Publish the elevation analysis geoprocessing services

Elevation analysis geoprocessing services allow you to perform raster analysis on world elevation data. Use the Profile geoprocessing service tool to create elevation profiles along any given polyline features. Use the Viewshed geoprocessing service tool to create viewsheds for any given observation point features anywhere on the surface of the earth. To use these tools, you need to publish the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services on ArcGIS Server 10.8.1 or later with an Advanced license. You also must have either an ArcGIS Desktop 10.8.1 or later Standard or Advanced license. Before publishing the services, you must repair the data paths of the source mosaic datasets to point to the ArcGIS Data Appliance path in your network.

Repair the paths to the image files referenced by the source mosaic datasets

When ArcGIS Data Appliance is deployed in your network, the paths to the image files are changed, and the source mosaic datasets need to be repaired so that the new paths are used. You can find the mosaic datasets consumed by the elevation geoprocessing services in the following file geodatabase:

\\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\MD\ElevationGP.gdb

The <server-ip> value is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located: Collection2 (World Standard), Collection3 (World Advanced), Collection4 (North America Standard), or Collection5 (North America Advanced). You need ArcGIS Desktop Standard or Advanced to perform this task.

Note:

The elevation analysis geoprocessing services are not included with Collection 1.

List of available mosaic dataset names

The dataset names that begin with D_ are derived mosaic datasets. The dataset names that begin with R_ are referenced mosaic datasets. Derived mosaic datasets are used to merge multiple source mosaic datasets, primarily to enable different collections of imagery to be accessed via one source. A referenced mosaic dataset is a new mosaic dataset that references an existing mosaic dataset but can redefine some properties and also include additional functions such as hillshade.

Repair the paths for the derived mosaic datasets

Follow the steps below to repair the paths for mosaic datasets located under \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\MD\:

  1. Click Open to open the Catalog window in ArcMap and browse to \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\scripts\, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.
  2. In the Catalog Tree window, expand WorldElevation.tbx and double-click the Repair mosaic dataset paths tool.

    Catalog Tree window with WorldElevation.tbx expanded

    The Repair mosaic dataset paths dialog box appears.

  3. In the GDB Full Path field, insert the UNC path, for example \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\MD\ElevationGP.gdb, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.

    Repair mosaic dataset paths window showing GDB Full Path, Old Path, and New Path

  4. In the Old Path field, insert V:. For the New Path, insert the UNC path, for example, \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.
  5. Click OK to apply the changes.

    The tool repairs paths for all the mosaic datasets in ElevationGP.gdb.

    Note:

    If you plan to publish to ArcGIS Server 11.0, skip the following sections and complete the steps to publish on ArcGIS Server 11.0 using ArcGIS REST admin toward the end of this topic instead.

Create the data source map document

Follow the steps below to create the data source map document:

  1. Open ArcMap as a blank document.
  2. In the Catalog window, browse to \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\Layers, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located. Drag all three of the following layers to the ArcMap Table Of Contents window:
    • footprints103090_credit.lyr
    • footprints103090prf.lyr
    • footprints103090.lyr
    Note:

    When you perform this step (and the next step), make sure you drag the layers or datasets from a full UNC path, and do not use any mapped network drive. If the map document contains any mapped network drive letter in the data source paths, it may cause problems for the geoprocessing services. The best practice is to disconnect any mapped network drives before you perform these steps and reconnect them after you are done setting up the geoprocessing services.

  3. Browse to the elevation tools source data file geodatabase: \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\MD\ElevationGP.gdb, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located. Drag all the referenced mosaic datasets (the datasets whose name starts with "R_") to theArcMap Table Of Contents window:
    • R_1000m_GEBCO
    • R_10m_GEBCO
    • R_10m_ZERO
    • R_30m_GEBCO
    • R_30m_ZERO
    • R_500m_GEBCO
    • R_90m_GEBCO
    • R_90m_ZERO_HoleFill

    If a Geographic Coordinate System Warning message appears during this process, click the Close button to close the dialog box and ignore the message. After this step, the ArcMap table of contents should look similar to the following:

    ArcMap table of contents listing layers and tools

  4. Click the ArcMap Save button to save the map document as ElevationGP.mxd to a local folder (for example, in the folder C:\temp), and close ArcMap.
  5. Open Windows Explorer and copy ElevationGP.mxd from your local machine to the following location: \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\MapDocuments, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.

Publish the elevation geoprocessing service definition files

You can create the elevation geoprocessing services by publishing their service definition files to ArcGIS Server using ArcGIS Server Manager.

  1. Open ArcGIS Server Manager and sign in.
  2. Click Services > Manage Services > Publish Service.
  3. Browse to source_documents > service_definitions on the Data Appliance data collection, for example, \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\service_definitions, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.

