You can take greater advantage of your existing web-based resources by publishing hosted layers from web feature layers. This is especially important for data that is accessible only through web feature services, such as data in spatiotemporal big data stores. For example, publishing a hosted map image layer from a web feature layer allows you to achieve benefits such as the following:
- Faster drawing time because processing is done by the server, not the client machine
- Use of advanced visualization methods not supported by web feature layers
- Editing of the hosted map image layer through editing of the web feature layer
Currently, hosted map image layers are the only type of web layer that can be published from a web feature layer in ArcGIS AllSource.
Publishing hosted layers from web feature layers also gives you more control over the flow of data from the desktop to the web. As your portal becomes an authoritative data repository, you can share layers from desktop-based data less frequently. Once a feature layer has been shared to the web, it can be a primary source for the creation of data products. You can publish as many hosted map image layers as you want from the same web feature layer.
The following conditions must be met to publish a hosted map image layer from a web feature layer:
- Your active portal is ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8 or later.
- You have the privilege to publish hosted tile layers.
- You are the owner of the web feature layer.
- The web feature layer is a hosted feature layer, not a layer that references registered data.
Note:
This workflow can be followed from the ArcGIS AllSource user interface only. It can't be accomplished with a Python script.
Publish a hosted map image layer from a web feature layer using the default configuration
To publish a hosted map image layer from a web feature layer using the default configuration, complete the following steps:
- Browse to a hosted web feature layer in your portal in one of two ways:
- In the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab and click the My Content tab
under it. - On the ribbon, on the Data tab, in the Add group, click Add Data
. On the Add Data dialog box, under Portal 
, click My Content .
- In the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab and click the My Content tab
- Add a hosted web feature layer
or hosted spatiotemporal web feature layer 
to a map. - Symbolize the layer as desired.
For example, you may want to use symbology, such as dot density or charts, that is supported by map image layers but not by web feature layers.
- To publish a hosted map image layer, do one of the following:
- Publish a single layer or sublayer. Right-click the layer, point to Sharing, and click Publish Layer From Feature Layer
. - Publish multiple sublayers. Press the Ctrl key while clicking the desired sublayers. Right-click any selected layer, point to Sharing, and click Publish Layer From Feature Layer .
- Publish all sublayers. Click the List By Data Source tab
at the top of the Contents pane. Right-click the hosted feature service name and click Publish Layer From Feature Layer .
The Publish Layer From Feature Layer pane appears.
- Publish a single layer or sublayer. Right-click the layer, point to Sharing, and click Publish Layer From Feature Layer
- Under Item Details, provide a name for the web layer.
- Optionally, complete the Summary and Tags fields.
A summary and tags are required when sharing to an ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9 or earlier portal.
You can enter a maximum of 128 tags.
Under Type, the web layer type is a map image layer. The name of the source data (the hosted web feature layer) appears under the layer type.
- Under Location, use the Folder menu to choose a folder in your portal content in which to store the web layer. Optionally, create a folder.
By default, the web layer is stored in the same folder as the web feature layer.
Tip:
Click the Browse button
to browse to a folder in your portal content. You can also type a folder name in the text box. - Under Sharing Level, specify how the web layer will be shared:
- Owner—Only the owner (and organization members with privileges to view content owned by other members) can access the item. This is the default option.
- Organization—Share your content with all authenticated users in your organization. This option is available when you are signed in with an organizational account.
- Everyone (public)—Share your content with the public. Anyone can access and see it.
- Optionally, under Groups, select groups to which you belong to share your content with their members.
- Optionally, click the Content tab to view the folder, new web layer, and sublayer with assigned IDs if available.
If you enabled the Allow assignment of unique numeric IDs for sharing web layers option on the Map Properties dialog box, assigned IDs appear for each sublayer. To change an ID, click the number next to the layer. On the Layer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, provide a custom integer ID in the Layer ID text box. For more information, see Assign layer IDs.
- Under Finish Sharing, click Analyze
to review for potential problems. Errors and warnings are listed on the Messages tab. Right-click a message to open its help topic or take corrective action in the software. Errors
must be resolved before you can share your GIS resource. Resolving warnings 
is recommended but not required. - After you resolve errors, and optionally, resolve warnings, click Publish
to share the web layer. - Optionally, click Jobs
to monitor the job status. - When the web layer is successfully published, click the Manage the web layer link at the bottom of the pane to access the web layer in your portal.
Configure the hosted map image layer
The steps to configure a hosted map image layer are the same as when you configure a map image layer. However, configurable properties for hosted map image layers have the following limitations:
- Additional layers and capabilities, such as WMS, WFS, KML, and custom SOEs, are not available.
- The hosted map image layer must be drawn dynamically; it cannot be cached.
- Date field settings are not enabled because dates in the web feature layer have already been converted to UTC (coordinated universal time).
- The Configure Pooling tab
is not available.
Overwrite the hosted map image layer
A hosted map image layer cannot be overwritten.
A web feature layer that has been used to publish hosted map image layers cannot be overwritten or deleted unless its dependent map image layer or layers are deleted first.
Considerations when sharing to older portals
Hosted map image layers can only be published from web feature layers with ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8 or later.