Map services transform the maps you author in ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap into web GIS resources. The back-end structure of map services published from ArcGIS Pro are fundamentally different from those published from ArcMap. This structure, called a service runtime, determines the functions available in a map service. Many newer capabilities of map services, such as the ability to use shared instances, are only supported by the ArcGIS Pro service runtime.
ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9.x, part of the ArcGIS 2021 releases, supports map services from both service runtimes: You can publish map services to ArcGIS Server from either ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap, and you can also upgrade ArcGIS Server from an earlier version to 10.9 without losing the map services published to your server site. This support for both service runtimes is true of all previous released versions of ArcGIS Enterprise that are currently supported by Esri.
However, support for services published from ArcGIS Desktop is being phased out. The final released version of ArcGIS Desktop, which includes ArcMap, was 10.8.1, and ArcGIS Server 10.9.x is the last release cycle to support the ArcMap service runtime. Beginning with the ArcGIS 2022 releases, it will no longer be possible to publish services from ArcMap (including ArcPy based in ArcMap) to ArcGIS Server sites. Additionally, some services published from ArcMap will no longer be able to run if present during an upgrade to the ArcGIS 2022 and later versions.
This deprecation won't affect previously released versions of ArcGIS Server, but it's recommended that you begin preparing for the upcoming removal of support for the ArcMap service runtime. It is highly recommended that all customers transition all publishing workflows to ArcGIS Pro for new services and consider migrating all existing services to the ArcGIS Pro service runtime.
To ease the process of migrating existing services to the ArcGIS Pro service runtime, two new tools are available in ArcGIS Server 10.9:
- In ArcGIS Server Manager, a new option to Edit Runtime is available for eligible map services. This operation migrates map services from the ArcMap service runtime to the ArcGIS Pro service runtime and can also be reversed to return to the ArcMap service runtime if the migrated map service isn't working correctly. Some map service capabilities aren't supported by this operation and must be removed from the service before migrating.
- A command line tool is also available to migrate services in bulk to the ArcGIS Pro service runtime.
While many services that were originally published from ArcMap will continue to run on future releases, some specific service types must be re-authored in ArcGIS Pro and republished to ArcGIS Enterprise. This includes geoprocessing services and services that make use of custom SOEs or SOIs.
Learn more about service publishing in ArcGIS Pro