Error Message
Attempting to federate ArcGIS for Server with Portal for ArcGIS results in the following error:
"There was an error communicating with the server. Please check your URL and your credentials and try again."
Cause
This is a known issue when Portal for ArcGIS is accessed via a Domain Naming System (DNS) alias. A mismatch in the Service URL and Administration URL in the certification causes the federation to fail.
Solution or Workaround
Note:
This issue can be resolved by re-registering the Portal Web Adaptor with the DNS alias. If registering the Web Adaptor with the DNS alias fails to resolve the problem, proceed with the steps listed below.
- Connect to the Internet Information Services (IIS) Web Server.
- Generate a self-signed certificate for the IIS Web Server fully qualified domain name by following the instructions in the ArcGIS Resources: Enabling SSL using a self-signed certificate document.
- Bind the self-signed certificate to port 443.
- Launch a web browser from the IIS Web Server, and navigate to the Portal via the IIS Web Server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) URL and Web Adaptor URL.
- Run the federation process between ArcGIS for Server and Portal for ArcGIS.
- Validate the federation through the Portal page via the FQDN or Web Adaptor of the IIS Web Server.
- Reset the certificate binding in the IIS Manager to the newly created self-signed certificate.
- Verify the federation by connecting to the ArcGIS Server Manager and Admin endpoints to ensure a portal token was requested.