Tutorial: Publishing a map service

This tutorial gives you the steps for publishing a map service using ArcGIS Server Manager. If you've just installed ArcGIS Server, you need to complete some preparatory steps before you can log into Manager or publish services. You can find these steps in Getting started after install.

Before you create a map service, you should have created an ArcMap map document (.mxd) that resides in a shared location visible to all server object container (SOC) machines in your GIS server. The SOC Account you created during the post install must also have permissions to read the map document and all of the data that the map document references.

Creating the map service

Follow these steps to create your first map service:

  1. Start ArcGIS Server Manager and log in. For additional help with this step, see Logging in to Manager.
  2. Click the Services tab.
  3. Click Publish a GIS Resource.
  4. To select the Resource, use the dropdown box to browse to the map document (.mxd) that you want to publish.
  5. In the Name box, type a name for the service. The name cannot be more than 120 characters long, and may contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores.
  6. Accept the default folder level by clicking Next.
  7. Click Next again to accept the default capability of "Mapping".
  8. Review the information about the service you are about to create. Then click Finish to create the service.

Verifying that the service is running

To ensure that the service is working correctly:

  1. In Manager, click the Services tab if it is not already active.
  2. In the Folders menu on the left, click the name of your server if it is not already selected.
  3. You will see a list appear of all of the services in the root folder. Click the plus button to expand the information about the service you just published. If you can see a preview image after a few seconds, your service is running correctly.