Setting the data directory location

The GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR application property are determined using the first value obtained from: Java System Properties, Web Application context parameters, or System Environmental Variable.

  • Follow the instructions below to learn how to set the environmental variable location. There are different instructions for each target platform.

  • The page on Application Properties has instructions for defining GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR using a Java System Property or Web Application context parameters.

Note

If the location of the GeoServer data directory is not set explicitly, the directory data_dir under the root of the GeoServer installation will be chosen by default.

Windows

On Windows platforms the location of the GeoServer data directory is controlled by the GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR environment variable, system property, or web context parameter.

  • C:\ProgramData\GeoServer (example location)

To set the environment variable:

  1. Open the System Control Panel.

  2. Click Advanced System Properties.

  3. Click Environment Variables.

  4. Click the New button and create a environment variable called GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR and set it to the desired location.

    ../_images/envvar_win.png

    Setting an environment variable on Windows

Linux

On Linux platforms the location of the GeoServer data directory is controlled by the GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR environment variable, system property, or web context parameter.

  • /var/opt/geoserver/data (example location)

To set the environment variable:

  1. Setting the variable can be achieved with the following command (in the terminal):

    export GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR=/var/opt/geoserver/data

  2. To make the variable persist, place the command in the :file:.bash_profile or :file:.bashrc file. Ensure that this done for the user running GeoServer.

Mac OS X

For the binary install of GeoServer on Mac OS X, the data directory is set in the same way as for Linux.

  • ~/Library/Application Support/GeoServer/data_dir (example location)

For the Mac OS X install, set the GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR environment variable to the desired directory location.

  1. Setting the variable can be achieved with the following command (in the terminal):

    export GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR="~/Library/Application Support/GeoServer/data_dir"

  2. To make the variable persist, place the command in your preferred shell startup file:

    • Bash: :file:.bash_profile or :file:.bashrc

    • ZSH: ~/.zshrc

Web archive

When running a GeoServer WAR inside a servlet container, the data directory can be specified in a number of ways.

Context parameter

  1. Tomcat: Use your application server to configure the GeoServer web application via conf/Catalina/localhost/geoserver.xml file:

    <Context docBase="geoserver.war">
  <Parameter name="GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR"
             value="/var/opt/geoserver/data" override="false"/>
</Context>

  2. To specify the data directory using a servlet context parameter, create the following <context-param> element in the WEB-INF/web.xml file for the GeoServer application.

    This approach is not recommended, as the same steps must be performed each time you update.

    <web-app>
  ...
  <context-param>
    <param-name>GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR</param-name>
    <param-value>/var/lib/geoserver_data</param-value>
  </context-param>
  ...
</web-app>

Java system property

It is also possible to specify the data directory location with a Java system property. This method can be useful during upgrades, as it avoids the need to set the data directory after every upgrade.

Warning

Using a Java system property will typically set the property for all applications running in the servlet container, not just GeoServer.

The method of setting the Java system property is dependent on the servlet container:

  • For Tomcat on Linux, edit the file bin/setenv.sh under the root of the Tomcat installation. Specify the GEOSERVER_DATA_DIR system property by setting the CATALINA_OPTS variable:

    # Append system properties
CATALINA_OPTS="${CATALINA_OPTS} -DGEOSERVER_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/geoserver_data"

  • For Tomcat on Windows use Apache Tomcat Properties application, navigating to the Java tab to edit Java Options:

    -DGEOSERVER_DATA_DIR=C:\ProgramData\GeoServer\data

  • For Glassfish, edit the file domains/<<domain>>/config/domain.xml under the root of the Glassfish installation, where <<domain>> refers to the domain that the GeoServer web application is deployed under. Add a <jvm-options> element inside the <java-config> element:

    ...
<java-config>
   ...
  <jvm-options>-DGEOSERVER_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/geoserver_data</jvm-options>
</java-config>
...

Require files to exist

If the data directory is on a network filesystem, it can be desirable for security reasons to require one or more files or directories to exist before GeoServer will start, to prevent GeoServer from falling back into a default insecure configuration if the data directory appears to be empty because of the loss of this network resource.

To require files or directories to exist, use any of the methods above to set GEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE. Do not specify a mount point as this will still exist if a network filesystem is unavailable; instead specify a file or directory inside a network mount. For example:

Environment variable:

export GEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE=/mnt/server/geoserver_data/global.xml

Servlet context parameter:

<web-app>
  ...
  <context-param>
    <param-name>GEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE</param-name>
    <param-value>/mnt/server/geoserver_data/global.xml</param-value>
  </context-param>
  ...
</web-app>

Java system property:

CATALINA_OPTS="${CATALINA_OPTS} -DGEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE=/mnt/server/geoserver_data/global.xml"

Multiple files

To specify multiple files or directories that must exist, separate them with the path separator (: on Linux, ; on Windows):

Environment variable:

export GEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE=/mnt/server/geoserver_data/global.xml:/mnt/server/data

Servlet context parameter:

<web-app>
  ...
  <context-param>
    <param-name>GEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE</param-name>
    <param-value>/mnt/server/geoserver_data/global.xml:/mnt/server/data</param-value>
  </context-param>
  ...
</web-app>

Java system property:

CATALINA_OPTS="${CATALINA_OPTS} -DGEOSERVER_REQUIRE_FILE=/mnt/server/geoserver_data/global.xml:/mnt/server/data"
Previous: Data directory location
Next: Structure of the data directory