Introduction to portals

This topic provides an overview of what an ArcGIS portal is, the main components, and the key capabilities it provides for developers.

What is a portal?

An ArcGIS portal, also referred to as portal, is a website with tools and applications that users and developers can use to create, manage, access, and share geospatial contentContent is a collection of items in a portal that belong to a user, group, or organization.Learn more and data. As a developer, it allows you to host many different types of content that you can use to build applications such as web mapsA web map is a map stored as a JSON object that defines properties such as the basemap layer, data layers, layer styles, and pop-up styles. Its JSON structure is defined by the web map specification.Learn more, web scenesA web scene is a scene stored as a JSON object that defines properties such as the basemap layer, data layers, layer styles, and pop-up styles. Its JSON structure is defined by the web scene specification.Learn more, hosted layersA hosted layer is an item in a portal that contains the properties and settings for a hosted data service or a layer in a hosted data service.Learn more, and data servicesData services, also known as hosted data services, are services created dynamically to store and provide access to your data in ArcGIS. Examples are feature services, vector tile services, map tile services, image services, and scene services.Learn more. It also supports hosting other types of content such as files, low-code/no-code applications, and Python notebooks. The content in a portal can be private, shared with the organizationAn organization a list of members from the same business, association, or entity who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other members in a portal. All members have an ArcGIS account and are approved by an administrator to access the same portal.Learn more members, or shared publicly. A portal also contains tools that support tasks such as creating developer credentials, creating layers, importing data, creating data servicesData services, also known as hosted data services, are services created dynamically to store and provide access to your data in ArcGIS. Examples are feature services, vector tile services, map tile services, image services, and scene services.Learn more, managing groups, and managing membersMember is an individual with an ArcGIS account who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other organization members in a portal.Learn more.

Below are the key capabilities a portal provides developers:

• Security and authentication: Private access to a website to create, manage, and host content for your applications.
• Developer credentials: Create and manage API key and OAuth 2.0 credentials for your custom applications.
• Content management: Create and share web maps, web scenes, and hosted layers for your applications.
• Data services: Create and host data as feature services, vector tile services, map tile services, image services, and other services for your applications.
• Portal service: Access the portal service directly to build applications and automate workflows.
• Low-code/no-code apps: Create, store, and share apps by configuring them with app builders.

Portal components

The main components of a portal are the following:

• Website: Unique domain and URL with pages and tools that support all portal content management and administration tasks for an organization.
• Portal service: The underlying service for a portal that can be used to access the portal and content programmatically.
• Data store: The infrastructure for storing all portal content and data services data.
• Members: The list of users that have an ArcGIS account and can sign in to a portal.
• Tools: Tools with developer, administration, mapping, data management, and sharing functionality.
• Apps: Applications and app builders for configuring applications, dashboards, story maps, and field data collection apps.

Organization

An organization is the list of membersMember is an individual with an ArcGIS account who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other organization members in a portal.Learn more, also known as users, that can sign in, access, and interact with a portalArcGIS portal, also known as a portal, is a website with applications and tools that can be used to create, manage, access, and share geospatial content and data. It supports security and authentication, developer credentials, content and data service management, user and group management, and site administration. A portal can be hosted in Esri's infrastructure or your own infrastructure.Learn more. All of the members of an organization typically belong to the same business, institution, or entity. Each member has an ArcGIS account that has been approved by an administrator to access a portal. Each member is assigned a user type, set of roles, and privileges that define the portal capabilities and features available.

Types of portals

ArcGIS portals are hosted in Esri's infrastructure or in your own infrastructure. The type of portal you have, where it is hosted, how many users it supports, and how you access it depends on the type of product you have.

ArcGIS Location Platform and ArcGIS Online portals

ArcGIS Location PlatformArcGIS Location Platform, formerly known as ArcGIS Platform, is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) product that gives developers access to location services, APIs, and tools to build mapping and spatial analysis applications. It is subscription-based and requires an ArcGIS Location Platform account.Learn more and ArcGIS OnlineArcGIS Online is a GIS mapping, analytics, data hosting, and content management software as a service (SaaS) product. It includes applications, tools, APIs, and location services for users and developers. It is subscription-based and requires an ArcGIS Online account.Learn more developers can access their own portal after they sign up for ArcGIS Location Platform or subscribe to ArcGIS Online. A portal website, portal service, and data store are all created automatically as part of the sign-up process and hosted in Esri's infrastructure in the cloud. By default, the portal is private and has a unique domain that you define when you sign up. The portal can only be accessed by the owner (administrator) and membersMember is an individual with an ArcGIS account who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other organization members in a portal.Learn more who have an ArcGIS account and have been added to the organizationAn organization a list of members from the same business, association, or entity who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other members in a portal. All members have an ArcGIS account and are approved by an administrator to access the same portal.Learn more.

