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FME Flow On- Prem and ArcGIS Server license

  • February 5, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 50 views
mgaylord
Contributor
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Hi!

I have had trouble fully understanding how to setup the ArcGIS Server license on the FME Flow VM. I cannot seem to find clear documentation online to walk admins through this process. I understand that an ArcGIS Server license needs to be on the same machine as FME Flow if workflows contain ArcSDE and gdbs.

If possible, can someone please provide steps, or link to an article that clearly walks through this setup? For some background, my organization has an Esri Enterprise environment, but I have no idea if when walking through the setup if a new site needs to be created, or if I’m supposed to join our existing site, or if joining an existing site could disrupt our Enterprise environment if things arent setup correctly on on FME Flow machine.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

      3 replies

      sidra
      Contributor
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      • sidraContributor
      • Contributor
      • February 5, 2026

      We install the ArcGIS Server on the FME Flow Server, and you license it the normal way with Software Authorization for ArcGIS Server. It is used just for running in the background and is useful for many FME Flow services that uses ArcGIS Enterprise needs.

      carlw
      Safer
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      • carlwSafer
      • Safer
      • February 9, 2026

      Hi mgaylord,

      When installing ArcGIS Server to license Esri formats, there is no need to create or join a site! After installing the basic components, the Esri Software Authorization Wizard should automatically launch. Once you authorize the software and restart the FME Flow services, you should be good to go. 

      Unfortunately, I can’t find any articles to share that discuss the ArcGIS Server setup process. That’s a good idea, though. I’ll see if we can add a bit of content to the Using FME Flow with Esri ArcGIS Software article on this topic - I imagine that’s the first page people land on when trying to sort this out.

      Let us know if you run into any further issues!

      Best,
      Carl

        hkingsbury
        Celebrity
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        • hkingsburyCelebrity
        • Celebrity
        • February 11, 2026

        Hi mgaylord,

        When installing ArcGIS Server to license Esri formats, there is no need to create or join a site! After installing the basic components, the Esri Software Authorization Wizard should automatically launch. Once you authorize the software and restart the FME Flow services, you should be good to go. 

        Unfortunately, I can’t find any articles to share that discuss the ArcGIS Server setup process. That’s a good idea, though. I’ll see if we can add a bit of content to the Using FME Flow with Esri ArcGIS Software article on this topic - I imagine that’s the first page people land on when trying to sort this out.

        Let us know if you run into any further issues!

        Best,
        Carl

        In addition to this, I also understand that once licensed, ArcGIS does not need to be running (you can disable/stop the service). This means you won’t be using system resources for it.

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