Publish vector tile services

Creating and publishing a vector tile service is the process of using data management tools to create a new vector tile service from existing data. Vector tile services can be created from an existing hosted feature layer in ArcGIS.com or by uploading a vector tile package file (.vtpk) created with ArcGIS Pro.

How to create vector tile services with ArcGIS.com

You can use ArcGIS.com to create a new hosted vector tile layer (item) and vector tile service when you have an existing hosted feature layer. The resulting vector tile service maintains a relationship with the source feature layer. When the source features change, you can rebuild the vector tile cache to synchronize the updates with the vector tile service.

Use this method when you want to:

• Publish tiles from an single hosted feature layer.
• Synchronize tiles with the source feature layer.
• Manage the tile scales.
• Manage visible range.
• Rebuild tiles on demand.
• Use the default indexed tiling format.

The general steps to publish a vector tile service in ArcGIS Online are:

1. Go to ArcGIS.com or your ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
2. Click > Content, click an existing feature layer, and then click Publish > Vector tile layer.

How to create vector tile services with ArcGIS Pro

You can use ArcGIS Pro to create a vector tile package using your local infrastructure and then upload it using ArcGIS.com or ArcGIS Enterprise Portal as a vector tile service.

Use this technique when you want to:

• Take advantage of your local infrastructure.
• Create tile services containing multiple layers.
• Manage the tiling format (Indexed or Flat).
• Mangage the minimum and maximum cache scale.
• Generate tiles from features that use complex symbology.
• Manually synchronize and then republish vector tiles with local source data.

The general steps to publish a vector tile service in ArcGIS Pro are:

1. Add one or more layers to a map in ArcGIS Pro.
2. Run the Create Vector Tile Package geoprocessing tool to generate a vector tile package file (.vtpk)
3. Upload the generated tile package file to ArcGIS.com.

When you use these tools, the following are created:

1. Hosted layer (item): A new hosted vector tile layer to manage the service.
2. Data service: A vector tile service to access the tile data.

Tools, data, and services

Below is a list of the tools, input data source, and the hosted layer created.

Tutorials

Import data to create a feature layer

Use data management tools to import files and create a feature layer in a feature service.

ArcGIS Online  Developer dashboard 

Define a new feature layer

Use data management tools to define and create a new empty feature layer in a feature service.

ArcGIS Online  Developer dashboard  Python ArcGIS REST JS 

Manage a feature layer

Use a hosted feature layer item to set the properties and settings of a feature layer in a feature service.

ArcGIS Online 

Create a vector tile service

Use data management tools to create a new vector tile service from a feature service.

ArcGIS Online 

Create a map tile service

Use ArcGIS Online or scripting APIs to publish a map tile service.

ArcGIS Online  Python ArcGIS REST JS 

Workflows

Create a feature service for an app

Learn how to import parcel data, create and style a feature layer, and then access the features in an app.

Create a feature layer view for an editor app

Learn how to import parcel data, create and style a feature layer view, and then access the features in an editing app.

Create a vector tile service for an app

Learn how to import parcel data, style a feature layer, and then create a vector tile service for an app.

Create a map tile service for an app

Learn how to import contour data, style a feature layer, and create a map tile service for an app.

Services

API support

Use Client APIs to create, manage, and access data services. The table below outlines the level of support for each API.

Tools