines must be added to the Local GIS Server user list as a member of the agsadmin group on every SOM machine.

Note:

It is required that you grant such users permission to write to the arcgisoutput, arcgiscache, arcgisjobs, arcgisinput and arcgisindex directories under <ArcGIS Server Installation Directory>/server10.0/server/serverdir on each of the SOM machines. It is recommended that you use the same UID for the install users for this purpose.

1. Install SOM1 on machine1 as user1/passwd1.
2. Install SOM2 on machine2 with the same user name and password.
3. Install SOC1 on machine3 with the same user name and password. During the setup, the installation queries for the name of the SOM machine that this SOC machine works with. Provide SOM1 as the SOM machine.
4. Install SOC2 on machine4 with the same user name and password. During the setup, the installation queries for the name of the SOM machine that this SOC machine works with. Provide SOM2 as the SOM machine.
5. Add user1 to the user list on SOM1. Log on to ArcGIS Server Manager on machine1 (http://<machine1>:8099), navigate to GIS Server > Local GIS Users, then add user1/passwd1 to the user list as a member of the agsadmin group.
6. Repeat the same step on machine2 to add user1 to the user list on SOM2.
7. Add SOC1 (machine3) and SOC2 (machine4) to the SOC machine list on SOM1. Log on to ArcGIS Server Manager (http://<machine1>:8099), navigate to GIS Server > Host Machines (SOC), then add machine3 and machine4 to the machine list.
   Note:

   Add user1 to the user list before adding machine3 and machine4 to the SOC machine list on each SOM.

8. Repeat the previous step to add SOC1 and SOC2 to the SOC machine list on SOM2.
9. Configure the ArcGIS Server log folders on SOM1 and SOM2 if needed. They need to be accessible by user1 from machine3 and machine4. The default log folder on the SOM machine is located at <ArcGIS Server Installation directory>/server10.0/server/user/log. You can also specify a different log location.

10. Configure ArcGIS Server cache, output, jobs, input and index directories on SOM1 and SOM2. These directories need to be accessible by user1 from machine3 and machine4.

    On Linux/Solaris, the default server directories of each type are created (arcgisoutput, arcgisjobs, arcgiscache, arcgisinput and arcgisindex). The default location is <ArcGIS Server Installation Directory>/server10.0/server/serverdir.

    You can add/edit/delete these folders with the virtual directory through ArcGIS Server Manager. See Creating a server directory for more information.

11. To setup failover in the case when one of SOM machines goes offline, on machine3 (SOC1) and navigate to <ArcGIS Server Installation Directory>/server10.0/servercore/tools/failover. Execute the script addIdentityServer.sh and add machine2 (SOM2) as the backup server. Repeat this on machine4 (SOC2), adding machine1 (SOM1) as the backup server.
12. To setup automatic synching of local ArcGIS Server users, on either machine1 or machine2, navigate to <ArcGIS Server Installation Directory>/server10.0/servercore/tools/failover/userautosync and run the script userautosync. Check How to automatically sync local ArcGIS Server Users between two SOM machines for detail information.
13. Restart ArcGIS Server on SOC machines machine3 and machine4.
14. Restart ArcGIS Server on SOM machines machine1 and machine2.

For further details on implementation of distributed setups, refer to Deployment scenarios.