Installing GeoNetwork 3.0.x

Introduction

In this document you’ll only find specific information for installing GeoNetwork.

It is expected that the base system has already been properly installed and configured as described in Installing the Operating System.

In such document there are information about how to install some required base components, such as PostgreSQL (Installing PostgreSQL and PostGIS), Apache HTTPD (Apache HTTP Server Installation), Java (Installing Java), Apache Tomcat (Tomcat Installation).

Installing GeoNetwork

Hint

The GeoNetwork project page is at http://geonetwork-opensource.org/

Download packages

Download the .war files needed for a full GeoNetwork installation:

cd /root/download
wget http://kent.dl.sourceforge.net/project/geonetwork/GeoNetwork_opensource/v3.0.2/geonetwork.war

Setup tomcat base

Create catalina base directory for MapStore:

cp -a /var/lib/tomcat/base/       /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork
cp /root/download/geonetwork.war  /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/webapps/

Data dir

GeoNetwork data dirs can be externalized. This means that GeoNetwork can be instructed to create such directories outside the webapp directory, so they will be maintained through the application upgrades.

We’ll put the data in /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/gn/data. Create the directory hierarchy:

cd /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/
mkdir -p gn/data

By setting the sytem property geonetwork.dir we’ll tell GeoNetwork to use such directory to store its data.

Setup config files

Some GeoNetwork internal configuration can be overridden by external definitions.

By setting the system property geonetwork.jeeves.configuration.overrides.file you can define an override file which will replace some default configuration with local ones. We’ll set this property in the setenv.sh file (see next subsection).

In the override file you can:

  • set internal properties,
  • import Spring config files into the configuration,
  • replace Spring property values in declared beans,
  • replace pieces of Geonetwork XML configuration files.

Replacing and overriding may be quite complex, so here a recap of the configuration flow:

  • In setenv.sh: set the position of the config-overrides.xml file

    • In config-overrides.xml:

      • Import the file containing Spring definitions of the database.

        You’ll have to edit it to choose either postgres (config-db-postgres.xml) or oracle (config-db-oracle.xml).

        • In file config-db-*.xml:
          • Load the property file geonetwork.properties, which contains the property definitions used to connect to the DB, used in other internal XML files.
          • Define 3 Spring beans needed to setup the proper DBMS.

      • Import the Spring definition of the datastore (config-datastore.xml). If this file is not imported, a shapefile will be created for handling the spatial index.

      • Set the DMBS dialect according to the choosen DB.

Config file: setenv.sh

We have to set some system vars used by tomcat, by the JVM, and by the webapp itself.

Create the file

vim /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/bin/setenv.sh

and insert this content.

Then make it executable:

chmod +x /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/bin/setenv.sh

Config file: config-overrides.xml

Create the override file:

vim /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/gn/config-overrides.xml

and insert this content.

You may want to edit the file and replace the import file and set bean elements to point to the Oracle settings.

Config file: config-db-*.xml

Either copy the content of

  • this file into /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/gn/config-db-postgres.xml, or
  • this file into /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/gn/config-db-oracle.xml.

You may have both file in your directory, since only one will be imported by the config-overrides.xml file.

Config file: geonetwork.properties

Copy the content of this file into /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/gn/geonetwork.properties.

Here you can find the credentials for accessing the main DB, so you will have to edit this file to customize at least the DB credentials.

You may also need to change the value for the property jdbc.basic.validationQuery in case you will be using Oracle.

Config file: config-datastore.xml

Copy the content of this file into /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork/gn/config-datastore.xml.

This file will configure the database for the spatial index. By default it will use the same information and credentials used for the default PostgreSQL database, (which means it should be spatially enabled).

If you need to use another database (maybe on Oracle), you need to edit this file.

Setup JNDI

JNDI should allow you to configure the databases at the container level, so that you won’t need to set any credentials in GeoNetwork configuration files. It should work both for the internal database and the db for the spatial index.

(More will be added here once we test the JNDI configuration and prepare the sample files.)

Tomcat dir ownership

Set the ownership of the geonetwork/ related directories to user tomcat

chown tomcat: -R /var/lib/tomcat/geonetwork