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  • Deprecation of the Classic New Zealand Basemap Server – Effective 5 May 2025

    Deprecation of the Classic New Zealand Basemap Server – Effective 5 May 2025

    As part of Eagle Technology’s ongoing work to provide up-to-date, high-performance basemaps compatible with current ArcGIS technology, we want to inform you about an important update to our basemap services. Please review the details below to ensure a smooth transition and optimal use of these basemaps in your work.

    – Boudewijn Boogaard

    Key Points

    • Deprecation notice: Starting 5 May 2025 Eagle Technology will deprecate our “Classic Basemap Server”.
    • Redirection: URLs referencing the “Classic Basemap Server” will be automatically redirected to the “Current Basemap Server” which hosts all of the same basemaps but with a different tiling scheme.
    • Users should Identify if applications are making use of the “Classic New Zealand Basemap server”: The attributes at the bottom of the page will show “Classic Basemap Server” if this is the case.
    • Migration Advice: If you identify that you are currently using the “Classic Basemap Server” then, based upon which specific basemap you are using, consider the following:
      • For users of the Community Basemap or the Dark Canvas Basemap (Raster), and the Light Canvas Basemap (Raster), see images below, these services have been in mature support since December 2022 on both the classic and current basemap server and no longer receive updates. We therefore strongly recommend transitioning to Vector Basemaps.
      • Manually migrating to the Current Basemap server or Vector Basemaps will allow proper testing and avoid potential disruptions.

    Background

    For over a decade, Eagle Technology has provided authoritative New Zealand basemaps in the NZTM projection to ArcGIS users. Over this time, significant advancements have been made, including:

    1. Introduction of Vector Basemaps; In December 2019 we introduced NZ Vector Basemaps, offering improved performance and functionality.
    2. Introduction of a New Basemap Server with a consistent tiling scheme; In early 2020 we deployed a new basemap server hosting the same basemaps, but with a consistent tiling scheme across all basemaps on that server for improved compatibility. The updated scheme includes:
      • 5 Additional small-scale zoom levels.
      • Larger scale zoom levels, enabling zooming to at least 1:70.
    3. Transition of Raster Basemaps to Mature Support in December 2022, as equivalent Vector Basemaps became available. This included both the Community Basemap and the Light and Dark Canvas Maps. See this blog for the announcement.

    What’s Changing?

    There are two basemap servers that host the same basemaps. The Classic Basemap Server hosts the basemap with different tiling schemes across the basemaps, the basemaps on the Current Basemap Server all have a consistent tiling scheme.

    We will redirect the URLs that currently go to the Classic Basemap Server to the Current Basemap Server.

    The basemaps on the Classic basemap server haven’t received any data updates since December 2022. The basemaps on the Current basemap server hosts basemaps that are in mature support, so they are also not receiving any updates, but the NZ Imagery and the LINZ Topographic basemaps are still being actively maintained.

    When you are using a basemap that is in mature support, we recommend migrating to one of the Vector Basemaps. Please read the blog with more information on this here.

    Scenarios That May Require Action

    While many users will experience a seamless transition, there are scenarios where adjustments may be required:

    1. Tiling Scheme Incompatibilities: Custom tiled layers aligned to the Classic Basemap tiling scheme may no longer overlay correctly. This mainly happens in 3D applications like Scene Viewer. The custom tiled layers must be re-cached using the new tiling scheme.
    2. Zoom Level Changes: Apps or URLs using specific zoom level IDs will require updates. For example, a zoom level ID of 14 on the Classic Basemap corresponds to ID 19 on the Current Basemap server.
    3. Cache and Map Updates:
      • In ArcMap: Clear the Display Cache.
      • In ArcGIS Pro: Reopen the map or project.

    Please note: These scenarios are not exhaustive, other issues may arise depending on your specific workflows or applications. We recommend thorough testing to identify and address any additional challenges.

    URLs Impacted

    The URLs that are currently directed to Classic Basemap Server and will be redirected to the Current Basemap Server are:

    • https://server.arcgisonline.co.nz/arcgis/rest/services
    • https://services.arcgisonline.co.nz/arcgis/rest/services
    • https://basemaps.cloud.eaglegis.co.nz/arcgis/rest/services

    Identify if a basemap from the Classic Basemap server is used.

    There are a few ways to identify if you are using a basemap from the Classic basemap server. You know it is coming from the Classic Basemap Server if:

    • the attributes, usually on the bottom of the map, says “Classic Basemap Server”.
    • the title of basemap layer item or the WebMap item has “Classic” in the name
    • the URL to the basemap is one of the impacted URLs

    These URLs will remain active but will be directed to the Current Basemap server.

    When migrating manually to the new server before the update, please use the services from this URL: https://services1.arcgisonline.co.nz/arcgis/rest/services

    Advised actions

    We strongly encourage users to:

    1. Identify all maps, layers, and apps that use basemaps that use the Classic Basemap server.
    2. Test and or migrate the layers to the Current Basemap server or a Vector Basemap.
    3. Update any hardcoded URLs or zoom-level parameters as needed.

    There are many ways to update the URLs depending on the situation.

    • Update the basemap in the WebMap by opening the webmap and selecting a current basemap as the new basemap for the map.
    • Update the group that holds the basemaps for the organisation’s basemap gallery. Remove the classic basemap webmaps and add webmaps with the current basemaps.

