An ArcGIS geodatabase is a collection of geographic datasets of various types held in a common file system folder, or a multiuser relational database management system such as IBM Db2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, or SAP HANA.
Several cloud providers, such as Microsoft and Amazon, offer managed database services that are also supported by ArcGIS Enterprise, and you can create a geodatabase in these database service offerings as well.
Refer to the following resource for further information about the requirements for using ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Pro with databases in the cloud.
Requirements for using ArcGIS 11.0 and ArcGIS Pro 3.0 with databases in the cloud – https://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/system-requirements/latest/windows/databases-in-the-cloud.htm
There are two types of databases in the cloud: databases that are installed on virtual machines in the cloud, and databases that are available as database-as-a-service offerings. For database-as-a-service types, you do not have access to the machine that serves up the database and you do not have to perform maintenance tasks such as applying security patches on the database or operating system.
When talking about Microsoft Azure’s database-as-a-service offering, we use the term “Azure SQL Database”.
Azure SQL Database – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-au/products/azure-sql/database/#overview
Although Esri’s ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure (https://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/server/latest/cloud/azure/what-is-arcgis-server-cloud-builder-for-microsoft-azure.htm) can be used to add databases to an ArcGIS Server site on Microsoft Azure, in some circumstances clients may wish to manually create Enterprise Geodatabase in an Azure SQL Database with a geodatabase administrator named “sde”.
The geodatabase administrator in SQL Server – https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geodatabases/manage-sql-server/geodatabase-administrator-sqlserver.htm
A comparison of geodatabase owners in SQL Server – https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geodatabases/manage-sql-server/comparison-geodatabase-owners-sqlserver.htm
This blog article can be used as a reference for the workflows required to create an Azure SQL Database with an ”sde-owned” Enterprise Geodatabase.
Create an Azure SQL Database from Azure Portal.
- Navigate to the relevant Resource Group.
- Click on Create.
- Click on SQL Database | Create.
- Confirm Subscription and Resource Group; create a new Resource Group if required.
- Enter Database name and Server; create a new Server if required.
The following screen is presented when creating a new database server.
- Configure the SQL Database regarding:
- Workload environment
- Compute + storage
- Backup storage redundancy
NOTE: the above configuration options will create a database with specifications relevant to development workloads. If your database must perform at greater levels configure the database accordingly.
- Click on Next : Networking and then configure Networking options. The following is for illustrative purposes only. Consult an Azure administrator or subject matter expert for advice.
- Configure Security, Additional settings, and Tags as required by your organization.
- Check that the SQL Server and Databases are present in Azure Portal after creation.
For further information regarding creating Azure SQL Databases in Azure Portal, refer to the following Microsoft resource.
Quickstart: Create a single database – Azure SQL Database – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/single-database-create-quickstart?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-portal
Create an “SDE Schema” Enterprise Geodatabase in Azure SQL database.
- Connect to the Azure SQL Server Instance in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
- Navigate to Databases > System Databases > master.
- Right-click and select New Query.
- Create an “sde” login.
CREATE LOGIN sde WITH PASSWORD = ‘Pa55w0rd1234’;
NOTE: Choose your own password for the “sde” login. The password included in the example above is not recommended for use in customer environments.
- Create an “sde” database user.
CREATE USER sde FROM LOGIN sde;
- Add “sde” to the LOGINMANAGER role.
ALTER ROLE loginmanager ADD MEMBER sde;
- Navigate to Databases > databaseName.
- Right-click and select New Query.
- Create an “sde” user in the Azure SQL database.
CREATE USER sde FROM LOGIN sde;
- Start ArcGIS Pro.
- Use the Create Enterprise Geodatabase tool to create an enterprise geodatabase in the Azure SQL database.
NOTES:
- The Authorization File (typically named ‘keycodes’) will have to be copied to the Azure VM running ArcGIS Pro prior to running the Create Enterprise Geodatabase tool.
- The Database Administrator credentials (username and password) are the Server admin login values specified when creating the SQL Database Server.
- The Geodatabase Administrator Password becomes the password for the “sde” database user.
- In SQL Server Management Studio, check that the geodatabase repository tables were created successfully.
Note: The list of tables above is not a complete list of the geodatabase repository tables.
- Verify permissions for user ‘sde’ in the geodatabase.
- Right-click the geodatabase and select Properties.
- Click on Permissions.
- Ensure the ‘sde’ user is selected. It should be granted the following permissions –
- Connect
- Create function
- Create procedure
- Create table
- Create view
- View database state
- View definition
- Check ALLOW_SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION, SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION_STATE_DESC and READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT configuration for the geodatabase.
SELECT name, snapshot_isolation_state,
snapshot_isolation_state_desc,
is_read_committed_snapshot_on
FROM sys.databases
WHERE name = ‘DBName‘;
- Check your results match the following.
- Create a connection to the enterprise geodatabase as the geodatabase administrator (sde) in ArcGIS Pro.
For more information regarding geodatabase connections, refer to the following resource.
Connect to a database – https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/projects/connect-to-a-database.htm
