ArcGIS Server and Spatial Analyst

In ArcGIS 10.0, you needed to worry about path length for raster operations if the raster path plus file name is over 154 characters.  Now at 10.1, the character length has been increased to 254.  This means for most raster operations you will not have to alter the TEMP variable for the ArcGIS account.

If you do run into issues where spatial analyst or 3D analyst tools fail on server, but work on desktop in your model, try changing the ArcGIS account's TEMP environmental parameter to a different folder.

A good example would be c:\serverwrksp.  You also should make sure that the ArcGIS account has read/write access to that folder.


To shorten or change the path that server uses, you need to modify the ArcGIS account's TEMP variable.  Server should then honor the new destination path.  You might have to either log in and log off or reboot the box to get the OS to honor the new variable.

Here is how you change the variable in Windows:
To view or change environment variables:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Environment variables.
4. Click one the following options, for either a user or a system variable:
   • Click New to add a new variable name and value.
   • Click an existing variable, and then click Edit to change its name or value.
   • Click an existing variable, and then click Delete to remove it.

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