Web tool and geoprocessing service settings

When sharing a tool as a web tool or a geoprocessing service, property settings define how they are consumed by client applications. The most common and frequently changed tool parameters can be set while sharing. Less common settings can be changed in ArcGIS Server Manager after the tool has been shared. A few advanced settings can only be set on the ArcGIS Server Administrator REST API.

Settings

The subsections below describe the available settings when sharing a web tool or a geoprocessing service.

General

The following general parameter settings are available:

Parameter	Description
Name	The name of the web tool or geoprocessing service that will be shared to the portal. This name must be unique on the portal and cannot contain spaces or special characters. This parameter inherits from the tool metadata.
Summary	The summary and tags that help describe the document and make the web tool searchable. These parameters inherit from the tool metadata. You can use the Tags drop-down menu to select existing tags. The maximum limit is 128 tags.
Tags
Category	The category of the web tool item. This setting is not available for geoprocessing services published to a stand-alone ArcGIS Server.
Version	The version of ArcGIS Enterprise or ArcGIS Server the tool will be shared to. This parameter is only enabled when saving an offline service definition for a web tool.
Data	Specifies what will happen to the data. Non-URL Data—Controls whether the data is copied to the server (becoming static) or remains referenced by the web tool. A matching entry in the server data store must be set up for the data to use the Reference registered data option. If the server data store does not set up the data, it will be copied during publishing. This is only applicable when publishing as a web tool or saving as a connected service definition. When saving the result as an offline service definition, ensure that all the data from the parameter can be referenced when using the Reference data option, as there is no alternative to copy the data if the server data store does not set up the data. URL Data—Controls whether the data remains as a URL or is converted to another data type during publishing. This option is provided in ArcGIS Pro 3.2 or later. URL data refers to the URL of different types of web layers or services. Only feature layers, feature services, and feature sublayers of web image layers can be configured. When the Convert feature layer check box is checked, the feature layer or service of the parameter or project data is converted to a feature class during publishing. If unchecked, the feature layer URL is preserved. There is no option to convert the URL of web image layers, since a URL will always be preserved during publishing. This option is checked by default. Learn more about copying, referencing, and using URL data
Location	Specifies where the web tool item or geoprocessing service will be created. For web tool items published to ArcGIS Enterprise, the options are as follows: Folder—Select or create a portal folder where the web tool item will be created. The default is the root of the portal. Server and Folder—For the server, web tools must be shared to a portal with one or more federated servers. If the portal has more than one federated server, designate the server where the web tool will be published. For the folder, either select an existing folder or create a folder on the ArcGIS Server site. The default is the root folder of the ArcGIS Server site. For geoprocessing services published to stand-alone ArcGIS Server sites, the option is as follows: Folder— Select or create a server folder where the geoprocessing service item will be created. The default is the root folder of the server.
Share with	Available to web tools published to ArcGIS Enterprise only, specify with whom and to which groups the web tool will be shared. A web tool is always shared to My Content. Sharing a web tool to Everyone makes the item public; anyone who has access to the portal website can find and use it, and group owners can include it in their group content. Sharing a web tool to ArcGIS Enterprise shares the web tool with all members of the portal who have access to an item. You can share to any group to which you belong.

Configuration

The following parameter settings are available on the Configure service capabilities and parameters tab:

Parameter	Description
Upload	Controls whether a client can upload a file to the server to use as input for the web tool. The upload operation is typically used by web clients that need a way to send a file to the server for processing. The upload operation returns a unique ID for the file after the upload completes, which the web app can pass to the web tool. This option is turned off by default. Allowing uploads to the service can possibly pose a security risk. Turn this on only if needed.
Execution mode	Specifies how the client (the application using the web tool) interacts with the web tool and gets the output. When a web tool is set to Synchronous, the client waits for the task to finish. Typically, a synchronous service runs quickly (within a few seconds). When set to Asynchronous, the service usually takes longer to run, and the client must periodically check the server to determine whether the service has finished and, if it has finished, get the result. A web app using an asynchronous service must have logic implemented to check the status and handle the result once it is finished running. The default is Asynchronous.
View output in map image layer	When publishing a web tool or a geoprocessing service, you can view the output as a map image. The map image is created on the server and transported back to the client as an image (a .tiff file with style information). Symbology, labeling, transparency, and other properties of the map image are the same as the output layer from the ArcGIS Pro session when originally published. Consider the following when using this parameter: If the tool outputs a large number of features that the client must symbolize and draw, it will be faster for the client to receive a map image. For data distribution reasons, you don't want to send the client any features, only a map image. The result of the tool is a dataset that is not transportable, such as a network or topology. The only way to send output to the client is using a map image. Note: An output map image can only be used when the web tool's Execution mode parameter is set to Asynchronous. This parameter is not supported when publishing a web tool to Kubernetes. The default is unchecked.
Message Level	Return messages of the following levels to the client that ran the web tool as follows: None—No geoprocessing messages are returned to the client, only an indication of whether the operation was successful or failed. This is the default. Error—Only tool messages that produce an error are returned to the client. Warning—All tool error and warning messages are returned to the client. Info—All tool messages from the operation are returned to the client. Caution: Any message, regardless of level, may contain dataset paths and names, which may pose a security risk. The Info level is detailed and typically contains references to dataset paths and names. In general, return messages at Info or Warning level in development and testing environment, and use the None or Error level in a production environment. The default is None.
Maximum number of records returned	The maximum number of results the service can return to a client. Setting this value to a large number means the GIS server can handle sending many individual records or features to the client. To return no features, set this value to 0 (zero). This property will not have an effect when the Add optional output feature service parameter parameter is checked. The default is 1000.

The following parameter settings are available on the Configure Pooling tab. See Tune and configure services for more considerations when specifying these settings.

