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Import Site

Description

Caution:

This administrative operation is not available when accessed through a web adaptor. Access this operation using a direct URL to one of the GIS servers on the site.

The importSite operation imports a site configuration into the currently running site. Importing a site means replacing all site configurations (including GIS services, security configurations, and so on) of the currently running site with those contained in the site configuration file. The site configuration file can be obtained through the exportSite operation, which writes the information to either a file location accessible to ArcGIS Server or to a directory where you can download the configuration file.

The importSite operation also restores a site from a backup that was created using the exportSite operation. The importSite operation uses the server directory paths from the exported configuration. These paths must be available for the importSite operation to complete successfully.

This operation will restore all information included in the backup, as described in Export Site. Once the import is complete, this operation returns a report that should be reviewed. Fix any problems listed in the report to ensure that the site functions as expected.

Caution:

This operation is computationally intensive and may run for a long duration. Manual intervention may be required at the end of this operation to address any highlighted problems. Since this operation changes the site configuration completely, it is recommended that no GIS services are accessed and that no administrative operations or functions are performed on the site while the operation is running.

Request parameters

ParameterDetails
location

The file path to an exported configuration or an ID referencing the stored configuration on the server.

Example

location=i5fad5582-80bc-4155-a21c-62f326354aba
validate

Introduced at ArcGIS Enterprise 11.1. This parameter validates the file path specified in the location parameter, ensuring that it is accessible before performing the importSite operation. If set to true, the path will be validated, and the operation will return either a success response or an error message. The default value is false.

Values: true | false

f

The response format. The default response format is html.

Values: html | json| pjson

Example usage

The following is a sample POST request for the importSite operation that demonstrates validating the file location:


POST /arcgis/admin/importSite HTTP/1.1
Host: machine.domain.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: []

location=\\server\share\backup\Jan-15-2023_11-50-33.agssite&validate=true&f=pjson

JSON Response examples

Example without validation

The response below highlights the server's failure to start a service during the importSite operation. For demonstration purposes, a service's input data path was edited to point to a nonexistent file before exporting the site. The same exported configuration file was supplied as input to the importSite operation. When importSite completes, the response warns that a service could not be started during the importSite operation because the file could not be found. This information can be used to fix the issue by editing the data path of the service and running it again.


{
  "status": "success",
  "result": [
    {
      "source": "SITE",
      "messages": [
        {
          "level": "INFO",
          "message": "This operation completed in 1.52 mins"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "SERVICES",
      "messages": [
        {
          "level": "WARNING",
          "message": "SampleWorldCities.MapServer=Startup state of service 'SampleWorldCities.MapServer' 
            on machine 'MSCONFIG.ESRI.COM' was FAILED. Can not open file path/to/data/WorldCities.ms. 
            The system cannot find the file specified. Probable cause: The file is inaccessible to Server.\n",
          "details": {
            "service": "SampleWorldCities.MapServer",
            "state": "FAILED",
            "message": "",
            "machines": [
              {
                "machine": "MSCONFIG.ESRI.COM",
                "state": "FAILED",
                "reports": [
                  {
                    "state": "FAILED",
                    "message": " Can not open file path/to/data/WorldCities.ms.
                      The system cannot find the file specified. Probable cause: The file is inaccessible to Server."
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Examples with validation

The sample response below is for a request that had the validate parameter set to true. This example demonstrates a success response, meaning that the path was accessible to ArcGIS Server:


{
  "status": "success"
}

The sample response below is for a request that had the validate parameter set to true. This example demonstrates a failure, meaning that the path was not accessible to ArcGIS Server:


{
  "status": "error",
  "messages": ["Unable to read from \\server\share\backup\Jan-15-2023_11-50-33.agssite. Verify the location is accessible and the service account running Portal for ArcGIS can read from it."],
  "code": 500
}