ArcGIS Enterprise portals

ArcGIS EnterpriseArcGIS Enterprise is a GIS mapping, analytics, data hosting, and content management product that can be hosted on-premise or in a cloud infrastructure. It includes software, applications, tools, APIs, and services for users and developers.Learn more developers can also create and access their own portal by installing Portal for ArcGIS. The portal website, portal service, and data store are all hosted in your own infrastructure. The domain to access it is configured with the web adaptor where it is installed. The portal can only be accessed by membersMember is an individual with an ArcGIS account who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other organization members in a portal.Learn more who have an ArcGIS Enterprise accountAn ArcGIS Enterprise account is an identity for an instance of ArcGIS Enterprise. It can be used to access ArcGIS Enterprise tools, applications, and services, and to develop applications.Learn more and have been added to the organizationAn organization a list of members from the same business, association, or entity who can sign in, access tools and applications, and collaborate with other members in a portal. All members have an ArcGIS account and are approved by an administrator to access the same portal.Learn more.

Portal capabilities

The key capabilities and functionality a portal provides for developers are listed below:

Tools

A portal contains a number of tools to perform content management tasks:

• Developer credential tool: Create API key and OAuth 2.0 developer credentials for custom applications.
• Mapping tools: Tools such as the Map Viewer and Scene Viewer for creating, exploring, and share web maps.
• Content management tools: Tools for creating and sharing content with members of your portal.
• Data management tools: Tools for importing and creating layers and data services.
• Portal administration tools: Configure and administer website pages and tools for the portal and organization.

Security and authentication

A portal provides secure access to all resources in a portal.

• Sign-in and user authentication.
• OAuth 2.0 authentication.
• API key authentication.
• Access token creation.
• Access token verification.
• Member and group security.
• Content security.
• Data service security.

Developer credentials

A portal allows you to create and manage developer credentials to allow custom applications to access specific resources.

• Create and manage API key and OAuth 2.0 credentials.
• Assign and manage privileges for credentials.
• Grant access to specific items in a portal.
• Grant access to specific data services.
• Create client IDs and client secrets.
• Create temporary access tokens.
• Recycle API keys access tokens.

Content management

A portal supports creating and sharing content items.

• Create, manage, and share items.
• Create hosted feature layers, vector tile layers, map tile layers, imagery layer, and more.
• Create and author web mapsA web map is a map stored as a JSON object that defines properties such as the basemap layer, data layers, layer styles, and pop-up styles. Its JSON structure is defined by the web map specification.Learn more and web scenesA web scene is a scene stored as a JSON object that defines properties such as the basemap layer, data layers, layer styles, and pop-up styles. Its JSON structure is defined by the web scene specification.Learn more for applications or low-code/no-code applications.
• Set the sharing level of all items to either private, groups, organization, or public.
• Share mapsA map is a collection of layers that are displayed in 2D. It is typically composed of a basemap layer and data layers.Learn more, layersA layer is a reference to a collection of geographic data that is used to access and display data. The data for layers are typically provided by the basemap layer service and data services.Learn more and applicationsA web app is a mapping, analysis, or data-driven application that runs in a web browser. In most cases they are configurable and are hosted in ArcGIS.Learn more to support collaboration.
• Create and manage groups to share content items in your portal.
• Search for content in your organization.
• Organize content in folders.
• Define metadata for all content.
• Filter, categorize, and tag content.

Data services

A portal supports hosted layers and data services for applications.

• Create, manage, and organize geospatial content, files, and data.
• Import your data to create hosted layers and feature services.
• Update, edit, and manage access to feature service data.
• Create data services such as vector tile servicesA vector tile service is a data service that provides access to vector tile data and a style definition.Learn more and map tile servicesA map tile service, formerly known as image tile service, is a data service that provides access to static, pre-rendered mao tiles. The tiles are typical in PNG format. Map tiles are typically retrieved by specifying a specific level, row, and column value.Learn more.

Portal service

A portal supports a portal service and administration tools that allow you to manage and administer the features and members of your organization.

• Manage the subscription.
• Add and remove members in your organization.
• Manage user types, privileges, and roles.
• Monitor site service status resource usage such as data storage.
• Manage all licenses.
• Configure the website behavior and functionality.
• Configure all portal privacy and item access settings.

Low-code/no-code apps

A portal supports creating and hosting apps with builders.

• Use builders such as Instant Apps to create applications hosted in your portal.
• Configure and re-configure applications.
• Share applications with everyone or just members of your organization.