Web tool settings

The settings you choose when sharing a tool as a web tool 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 web page. Few web tools (geoprocessing services) will ever need the advanced settings changed.

Tip:

Use ArcGIS Server Manager to administer and modify the settings of the published tool.

Settings

The subsections below describe the settings you can use when sharing a web tool.

General

Parameter	Description
Name	The name of the web tool to be shared to your portal. This name must be unique on your portal and cannot contain spaces or special characters. This parameter inherits from the tool metadata.
Summary	The summary and tags that help document and make the web tool searchable. This parameter inherits from the tool metadata.
Tags
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 your data to use the Reference registered data setting.
Location	Folder—Select or create a portal folder in which 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 your portal has more than one federated server, you can designate the server to which the web tool will be published. For the folder, you can either select an existing folder or create a folder on the ArcGIS Server site. The default is the root of the ArcGIS Server site.
Share with	Set to whom and which groups your 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 your portal who have access to an item. You can share to any group to which you currently belong.

Configuration

Parameter	Description
Upload	Controls whether a client can upload a file to your 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 application can pass to the web tool. This option is turned off by default. Allowing uploads to your service can possibly pose a security risk. Turn this on only if needed.
Execution mode: Synchronous or Asynchronous	Asynchronous and synchronous define 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 executes quickly (within a few seconds). An asynchronous service usually takes longer to execute, and the client must periodically ask the server if the service has finished and, if it has finished, get the result. A web application using an asynchronous service must have logic implemented to check the status and handle the result once execution is finished. ArcGIS Desktop clients handle both execution types natively.
View output in map image layer	When publishing a web tool, 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 you originally publish. The following are reasons you would use View output in map image layer: 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 is set to Asynchronous.
Message Level	You can return messages of varying levels to the client that executed your web tool as follows: None—No geoprocessing messages are returned to the client, only an indication of whether the execution 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 execution are returned to the client. Caution: All messages, regardless of level, may contain dataset paths and names, which may pose a security risk. The Info level is verbose and typically contains references to dataset paths and names. In general, return messages during development, but turn them off in production.
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 your GIS server can handle sending many individual records or features to the client. If you don't want to return any features, set this value to 0 (zero). Typically, you set this value to zero only when you enable View output in map image layer.

The previously mentioned settings 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 your portal.

Content

The following settings can only be modified at the time of publishing a web tool.

Add Tool

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

Configure tool properties

You can change the tool properties by clicking the edit button to the right of the tool name.

Parameter	Description
Name	The name of the tool. The name inherits from the tool metadata label.
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 you share from history.

The following properties can be changed for each parameter:

Parameter	Description
Name	The name and description of the parameter. Both inherit from the parameter name and description from the tool metadata. You can modify them here and not affect the original tool metadata.
Description
Type	The parameter type defines whether the client must supply a value for the tool to execute successfully. On the Content tab, you can only change optional parameters 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.
Input Mode	The input mode determines how clients will input features to your task: User defined value—The client provides a value for the parameter. Choice list—The client is given a list of strings (the choice list) and 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 tool uses the value you supplied for the parameter when you created the result. Since the value is constant, the client cannot change it, so it will not become a task parameter when the service is published.
Geometry Type (applies to feature set and feature layer 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. You need to rerun the tool using features of the specified geometry type, and share the result created by the run.
Schema (applies to feature set, feature layer, record set, and table view)	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.
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, execute the tool again with the corresponding parameter.

The following parameter is only applicable for feature data type output.

Parameter	Description
Feature Service Output	The optional output parameter that allows users to save the output as a feature service when consuming the web tool.

Web Manager settings

The settings in the subsections below can only be modified in ArcGIS Server Web Manager. The previously mentioned configuration settings can also be modified in Web Manager after the service has been published.

Note:

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

Parameters

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 executing the tool.

Capabilities

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

Pooling

Parameter	Description
Number of instances	The minimum and maximum number of instances of the service. The default values are 1 (minimum) and 2 (maximum). Setting a minimum value of 0 reduces system resources; an instance will start on a client request.
The maximum time a client can use a service	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, you may need to reduce this time to ensure a client will not abuse your services.
The maximum time a client will wait to get a service	The maximum time, in seconds, that a client will wait to connect to an instance before timing out. When all instances are busy processing requests, subsequent requests are queued. If this time-out elapses before an instance becomes available, the task will fail. The default is 60 seconds (1 minute).
The maximum time an idle instance can be kept running	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 is shut down once the idle maximum time value has elapsed.

Processes

Parameter	Description
Recycling	Controls how often and when to recycle a service. 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.