ArcGIS Desktop 10 System Requirements
Need info for earlier versions? Click here.
Table of Contents
Supported Operating Systems
Check your computer's ability to run ArcGIS Desktop
Supported Operating Systems | Minimum Version | Maximum Version |
|---|---|---|
Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services | SP2 | SP2 |
Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter (64 bit [EM64T]) | SP1* | |
Windows 2008 R2 Server with Citrix XenApp 6 ** | SP1* | SP1* |
Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise, Professional, Home Premium (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP1* | |
Windows Vista Ultimate, Enterprise, Business, Home Premium (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
Windows XP Professional Edition, Home Edition (32 bit) | SP3 | SP3 |
Windows XP Professional Edition, Home Edition (64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
*Support begins at ArcGIS 10 service pack 2.
**Esri has certified ArcGIS 10 SP2 as a hosted application with Citrix XenApp 6 and Windows 2008 R2. Please note, ArcGlobe/ArcScene, and any other 3D application generally will not work over Remote Desktop or other Windows Terminal Services clients, because they do not support 3D graphics acceleration. Also note that Esri does not recommend running virtualized XenApp servers to host ArcGIS Desktop applications due to performance bottlenecks encountered with multiple layers of virtualization.
Hardware Requirements
ArcInfo, ArcView, ArcEditor | |
|---|---|
CPU Speed | 2.2 GHz minimum; Hyper-threading (HHT) or Multi-core recommended |
Processor | Intel Pentium 4, Intel Core Duo, or Xeon Processors; SSE2 minimum Run this Microsoft utility from your Windows command prompt to check your processor. |
Memory/RAM | 2 GB minimum |
Display Properties | 24-bit color depth |
Screen Resolution | 1024 x 768 recommended minimum at normal size (96 dpi) |
Swap Space | Determined by the operating system; 500 MB minimum. |
Disk Space | 2.4 GB In addition, up to 50 MB of disk space maybe needed in the Windows System directory (typically C:\Windows\System32). You can view the disk space requirement for each of the 10.0 components in the Setup program. If using ArcGlobe (as part of 3D Analyst), additional disk space may be required. ArcGlobe will create cache files when used. |
Video/Graphics Adapter | 64 MB RAM minimum, 256 MB RAM or higher recommended. NVIDIA, ATI, and Intel chipsets supported. 24 bit capable graphics accelerator OpenGL version 2.0 runtime minimum is required, and Shader Model 3.0 minimum is recommended. Be sure to use the latest available driver. |
Networking Hardware | Simple TCP/IP, Network Card or Microsoft Loopback Adapter is required for the License Manager. |
Software Requirements
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 must be installed prior to installing ArcGIS Desktop.
- Internet Explorer Requirement:
- ArcGIS Desktop requires a minimum installation of Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7.0 or 8.0. If you do not have an installation of Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 7.0/8.0, you must obtain and install it prior to installing ArcGIS Desktop.
-
Python Requirement for Geoprocessing:
ArcGIS Desktop geoprocessing tools require that Python 2.6.x and Numerical Python 1.3.0 are installed. If the ArcGIS Desktop setup does not find either Python 2.6.x or Numerical Python (NumPy) 1.3.0 installed on the target computer, Python 2.6.5 and Numerical Python 1.3.0 will be installed during a complete installation. You can choose a Custom installation to unselect the Python feature and avoid installing it. Additionally, if the Python setup is executed during the ArcGIS Desktop installation, you will be provided with the opportunity to choose its installation location. The Python installation location should not include spaces.
-
Microsoft WinHelp patch for Windows 7 and Windows Vista:
The following Microsoft patch is recommended, but not required, when using ArcGIS Desktop, ArcInfo Workstation, ArcGIS Engine, or ArcReader on Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. ArcGIS Desktop, ArcInfo Workstation, ArcGIS Engine, and ArcReader provide pop-up context sensitive help topics for tools, commands, and dialog boxes delivered using WinHlp32. WinHlp32 will not function on Windows 7 and Windows Vista without this patch. Here is Microsoft Knowledge Base article 917607 about this patch, which also contains links so you can download the patch. If you access pop-up context sensitive help without this patch being present, you will get a message from Windows prompting you to download the patch. For best usability, we recommend installing the patch at the time you install ArcGIS. For additional information, please refer to Esri Knowledge Base article 32530.
Printer Support
ArcGIS supports printing to any Microsoft certified Windows printer using the native driver in ArcGIS. Please note that some printer drivers do not support complex maps and the ArcPress printer driver or additional hardware may be needed for these complex maps.
-
Esri recommends the following configuration when printing
large maps with the ArcPress printer drivers:
- If large complex maps do not print, then reboot the computer to ensure the pagefile system is cleared. If the pagefile system is not a dedicated drive or partition, make sure that drive does not need to be defragmented.
- Disk Space: at least 10 GB of free space is required on the drive where %TEMP% is located, as potentially large temporary files will be written there while ArcPress is processing a map for printing.
For more information on supported printers please refer to the following Knowledge Base FAQ: What printers are supported by ArcGIS Desktop?
License Manager 10 System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems | Minimum Version | Maximum Version |
|---|---|---|
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES/WS 4 (32 bit and 64 bit) | Update 4 or higher | |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 (32 bit and 64 bit) | Base or higher | |
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (32 bit and 64 bit) | SP2 or higher | |
Sun Solaris 10 (64 bit [SPARC]) | Maintenance Update 4 (8/07) or higher | |
Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | |
Windows Vista Ultimate, Enterprise, Business, Home Premium (32 bit and 64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
Windows XP Professional Edition, Home Edition (32 bit) | SP3 | SP3 |
Windows XP Professional Edition, Home Edition (64 bit [EM64T]) | SP2 | SP2 |
Hardware requirements for License Manager 10 are identical to ArcGIS Desktop 10 hardware requirements.
Developer SDK Requirements
ArcGIS Desktop SDK | Supported and Recommended IDE(s) | SDK Requirements |
|---|---|---|
ArcGIS VBA Resources for Developers | Visual Basic for Applications | ArcGIS Desktop is required to develop with ArcGIS VBA Resources for Developers. Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 |
ArcObjects SDK |