Frequently asked question

Is it possible to publish branch versioned feature layers in bulk from a user-managed data store?

Last Published: January 21, 2025

Answer

Bulk publishing layers from a user-managed data store from Portal for ArcGIS creates both a feature and map image layer for the data but editing is not enabled by default (but can be turned on later from Server Manager). Importantly, this workflow does not enable the version management capability required for branch versioning.

It is also not possible to enable the 'Version Management' capability on a published service from ArcGIS Server Manager or Portal. If the data is registered as branch versioned and the Version Management capability is not enabled on the web feature layer, all operations, such as querying and editing the data, occur on the default version.

enabling Version Management in Server Manager

Bulk publishing is not intended or recommended for branch versioning workflows. The best approach is to publish branch-versioned data using ArcGIS Pro and configure the capabilities as desired.

For existing data that has already been bulk-published, you can overwrite the published services from ArcGIS Pro and then enable the 'Version Management' capability, the editing operation on the feature service, and if required, change the instance type from shared to dedicated which then ensures the published feature layer supports branch-versioned editing.

The process could be automated with Python using the arcpy.sharing module and the MapImageSharingDraft class. A few sample scripts for overwriting services and publishing services with additional capabilities such as feature layer and version management can be found in the following document: MapImageSharingDraft—ArcGIS Pro

Article ID: 000034037

Software:
  • ArcGIS Pro
  • Portal for ArcGIS

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