    The following two service definition files for the elevation geoprocessing services are in this folder:

    • Elevation_GP_Sync.sd
    • Elevation_GP_Async.sd

    Elevation_GP_Sync.sd is for publishing a synchronous elevation geoprocessing service, and Elevation_GP_Async.sd is for publishing an asynchronous elevation geoprocessing service.

  4. Select the service definition for the synchronous elevation geoprocessing service, Elevation_GP_Sync.sd, and click Open.
  5. Click Next.
  6. Accept the default service name in the Publish Service window. Accept the default folder to publish the service to the site root folder.

    Publish Service window for ElevationSync service

  7. Click Next.
  8. Optionally choose the GIS server cluster that will host the published service definition.

    To learn more, see Upgrade a multiple-cluster site for Windows.

  9. Click Publish to publish the service definition as a service.
  10. Repeat steps 2–9 to publish the Elevation_GP_Async.sd file to ArcGIS Server as a geoprocessing service.

The new Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services appear in the list of available services under the root folder.

Add a mapFile property to the geoprocessing service properties

The new geoprocessing service needs to be associated with a map document that contains all the source data layers to function properly. You can do this by adding a mapFile property to its service properties.

  1. Sign in to the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory using the URL http://<server name>:6080/arcgis/admin.

    ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory

  2. Click services to view the available services under the root folder.
  3. Click the ElevationSync geoprocessing services that you published to this folder.

    This takes you to the service properties page.

    ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory

  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Edit.
  5. On the Edit GPServer page, scroll down and locate the properties section.
  6. Add a mapFile property to a new line at the beginning of the properties section. The mapFile property points to the data source map document (ElevationGP.mxd) that you created earlier, which is available in the following data appliance folder: \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\MapDocuments\ElevationGP.mxd, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.

    The following is an example of the text to insert: "mapFile": "\\\\<server-ip>\\CollectionX_source_documents\\data\\WorldElevation\\ElevationGP\\MapDocuments\\ElevationGP.mxd", where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.

    Notice that two backslashes are used to separate folders from subfolders.

    Edit GPServer with text example

  7. Click Save Edits to save and restart the geoprocessing service.
  8. Repeat steps 3–7 for the Elevation asynchronous geoprocessing service to set up the mapFile property.

For information on how to use the elevation analysis services, see Use the elevation analysis geoprocessing services.

Publish on ArcGIS Server 11.0 using ArcGIS REST admin

If you're using ArcGIS Server 11.0, follow the steps below to publish the Elevation and ElevationSync .json files using ArcGIS REST admin.

Edit the tools configuration file in a text editor

Before you publish the .json file, you need to edit the path in the toolsconfig.ini file in a text editor.

  1. In a text editor, browse to .\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\Tools and open toolsconfig.ini.
  2. Find and replace V: with \\<server-ip>\CollectionX_source_documents\data, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation and ElevationSync geoprocessing services are located.
  3. Save the changes.

Edit the Elevation .json file in a text editor

Before you publish the .json files, you need to edit the path in the Elevation.json file in a text editor.

  1. In a text editor, browse to .\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\json and open Elevation.json.
  2. Find and replace V: with \\\\<server-ip>\\CollectionX_source_documents\\data, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the Elevation geoprocessing service is located.
    Note:

    Ensure that the paths contain double backslashes (\\\\).

  3. Save the changes.

Edit the ElevationSync .json file in a text editor

Before you publish the .json files, you need to edit the path in the ElevationSync.json file in a text editor.

  1. In a text editor, browse to .\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\json and open ElevationSync.json.
  2. Find and replace V: with \\\\<server-ip>\\CollectionX_source_documents\\data, where <server-ip> is the network IP or server name of the data appliance, and CollectionX is the collection where the ElevationSync geoprocessing service is located.
    Note:

    Ensure that the paths contain double backslashes (\\\\).

  3. Save the changes.

Publish the Elevation and ElevationSync .json files

Follow the steps below to publish the Elevation.json and ElevationSync.json files using ArcGIS REST admin.

  1. Sign in to the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory using the URL https://<server name>:6443/arcgis/admin.

    ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory

  2. Click services to view the available services under the root folder.
  3. Click CreateService.

    ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory Services

    The Create Service page appears.

  4. Copy and paste the contents of .\WorldElevation\ElevationGP\json\Elevation.json into the Service (in JSON format) field.

    ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory Create Service

  5. Click Create to complete the publishing of the Elevation geoprocessing service.

    The Elevation service is ready to use.

  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 using ElevationSync.json instead of Elevation.json.

For information about how to use the elevation analysis services, see Use the elevation analysis geoprocessing services.