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Create custom images

To create a custom image for your GIS server or web GIS site, deploy a virtual machine on Microsoft Azure using an Esri image, customize the virtual machine, and capture your customized virtual machine as a template. You can use this template in ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure to deploy a GIS server or web GIS site.

The following outlines the steps you take to create a custom image for a GIS server or web GIS deployment on Azure:

  1. Locate Esri virtual machine images in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

    Search for arcgis or esri to find the images.

  2. Use the Microsoft Azure Management Portal to deploy a virtual machine from the image.
  3. Make a remote desktop connection to the virtual machine to add customizations, such as installing additional applications, configuring security, or copying data to the machine.
  4. Once you finish customizing the virtual machine, generalize and capture an image. See the Microsoft Azure article, How to Capture a Windows Virtual Machine to Use as a Template for instructions on how to do this.

    Note:

    Include arcgis or esri in the template name or description so Cloud Builder can use it.

When you run ArcGIS Server Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure to deploy a site, choose your template from the list of images in your account.