ArcMap Open Carto 2 WMTS not displaying in QGIS

Question

I am a little perplexed as to why I cannot get the OS Open Carto 2 Basemap from Arcmap's Rest Services to display in QGIS.

The WMTS link is here *(OS Open Carto 2) but upon adding it to QGIS through the "Create a New WMS/WMTS Connection" window it is accepted but no map is displayed. The WMTS for Carto does not appear to be down on the Arcmap web map either (see here)

Connection String (OS Open Carto 2)

https://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/1.0.0/WMTSCapabilities.xml?cacheKey=ab093530753e4ad5

Connection String (OS Open Raster)

In contrast when I add the OS Open Raster WMTS all works fine.

https://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Raster/MapServer/WMTS/1.0.0/WMTSCapabilities.xml?cacheKey=b499350066619da6

Answer 1

Interesting. I was able to reproduce the problem, which gave the following output in the wms tab of the logger:

2020-12-09T15:15:33     WARNING    Tile request error (Status: 200; Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8; Length: 1580; URL: http://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/tile/1.0.0/OS_Open_Carto_2/default/default028mm/8/28/38.png)
2020-12-09T15:15:33     WARNING    Tile request error (Status: 200; Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8; Length: 1580; URL: http://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/tile/1.0.0/OS_Open_Carto_2/default/default028mm/8/29/38.png)
2020-12-09T15:15:33     WARNING    Tile request error (Status: 200; Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8; Length: 1580; URL: http://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/tile/1.0.0/OS_Open_Carto_2/default/default028mm/8/30/38.png)
2020-12-09T15:15:33     WARNING    Tile request error (Status: 200; Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8; Length: 1580; URL: http://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/tile/1.0.0/OS_Open_Carto_2/default/default028mm/8/30/42.png)
2020-12-09T15:15:33     WARNING    Tile request error (Status: 200; Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8; Length: 1580; URL: http://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/tile/1.0.0/OS_Open_Carto_2/default/default028mm/8/29/40.png)

However, any of the urls link to a valid png image on the web.

Luckily, there are multiple ways of displaying ArcGIS rest maps in QGIS:

1. as a WMTS

this is what we tried.

2. As an ArcGIS MapService (thread)

this worked.

1. Layer -> Add Layer -> Add ArcGIS Map Service Layer...
2. click new
3. Give a descriptive name and paste the URL. It should end on /MapServer so: https://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer
4. OK -> Add
5. done

3. As described in this wiki.

Using this method, you Should be able to get vector layers from Rest API as well. I could not get it working with the Open Carto Map (and have not tried it with others).

Answer 2

It seems it is not possible to use that specific service as a native WMTS one, but a workaround is to use it as a XYZ tile service:

you will need to set this URL in the XYZ dialog:

https://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/qHLhLQrcvEnxjtPr/arcgis/rest/services/OS_Open_Carto_2/MapServer/WMTS/tile/1.0.0/OS_Open_Carto_2/default/default028mm/{z}/{y}/{x}.png

please note that the CRS needs to be fixed (as EPSG:27700)

As a reference, this URL from the same server works as a native WMTS layer:

https://tiles.arcgis.com/tiles/ULBqC49IEeIR01GF/arcgis/rest/services/Middle_East_Oil_and_Gas_Field_Map_by_CIA/MapServer/WMTS/1.0.0/WMTSCapabilities.xml?cacheKey=aec62228d3e2389d