Frequently asked question
What are the best practices when installing and troubleshooting Esri software on Linux?
Answer
Best PracticesThe following is a list of helpful tips when troubleshooting Esri software on Linux. These steps are not directly supported by Esri but are often used by Esri Support to help troubleshoot these issues.
Note:
These steps should be used by the Linux system administrator to remedy problems and are provided to help avoid common pitfalls while running Esri software on Linux.
1) Verify that the Linux operating system is a supported before installing. Not all distributions are supported, and only documented distributions are verified to work with Esri software. Check the system requirements for details.
2) If a problem with the software is encountered, please check Esri's Patches and Service Packs page. There is a chance the problem may already be known and patched.
3) Make sure that the correct packages are installed for the Esri software, as documented on the corresponding system requirements page.
4) Requirements for the software are listed on its corresponding system requirements page, as well. Esri’s software relies on the system having the necessary packages. If there are missing packages, the software will not function.
5) If 32-bit Esri software such as ArcGIS License Server software is being used, the corresponding 32-bit packages listed on the system requirements page are necessary. A common pitfall is to install the software on a 64-bit OS and have all the 64-bit packages, but the 32-bit packages used by Esri software have not been installed.
6) If an installer does not work correctly, try running the installer with a -h switch to see the help files and other switches available. Use the –v option to run the installer in verbose mode to see more information about what is happening during the install.
Commonly Encountered Errors and Problems
• Error: "Installer User Interface Mode Not Supported." This often occurs when trying to run software that runs as a graphical user interface (GUI) but no X Window server is found. This is similar to the following error message.
• Error: "The installer cannot run in this UI mode. To specify the interface mode, use the -i command-line option, followed by the UI mode identifier. The valid UI modes identifiers are GUI, Console, and Silent." This normally occurs because the software tries to run in GUI mode by default and cannot find a display environment variable, or the variable is set incorrectly. The command can be rerun with the silent switch to run it when there is no X Window system present. Run the silent install to circumvent GUI errors rather than troubleshoot the issue with the GUI.
• Error: "Cannot open X display." This happens when the software expects there to be an X Window DISPLAY to render to, but it cannot be found. This is frequently caused by the DISPLAY environment variable not being set, or if the X Window display server has not been installed.
• Error: "PuTTY X11 proxy: wrong authorization protocol attempted Cannot open X display 'localhost:10.0'." This message most often occurs when a user logs on as one user and generates an .Xauthority file, but when the user is changed, the next user does not have this file. What often fixes this is to copy the .Xauthority file from the user who initially logged in via PuTTY, and copy it to the user that is attempting to run the program. File permissions must also be set to allow the new user to access that file.
• Error: "...ArcGIS 10.x.x License Manager installation is complete, but some errors or warnings occurred. [Exit Code: 255] Please check this file for more information: /home/<USERNAME>/arcgis/license10.2/.Setup/LicenseManager_InstallLog.log." The most common cause for this error is the machine does not have access to the /usr/local/share/macrovision/storage folder, or that folder has not been created.
• If the License Server Administrator window or the Software AuthorizationLS window cannot be moved, this is often a result of using Xming. If the LSAdmin is run from the X Window system GUI on the machine, it works correctly.
• If text cannot be entered into the text files for the LSAdmin or SoftwareAuthorizationLS window, this is the same as the preceeding problem and happens when running the window in Xming X Window server. Using a native Linux X Window server often resolves this problem.
• If the user has problems running ArcGIS for Server 10.1 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 (RHEL). ArcGIS for Server 10.1 was written before RHEL 6.4 was released. Due to changes in the Linux Standard Base in RHEL 6.4, deploying ArcGIS for Server 10.1 can be challenging. A quick fix is either to install a newer version of ArcGIS for Server, or install the software to an older version of RHEL.
• If the user is installing ArcGIS for Server, and the startserver.sh runs, but there are no ArcSOC processes running. A common cause for this problem is when the server software is installed correctly, but there is no domain name system (DNS) name resolution. ArcGIS for Server requires a DNS server to resolve its name as per the system requirements. If the ./startserver.sh is started and multiple java processes are not seen when running ps –eF | grep $USER, this is often the case. The DIG <YOUR_HOSTNAME_HERE> command can also be used to see if there is DNS name resolution. If not, the infrastructure administrators must resolve the DNS issue for ArcGIS for Server to function correctly.
Article ID:000012130
Software:
- ArcGIS Server
Get help from ArcGIS experts
Download the Esri Support App
Discover more on this topic
Search for related information
Find training related to this topic
Explore ideas and give feedback