Portal for ArcGIS upgrade fails when the default self-signed certificate named ‘portal’ is deleted prior to the upgrade.

Workaround

1.     Prior to an upgrade, use the ‘generate’ operation to re-create a self-signed certificate with the alias ‘portal’.

a.     https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/enterprise-administration/portal/generate-certificate-ha/

2.     After the upgrade fails, reinstall ArcGIS Enterprise. Ensure that the default ‘portal’ self-signed certificate is not deleted, then proceed with an upgrade.

a.     Note that performing a reinstall of ArcGIS Enterprise will likely require the customer to restore from a WebGIS DR backup to ensure that all the expected content is available before an upgrade.

3.     During the upgrade, edit the Portal for ArcGIS server.xml file to point the keyAlias property to the Web Server SSL Certificate configured prior to starting the upgrade. Note that this should be considered a “last effort” attempt, as it is not recommended to modify the Portal for ArcGIS server.xml file in this manner.

a.     In Windows Services, stop Portal for ArcGIS.

b.   Open the Portal for ArcGIS server.xml file in Notepad++ (administrator mode).

c.    Update the keyAlias property to the correct Web Server SSL Certificate value. In this example, the keyAlias was changed back to the Web Server SSL Certificate named ‘cutsp11’.

d.     Save the Portal for ArcGIS server.xml file.

e.     In Windows Services, start Portal for ArcGIS and verify that the “Continue Portal Upgrade” endpoint is now reachable.

Steps to Reproduce