    A tool that can be helpful with updating maps and apps is the ArcGIS Assistant on https://assistant.esri-ps.com/. This tool allows you to update URLs in layers, maps and apps. Be sure to read the user guide to familiarise yourself with its capabilities.

    Basemaps in Mature support

    For users of Community, Dark Canvas or Light Canvas raster basemaps from either the Classic or the Current Basemap Server, we highly recommend transitioning to Vector Basemaps to benefit from the latest updates and support. These basemaps have been in Mature support since December 2022 which means that they have not received any data updates since then.

    HTTPS to be enforced for Eagle Basemaps

    For reasons of backwards compatibility, Eagle has allowed access to our raster basemaps using both HTTP and HTTPS. To stay in line with industry guidelines we will be enforcing HTTPS access only to our Eagle basemaps from July 2025. Any requests in HTTP will be redirected to HTTPS. In many cases the redirect will work, however there may be some specific cases where the redirect does not work, including some circumstances within custom developer applications. In these cases, the developers will need to update their applications and tools to accommodate HTTPS.

     

    Resources

  • NZ Raster Basemaps (Classic) Are Moving to Mature Support

    NZ Raster Basemaps (Classic) Are Moving to Mature Support

    On 5 December 2022, the remaining New Zealand “Classic” Raster Basemaps will be moving to mature support. When basemaps are moved to mature support it means that the items will still be available, but they will no longer receive updates. For this reason, we strongly recommend updating your maps, apps and basemap gallery to use the latest NZ Raster and Vector Basemaps.

    For each NZ Raster Basemap there are two versions available:

    Why two versions of the same basemaps?

    Due to basemap switching compatibility issues with applications such as the 3D Scene Viewer, and Web App Builder we have made our basemap tiling scheme’s uniform and consistent across all NZ raster basemaps and the NZ vector basemaps. Not only will be able to easily switch between and overlay the NZ basemaps, but you can also zoom deeper as the current raster basemaps all allow zooming in to 1:70.  

    Which NZ Raster Basemaps are already in mature support?

    The following raster basemaps moved to mature support at the start of 2022:

    Both the classic and current version are not receiving any more updates. We recommend migrating to the equivalent Vector Basemap. The vector basemaps can be found in ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Living Atlas and in this group. More information on the NZ Vector Basemaps can be found in this StoryMap.

    Which NZ Raster Basemaps will move to mature support, and which won’t?

    The following raster basemaps will move to mature support from 5 December 2022:

    The current versions of these maps will not be moving to mature support and will continue to be updated.

    If you are using one of these Classic basemaps we encourage you to migrate to the current versions of these maps, that won’t be moving to mature support:

    How can I tell which version of basemap I’m using?

    You can easily identify which NZ Imagery Basemap you’re using by whether blue bathymetry is present. If your basemap is floating in white space, you are using the Classic version and you should migrate. Whereas, if you see blue bathymetry around New Zealand, you’re using the current version.

    For other basemaps there are a few ways you can identify if you are using the Classic version. In the web map you can open the properties of the basemap and check if it is using the services1.arcgisonline.co.nz URL.

    While in the app, you can also open the Network Tab in your Browser’s Developer Tools. If you pan the map with the Network Tab open, you can check if any requests are made to services.arcgisonline.co.nz. You can add services.arcgisonline.co.nz to the filter to more easily identify this. If there are requests made to that URL then the app uses basemap in mature support.

    Migrating

    Migrating from the Classic basemaps to the current versions or a vector basemap will in most cases be as simple as switching out the old one for the new one in the Web Map or App. There are situations where some extra care is required. In any case, testing the new basemap before switching is recommended. Here are a few cases where extra care is needed. There may be other situations where extra effort may be needed.

    Your app uses the Scale/Zoom Level ID to zoom to a specific scale or uses url-parameters to zoom to a specific scale

    With the new tiling scheme for the current raster basemaps 5 new small-scale levels have been added. This means that the scale level IDs represent a different scale. For example, scale level ID 10 in the Classic basemaps equals scale 1: 18,055.954822. In the current raster basemaps scale level id 10 equals scale 1:577,790.554289. To maintain the same scale level, you need to update the app to zoom to scale level ID 15.

    Your ArcGIS 3D Scene or ArcGIS 3D application uses other tiled layers on top of the basemap

    3D Scenes and applications are stricter when it comes to using different tiling schemes. When your 3D scene or app has a tiled layer (raster or vector) on top of one of the Classic basemaps you will most likely need to re-tile that layer using the same tiling scheme as the current NZ Basemaps. The tiling scheme can be found here.

    Update your basemap gallery

    If your organization uses a custom basemap gallery, we recommend you remove the raster basemaps that are in mature support and replace them with either the vector basemaps or the current basemaps. As this basemap gallery can be used in other locations than the Map Viewers, for example in ArcGIS Web AppBuilder applications, make sure to test if this change has any impact on your current applications, especially when your custom basemap gallery has a combination of Eagle Technology basemaps and custom basemaps that are cached using one of the Classic tiling schemes.

    When updating your basemap gallery group, make sure to add the Web Map to the group and not the layer.

    To find out how to update your basemap gallery, see this blog post:

    ArcGIS Living Atlas

    The basemaps that are in mature support or are moving to mature support are no longer available in Living Atlas. They have also received the “Deprecated” tag. This ensures they are prioritized less in search results. You can find all the Classic basemap items in this group.

    If you have any questions about this move, please get in touch with your Eagle Technolgy representatve or contact us at livingatlas@eagle.co.nz.