On-premises virtualization environments offer robust support for ArcGIS Pro, using both vGPU and GPU pass-through configuration. Leading virtualization platforms such as VMware Horizon, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, and Nutanix AHV all use NVIDIA vGPU technology to deliver high-performance, graphics-rich virtual desktops that match the experience of a physical workstation.
Citrix Virtual Apps is not a recommended application-virtualization solution due to its limited GPU management for ArcGIS Pro.
With on-premises solutions, users benefit from fluid, high-fidelity interactions—including smooth map navigation, 3D rendering, and spatial analysis—with the same performance as a local, high-powered machine. System administrators benefit from centralized resource management, better performance predictability, and scalable deployments.
The other help topics in this section describe what is needed to configure VMWare and Citrix VDI environments to support ArcGIS Pro.
GPU options
ArcGIS Pro uses DirectX and OpenGL hardware acceleration. Two GPU configurations are supported: vGPU (shared GPU) and GPU pass-through. With the vGPU, multiple VMs share a single GPU, which provides scalability and efficiency. With the GPU pass-through configuration, a single GPU is dedicated to one VM, delivering the best performance for demanding 3D workloads with lower VM density.
Hardware guidance and VM profiles
Esri and its hardware partners recommend robust server setups. These include high-frequency, multicore CPUs, large amounts of RAM, optimized storage, and NVIDIA GPUs certified for virtualization—for example, L4, L40, A10, A40, and T4.
Learn more about recommendations for on-premises VMs
Supported virtual platforms include the following:
- VMware Horizon—This product fully supports shared vGPU and pass-through GPU deployments for ArcGIS Pro.
- Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops—This product supports ArcGIS Pro with the proper GPU configuration (shared or pass-through), but not via application-only delivery methods.
- Microsoft Hyper-V—This product supports GPU pass-through deployments (Discrete Device Assignment [DDA]), suitable for lighter graphics workloads.
- Nutanix AHV—This product supports GPU-backed VMs, and is typically used alongside Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops to deliver ArcGIS Pro in infrastructures where the hardware environment is completely virtualized.
Note:
Deploying ArcGIS Pro using a Remote Desktop Service Host (RDSH) environment is not supported. RDSH environments cannot manage GPU sharing or scheduling effectively, resulting in poor and inconsistent performance, especially in multiuser 3D scenarios.
Performance and driver considerations
- GPU driver versions should be kept consistent between hypervisor hosts and guest VMs. Mismatched versions can lead to rendering issues, application failures, or degraded performance.
- Running ArcGIS Pro without hardware acceleration—for example, if the GPU is unavailable—forces the CPU to do software rendering, which can significantly affect graphics performance.