Plan your deployment

ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server is scalable and accommodates both small and large deployments. When you first begin, you may start small and install all the components on a single machine. As you deploy your production site, or if your site needs to handle more users, you can add more Workflow Manager Server machines to the site.

Single-machine deployment

In a single-machine deployment, Workflow Manager Server is installed and federated on a single ArcGIS Server machine. This deployment scenario is straightforward to set up, maintain, and upgrade. It can support a sandbox environment for development and testing, but it is also a valid (and in some cases ideal) configuration for some production environments.

Learn more about single-machine deployments

High-availability deployment

Workflow Manager Server can be configured as a highly available deployment to help ensure your organization meets system uptime requirements. Workflow Manager Server supports the configuration of a multiple-machine high-availability site, in which two or more Workflow Manager Server machines can be administered and used as a single logical unit.

A highly available Workflow Manager Server deployment can be configured with any supported highly available ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. ArcGIS Server must be installed but does not need to be licensed as a GIS server on the Workflow Manager Server machines.

Note:

Workflow Manager Server cannot be deployed using a single-machine high availability configuration.

Learn more about licensing Workflow Manager Server

Once the Workflow Manager Server machines are set up, they need to be configured for high availability. Complete the steps below on each Workflow Manager Server machine to enable high availability.

Note:

When federating your Workflow Manager Server machines with your ArcGIS Enterprise Portal, set the Administration URL to a URL that can be used to communicate with all servers in the site.

  1. Open %ProgramData%\esri\workflowmanager\WorkflowManager.conf in a text editor.
  2. Uncomment the following lines in the WorkflowManager.conf file:
    • play.modules.disabled += "esri.workflow.utils.inject.LocalDataProvider"
    • play.modules.enabled += "esri.workflow.utils.inject.DistributedDataProvider"

    If these lines don't exist in your WorkflowManager.conf file, add them to the bottom of the file.

  3. Save the change to the file.
  4. Restart the ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server service using the Windows Services console.
  5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 on each Workflow Manager Server machine.

    Workflow Manager Server is now configured for high availability.

Use a third-party network load balancer

A highly available Workflow Manager Server deployment can be configured to use either ArcGIS web adaptor or a third-party network load balancer. If your deployment is configured with a third-party network load balancer that supports a health check function, you need to use both the ArcGIS Server Health Check endpoint and the Workflow Manager Server Health Check endpoint (for example, https://workflowserver.domain.com:13443/workflow/healthCheck).

Learn more about multiple-machine deployments with a third party load balancer