Remove the MCP Overlay

Removing the MCP overlay undeploys the arcgis#platform web application and its context descriptor from your ArcGIS hosting server's bundled Tomcat, then cycles the ArcGIS Server service so the /platform context—the MCP and STAC catalogs—is no longer served. This page explains how to remove the overlay with the provided scripts or manually, and how to confirm it is gone.

Important: run on the ArcGIS hosting server

Run the removal on the same ArcGIS hosting server where the overlay was applied.

Important: Removing the overlay deletes files under the ArcGIS Server installation directory and restarts the ArcGIS Server service. Perform these steps during a maintenance window, with an account that has administrative privileges on the server machine.

Download the removal scripts

Download the removal script for your platform — each link below downloads a single file:

remove_overlay.ps1 — a PowerShell script that removes the overlay on Windows.
remove_overlay.sh — a shell script that removes the overlay on Linux.

The removal scripts only delete the previously deployed files, so arcgis_mcp.zip is not needed.

Remove the overlay using the script

The removal script reads your ArcGIS Server install location, stops the service, deletes the deployed arcgis#platform web app and the shared context descriptor, and starts the service again. Missing files are skipped (not treated as an error), and the service is always started again at the end—even if a delete fails.

Windows

Open an elevated PowerShell session (Run as Administrator)—elevation is required because the script deletes under the install directory and restarts a Windows service—in the folder that holds remove_overlay.ps1, and run it. No parameters are needed:

.\remove_overlay.ps1

PowerShell execution policy. remove_overlay.ps1 is not digitally signed, so depending on your machine's PowerShell execution policy—or because the file was downloaded from the internet and blocked—PowerShell may refuse to run it. If that happens, use one of the following options:

# Option A: Allow scripts for just this session, then run
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Force
.\remove_overlay.ps1

# Option B: invoke it directly with a bypass
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\remove_overlay.ps1

What the script does, in order:

Reads the ArcGIS Server install directory from the registry.
Stops the ArcGIS Server Windows service.
Deletes arcgis#platform.xml from <InstallDir>\framework\runtime\tomcat\conf\Catalina\localhost (skipped if not present).
Deletes the arcgis#platform web app folder from <InstallDir>\framework\webapps (skipped if not present).
Starts the ArcGIS Server Windows service again—always, even if a delete failed.

Linux

Copy remove_overlay.sh to the ArcGIS Server machine, make it executable, and run it with sudo. Elevation is required because the ArcGIS Server install is owned by the arcgis account:

chmod +x remove_overlay.sh
sudo ./remove_overlay.sh

The script takes one optional flag, -u <username>—the ArcGIS Server account that owns the install (default arcgis). If ArcGIS Server runs under a different account, pass it (and run ./remove_overlay.sh -h to print usage):

sudo ./remove_overlay.sh -u arcgisadmin

Important: use the same account ArcGIS Server was installed with

The -u account must be the same operating-system user that ArcGIS Server was installed and runs under (the default is arcgis). The script reads that account's ESRI properties file to locate the install. Using the wrong account leads to "properties file not found" errors.

What the script does, in order:

Reads the ArcGIS Server install directory (and version) from the ESRI properties file in the ArcGIS Server account's home directory.
Stops ArcGIS Server using its stopserver.sh script, falling back to the arcgisserver systemd service.
Deletes arcgis#platform.xml from <InstallDir>/framework/runtime/tomcat/conf/Catalina/localhost (skipped if not present).
Deletes the arcgis#platform web app folder from <InstallDir>/framework/webapps (skipped if not present).
Removes the /platform/* URL mapping from the ArcGIS Web Adaptor's web.xml (the agswebadaptor servlet-mapping). This is a best-effort step—it auto-discovers the Web Adaptor's Tomcat and backs up web.xml first—and it runs only for ArcGIS Server 11.1, 11.3, 11.5, and 12.0. It is skipped for 12.1 (and if the version cannot be determined).
Starts ArcGIS Server again.

Remove the overlay manually

If you prefer not to run the scripts, remove the overlay by hand. The paths are the same relative to the ArcGIS Server installation directory on both Windows and Linux.

Stop the ArcGIS Server service. On Windows, stop the ArcGIS Server service from Services (or run Stop-Service -Name 'ArcGIS Server' in an elevated PowerShell session). On Linux, run the stopserver.sh script in the server's install directory.
Delete the context descriptor arcgis#platform.xml from Tomcat's Catalina/localhost folder, <ArcGIS Server install directory>/framework/runtime/tomcat/conf/Catalina/localhost/. Skip this if the file is not there.
Delete the arcgis#platform web app folder from the webapps folder, <ArcGIS Server install directory>/framework/webapps/. Skip this if the folder is not there.
Java Web Adaptor (ArcGIS Server 11.1–12.0). If a <url-pattern>/platform/*</url-pattern> entry was added to the agswebadaptor <servlet-mapping> in the Java Web Adaptor's webapps/server/WEB-INF/web.xml, remove that entry now and reload that Tomcat. The Linux removal script does this automatically for 11.1, 11.3, 11.5, and 12.0, and skips it for 12.1. The IIS Web Adaptor on Windows forwards all paths and requires no such change.
Start the ArcGIS Server service again — on Windows start the ArcGIS Server service (or run Start-Service -Name 'ArcGIS Server'); on Linux run the startserver.sh script in the server's install directory.

Note: The folder and file names arcgis#platform and arcgis#platform.xml—including the #—identify exactly what to delete. On Linux these privileged deletes require sudo.

Verify the overlay is removed

After the service has restarted, wait for ArcGIS Server to be up and running (it may take a few minutes depending on your environment), then open the platform catalogs URL in a browser, substituting your own values:

https://<sitedomain>/<Web Adaptor name or context name>/platform

The ArcGIS Enterprise Platform Catalogs page should no longer be served—you should now get a 404 / page not found instead. The MCP endpoint at /platform/mcp is no longer available, so MCP clients can no longer reach the catalog.

For example, on the sample deployment the removed overlay now returns a "Page Not Found" status report:

A 'Page Not Found - /arcgis/platform/' status report in the browser, showing that the requested resource /arcgis/platform/ is not available after the overlay was removed.

After removal, the /platform context returns a 404 "Page Not Found" instead of the catalogs page.

If you still need any help, submit your feedback on the Early Adopter Community (EAC) forum.