All map services you publish to ArcGIS Server have the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) capability enabled by default. Network links are an effective way to expose that KML to others. A KML network link is a way of making dynamic KML available on your server in a format that is easy to consume. The network link uses KMZ, a compressed form of KML.
KML network links can be consumed by clients such as Explorer for ArcGIS and Google Earth. KML network links are useful because they reference dynamic KML rather than static KML that never changes or updates.
In ArcGIS Server Manager, click Services > KML Network Links to view the current list of network links available on your server. To add network links to your server, you have two options:
- Create a network link from an existing map service.
- Upload to your server an existing network link you created using Explorer for ArcGIS or Google Earth.
Creating a network link from an existing map service
You can create KML network links that include both vector and raster layers contained in a map service. Vector layers can be rasterized or returned as folders of placemarks within the KML.
A network link has several properties that you can define. These include the following:
- External hostname (for use in a reverse proxy environment)
- Short description (KML snippet)
- Long description (as plain text, HTML, links, pictures, and media)
- Snippet behavior
- Drawing options
- Refresh parameters
- View parameters
Manager only provides support for creating network links that are based directly on content from published map services. For full instructions, see Creating a KML network link from a map service.
Uploading an existing network link using Manager
Using ArcGIS Server Manager, you can upload an existing network link file that was created externally, for example, in Google Earth. This method often useful for uploading network links that contain multiple KML services. Uploading an existing link in this way copies the KMZ file to the server. The original, local copy of the KMZ file is not affected.
For full instructions, see Uploading an existing KML network link to ArcGIS Server.