Installation, Configuration, and Licensing
What this domain tests
This domain covers prerequisites, authorization, the order in which components are installed and configured, and which license or user type unlocks a requested capability.
Before you install
A base deployment goes on one machine with a fixed, fully qualified hostname. Confirm the required ports are free, synchronize time (tokens and Kerberos fail quietly on clock drift), install from a local administrator account while planning a dedicated low-privilege run-as account for the services, and exclude the portal content directory, configuration store and data store directories from antivirus scanning.
Authorization
Portal for ArcGIS takes a portal license file, applied during installation and replaceable later in Organization > Settings > Licensing. ArcGIS Server takes a license file that fixes its license level; both are applied with the software authorization tooling or its command-line equivalent. ArcGIS Data Store needs no separate license, because it is licensed through ArcGIS Server. Portal user types define what a member is licensed to do: at 11.x they are Viewer, Editor, Field Worker, Creator and Professional Plus; at 10.x members hold Level 1 (Viewer) or Level 2 (Editor, Creator, Professional, Professional Plus). Add-on licenses such as ArcGIS Pro extensions are assigned per member on top of the user type.
Configuration sequence
Create the ArcGIS Server site, create the portal and its initial administrator, configure the data store against the hosting server, deploy and configure a Web Adaptor for each component, federate the server, designate the hosting server, then set the portal name, URLs and HTTPS-only access before rolling out content.
Worked example
An analyst must build web maps, publish hosted feature layers, and use ArcGIS Pro Advanced with 3D Analyst. Reasoning: Viewer and Editor user types cannot publish, so both are excluded. Creator includes ArcGIS Pro but not the Advanced license or extensions, so Creator alone fails. Professional Plus supplies publishing, ArcGIS Pro Advanced and add-on eligibility, so assign Professional Plus plus the 3D Analyst add-on. No custom role is needed.
Traps
Believing the data store needs its own license file; trying to sign in to the portal with the ArcGIS Server primary site administrator (separate account stores); changing the portal hostname after content exists, which rewrites item URLs and can break federation; assuming a custom role can widen what a user type allows.