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HTTPS Required: How To Update Broken Service URL's

How-To
November 15, 2024

As of November 11, 2024, VCGI has deprecated access to our web services via HTTP (http://). Services remain fully accessible via HTTPS (https://), which is the secure variant of HTTP. This change was made to bring VCGI into alignment with industry best practices, ensuring online connections are secure.

What does this mean for data users?

In most cases this change will have no impact. Modern browsers automatically switch to HTTPS, so without knowing it you’ve been using HTTPS. However, you may have some GIS projects (e.g., ArcMap/Pro) referencing VCGI’s services via HTTP. This may also be the case with older GIS web maps (e.g., ArcGIS Online). In such cases the layers won’t render. They will show as exclamation marks (!) in ArcMap/Pro.

Broken Layers - Replace URL with https

How do I fix broken references?

ArcMap

  1. Open the ArcMap project containing broken layer references.
  2. Open the Catalog pane, Add a new ArcGIS Server connection; Server URL = https://maps.vcgi.vermont.gov/arcgis/rest/services.
    1. NOTE: You’ll only need to do this once for all ArcMap projects.
  3. Right-click the broken layer in the Table of Contents of your Map, select Data --> Repair Data Source. Browse to the new ArcGIS Server connection you just created, go to the EGC_services folder and select the appropriate service.
    1. NOTE: If you can’t find the service it may have been deprecated. Try an alternative service if available.

ArcGIS Pro

  1. Open the Pro project containing broken layer references.
  2. Open the Catalog Pane. Under Servers, Add a New ArcGIS Server connection; Server URL = https://maps.vcgi.vermont.gov/arcgis/rest/services. Leave the authentication fields blank.
    1. Add this connection to Favorites + New Projects. This will save you from having to do this again.
  3. Unfortunately, ArcGIS Pro doesn’t allow direct repair of broken layer references that point to web services. Instead, you must re-add them to your map.
    1. From the Map tab, select Add Data. Browse to the new ArcGIS Server connection you just created, go to the EGC_services folder and select the appropriate service.
    2. If you can’t find the service it may have been deprecated. Try an alternative service if available.

ArcGIS Online

  1. Follow these instructions https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/manage-data/update-layer-urls-https.htm

QGIS

  1. Open the QGIS project containing broken layer references.
  2. Open the Browser pane.
  3. Right-click the broken layer(s) in the saved connections, be they WMS/WMTS, Vector Tile, and/or ArcGIS Rest Servers. Click "Edit Connection".
  4. Edit the URL to ensure it begins with https://. Click OK.
  5. Right-click the broken layer(s) in the saved connections that you just changed. Click "Refresh".
Tags
Service