Parameter	Description
Number of instances	The minimum and maximum number of instances of the geoprocessing service that can run on each server machine for ArcGIS Enterprise or the gp-server-sync pod for ArcGIS Enterprise on Kubernetes at any one time.
Service timeouts - Maximum usage time	The maximum time, in seconds, that a service can be used. You may need to increase the default of 600 seconds (10 minutes) for long-running geoprocessing tasks. Alternatively, can reduce this time to ensure a client will not abuse your services.
Service timeouts - Maximum wait time	The maximum time, in seconds, that a client will wait to connect with an instance before timing out. When all instances are busy processing requests, subsequent requests are queued. If the wait time elapses before an instance becomes available, the task will fail. The default is 60 seconds (1 minute).
Service timeouts - Maximum idle time	The maximum time, in seconds, that an instance will continue to be active before pool shrinking occurs. Any instances above the minimum number of instances that have not been used will be shut down once the idle maximum time value has elapsed.

The parameters described above can be modified in ArcGIS Server Manager after the web tool has been shared, with the exception of the summary and tags. This description information can be updated on the shared web tool's item page in the portal.

Content

The settings described below can only be modified at the time of publishing a web tool or a geoprocessing service.

Add Tool

To add tools from the geoprocessing history to an existing web tool or geoprocessing service, click the Add Tool button on the Content tab. To remove tools, click the tool name and choose Remove.

Configure tool properties

To configure the tool properties, click the edit button next to the tool name.

Property	Description
Name	The name of the tool. The default is based on the tool metadata.
Description	The description of the tool. The description does not inherit from the tool metadata. If blank, provide a description and it will remain each time when sharing from history.

The following properties can be configured for each parameter:

Property	Description
Name	The name and description of the parameter. Both properties inherit from the parameter name and description from the tool metadata. Modifying these properties will not affect the original tool metadata.
Description
Type	The parameter type defines whether the client must supply a value for the tool to run successfully. On the Content tab, only optional parameters can be changed to required. To change a required parameter to an optional parameter, exit the sharing pane, edit the properties of the tool, and run the tool again to create a new result.
Keep data type as Composite	This property is only available when the parameter is a composite data type. It specifies whether the parameter will be published as a composite data type (checked). The default is unchecked.
Input Mode	Specifies how clients will input features to the task. For the GUI design and usage, see Input mode. User defined value—The client provides a value for the parameter. Choice list—A list of strings (the choice list) is provided and the client must choose one or more of the strings from the choice list. Depending on the data type of the input, the strings can be the names of layers or simple keyword options. Constant—The value supplied for the parameter when the result was created will be used. Since the value is constant, the client cannot change it, so it will not become a task parameter when the service is published. Mix Mode: user defined and choice list—Only available for composite or value table parameters. Configure the input mode for each data type in the composite, or each data type for each column in the value table. If any data type does not support the choice list, only the User defined value option will be available for configuration.
Convert data type to String	This property only applies to the areal unit data type. It specifies whether the areal unit will be converted to the string data type (checked) or published as an areal unit (unchecked). The default is unchecked.
Remove default value	Starting at ArcGIS Pro 3.3, when checked, the default value used when running the tool will be removed during the publishing process. The default is unchecked.
Default Value	The default value of the tool is determined by the parameter value specified when the tool is running. To add or change the default value of a parameter, run the tool again with the corresponding parameter.
Only use default layers	This property applies to choice list input mode only. It specifies whether only the options that are used when running the tool will be checked in the list view under this check box (checked). The default is unchecked.
Geometry Type	This property applies to features only. The geometry type comes from the input and output features that are used to create the result. It cannot be modified on the Content tab. Rerun the tool using features of the specified geometry type, and share the result created by that operation.
Schema	This property applies to features and tables only. The schema is a list of fields (attributes) that must be supplied by the client when they construct the features for input to the tool. This list of fields is the same as the layer or dataset that was used as input or output to the tool that created the result.

The following configuration parameters apply to the entire tool:

Parameter	Description
Add optional output feature service parameter	An optional input parameter that specifies whether all feature outputs can be saved as a hosted feature service when using the web tool. This parameter is only supported when publishing as a web tool with asynchronous execution mode published to ArcGIS Enterprise. It is not available for configuration otherwise. The parameter is checked by default. Learn more about using web tools with output feature service
Add optional Output Image Service parameter	An optional input parameter that specifies whether all raster outputs can be saved as image services when using the web tool or geoprocessing service. Learn more about using web tools and geoprocessing services with output image service
Remove all default values	Starting at ArcGIS Pro 3.3, when checked, all the default values used when running the tool will be removed, and the Remove default value check box in the tool parameter configuration above will be automatically checked. The default is unchecked

ArcGIS Server Manager settings

The parameter settings in the subsections below can only be modified in ArcGIS Server Manager, excluding ArcGIS Enterprise Manager for ArcGIS Enterprise on Kubernetes. Most configuration settings described above can also be modified in ArcGIS Server Manager after the service has been published.

Note:

Modifying any of the following settings causes the service to be restarted.

Parameters

The following parameter settings are available:

Parameter	Description
Cluster	The cluster the service will run under. This setting can only be modified if ArcGIS Server participates in a cluster.
Directories	The directories used by the server to write files when running the tool.

Capabilities

The following capabilities parameter setting is available:

Parameter	Description
WPS	Enables WPS capabilities on geoprocessing services, allowing other clients to connect to and consume tools through OGC standard protocols. Learn more about WPS

Processes

The following processes parameter setting is available:

Parameter	Description
Recycling	Controls how often and when a service is recycled. The default is once every 24 hours starting at midnight. Geoprocessing services only run in high isolation, unlike some other service types that can run in either low or high isolation.