Can deleted items be recovered in ArcGIS Enterprise?

Answer

No, it is not possible to recover deleted items in ArcGIS Enterprise. Once an item is deleted, it is deleted in the REST endpoint as well. Without the item endpoint, it is not possible to access the service definition information required to recreate the item.

Restoring the ArcGIS Enterprise organization to recover the deleted items using the Web GIS Disaster Recovery (WebGISDR) tool is an alternative if an ArcGIS Enterprise backup is created. However, items or services created or edited since the last backup are lost in the process. Additionally, the version to restore the organization and the version when the backup was created must be the same. Refer to Portal for ArcGIS: Restore your organization for further instructions.

Described below are best practices to follow during organization restoration and to prevent ArcGIS Enterprise items from being deleted.

• Enable delete protection to avoid accidental deletion of items. Refer to Portal for ArcGIS: Enable delete protection for further instructions.
• Back up critical data intermittently to ensure the items in backup are constantly updated to the latest version. Refer to Portal for ArcGIS: Create a backup for further instructions.
• Ensure the backup runs and completes successfully, and be watchful of progress failures to quickly identify performance issues. Refer to Portal for ArcGIS: Monitor ArcGIS Enterprise for more information.
• After the restore operation is complete, perform a validation to ensure the functionality of the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment and verification of the important contents. Refer to Portal for ArcGIS: Automation solutions for your portal for more information.
• Items such as feature layers and web maps can be saved locally using the Download or Export Data option on the item details page. This is useful if restoring the item is required.
• Dashboards, experiences and story maps can be recreated if the web map from the app is still available in Portal for ArcGIS using the following workflow.
  1. Log in to Portal for ArcGIS and click Content > My Content.
  2. Search for and click the web map from the app.
  3. On the item details page, click the Create Web App drop-down menu and select the desired option. The item can now be recreated.
• Some deleted items may still have a service definition (SD) file available and these items can be recreated with the SD file. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: Create a service definition to see the listed items with SD files. The SD files of these items are available in the portal's Content tab or the directory on the machine as shown in the code block below. After the SD file is located, recreate the item using the SD file. Refer to ArcGIS Pro: Publish a service definition for further instructions.

C:\arcgisserver\directories\arcgissystem\arcgisinput