There are two basic types of databases in the cloud: databases that are installed on virtual machines in the cloud, and databases that are available as database-as-a-service offerings.
When you use a database installed on a virtual machine in the cloud, you have access to the virtual machine where the database is installed and are usually responsible for maintaining it. This is generally true whether you install the database on the virtual machine yourself or you use an image to launch an instance that includes an installation of the database. You are also responsible for most maintenance tasks on these types of databases.
This is different from database-as-a-service offerings. For these types of databases and data warehouses, you do not have access to the machine that serves up the database or data warehouse, and you do not have to perform maintenance tasks, such as applying security patches, on the database, data warehouse, or operating system.
Connections from ArcGIS software to databases or data warehouses in the cloud must originate from machines in the same cloud. For best performance, connections should originate from machines in the same cloud region. In the majority of cases, connection and query performance is poor when you connect from ArcGIS clients installed on-premises to databases or data warehouses in the cloud or make connections between clients and databases or data warehouses in different cloud regions, and connections may time out.
Support for databases installed in the cloud
To determine if a cloud platform is supported for use with ArcGIS, you need to know the specifications of the cloud virtual machines. A cloud platform is supported for use with a database that ArcGIS supports as long as the virtual machines provided on that cloud platform meet the operating system and system specification requirements for use with the ArcGIS clients and database you want to install.
Support for these virtual machines is predicated on the assumption that the virtual machines behave the same as a physical machine available on-premises that has the same specifications. In most cases, Esri Support attempts to replicate issues using on-premises machines with the same specifications as the cloud virtual machine you are using.
In addition, Oracle Co-managed Systems Virtual Machine DB Systems are certified for use with ArcGIS.
Supported cloud-based database services
Esri provides tooling to deploy ArcGIS Enterprise software, ArcGIS Desktop software, and many supported database-as-a-service offerings on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. When deploying on these two cloud platforms, it's recommended that you use the specialized tooling and Esri images to simplify deployment and technical support. For cloud platforms for which Esri does not provide specialized deployment tooling, support is limited to troubleshooting ArcGIS software-specific issues that can be replicated on-premises.
The following database-as-a-service offerings are supported for use with ArcGIS. The links below take you to external documentation provided by cloud vendors.
- Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible edition) version 10.13 and 11.8
AWS installs a compatible PostGIS version.
- Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) for Oracle
- Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL versions 12.4, 11.9, 10.14
For each of these supported versions of Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, ArcGIS supports the PostGIS versions that Amazon Web Services supports.
- Amazon RDS for SQL Server versions 2016, 2017, and 2019
- Autonomous Transaction Processing database in Oracle Cloud versions 18c and 19c
- Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 10, 11, 12, and 13
- Google Cloud SQL for SQL Server 2017
- Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL (Single Server option) versions 10.9 and 11.4
For each of these supported versions of Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL, ArcGIS supports the PostGIS versions that Microsoft Azure supports.
- Microsoft Azure SQL Database or Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance* version 12
- SAP HANA Cloud
*Changes Microsoft Azure has made for SQL Managed Instance may prevent deployment using ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure. If you experience issues, use Microsoft Azure portal to create the instance.
Geoprocessing tools are supported on equivalent database-as-a-service offerings unless otherwise stated in the geoprocessing tool usage information. For example, if tool usage indicates the tool is supported with PostgreSQL, it works with Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, and Azure Database for PostgreSQL unless the tool's usage statements indicate these are not supported.
Limitations
Because you cannot load the ST_Geometry library to a database-as-a-service offering, only the PostGIS spatial types are supported when using Amazon Aurora (PostgreSQL-compatible edition), Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, Google Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL, and Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL and only the SDO_Geometry spatial type is supported when using Amazon RDS for Oracle or Autonomous Transaction Processing database in Oracle Cloud.
The following functions are not present in geodatabases in Amazon RDS for Oracle or Autonomous Transaction Processing database in Oracle Cloud: GDB_UTIL.get_extent(), GDB_UTIL.geometry_type, and GDB_UTIL.spatial_ref_info().
Amazon RDS for Oracle is not included in ArcGIS Enterprise on Amazon Web Services deployment tools; use AWS tools instead.
If you do not use or cannot use the Esri cloud deployment tools to create the database, and you want to create a geodatabase in any of the supported database-as-a-service offerings listed above, you must use the Enable Enterprise Geodatabase geoprocessing tool to create a geodatabase. Do not use the Create Enterprise Geodatabase tool.
Operating system authenticated connections are not supported from ArcGIS clients to database-as-a-service offerings.
Supported cloud data warehouses
The following data warehouses hosted in cloud environments are supported:
Software required to connect to a database or data warehouse
If you use an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) provided by Esri or an Azure image provided by Esri to deploy ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Desktop software, the required database clients are already installed that allow you to connect to supported database-as-a-service offerings on AWS and Azure respectively.
If you install an ArcGIS client on a virtual machine in the cloud or connect to a database other than those listed in Supported cloud-based database services, you may need to install database management system client files on the ArcGIS client machine. These client files are available from their respective database vendors. Follow instructions from the vendors to install and configure these files, and read the connection information in ArcGIS help for additional configuration needed to connect from ArcGIS clients.
To connect to Microsoft Azure SQL Database or Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance, the minimum ODBC version supported by Microsoft is Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server.
To connect from ArcGIS to SAP HANA Cloud, install SAP HANA client 2.4 revision patch 186 (2.04.186). Be sure to install your ArcGIS client on a machine (physical or virtual) that is located as close as possible to the location where you've deployed SAP HANA Cloud.
To connect from ArcGIS to a supported cloud data warehouse, install the latest version of the corresponding supported client files provided by the vendor.