📖 Read The Docs

Welcome to the official GeoServer documentation hub. This guide covers installation, configuration, API usage, and best practices for deploying and managing enterprise geospatial services.

Quick Start

Get a working GeoServer instance up and running in under 5 minutes. Ensure Java 11+ is installed before proceeding.

bashCopy
curl -L https://download.geoserver.org/stable/geoserver-latest-bin.zip -o gs.zip
unzip gs.zip -d /opt/
export GEOSERVER_HOME=/opt/geoserver
/opt/geoserver/bin/startup.sh
# Server starts on http://localhost:8080/geoserver

Verify Installation

Navigate to http://localhost:8080/geoserver/web and log in with the default credentials (admin / geoserver). It is strongly recommended to change these immediately.

Configuration Overview

GeoServer uses XML-based configuration stored in the data_dir. Key directories include:

• layers/ — Layer definitions and styling
• security/ — User roles, ACLs, and authentication backends
• styles/ — SLD, CSS, and vector tile styling rules
• workspace/ — Datastores and catalogs

jsonCopy
{
  "geoserver": {
    "data_dir": "/var/lib/geoserver/data",
    "http_port": 8080,
    "ssl_enabled": true,
    "cache": {
      "geowebcache_enabled": true,
      "tiling_scheme": "EPSG:900913"
    }
  }
}

Next Steps

Once your instance is running, explore the following sections:

• Publishing Shapefiles & PostGIS Layers
• Writing Custom SLD Styles
• Configuring CORS & Proxy Settings
• Monitoring with REST & Admin API