Linux OpenGeo Apache Server

Moving the GeoSandbox to Full OpenSource

I’ve run into a couple of roadblocks recently, regarding my experiments with my GeoSandbox. I want to be able to play with some of of the JavaScript libraries available, so I can continue my education on those fronts. Some cross domain issues arose when I started putting JavaScript in my web pages as my website is on a different server than is my GeoServer. So, that means learning some more about setting up web servers and how proxy servers work. Also, my old Dell 600m is starting to feel the effects of the increased demands placed on it as the GeoSandbox becomes more popular, and more complex. That means an eventual move onto a cloud server. Since cloud servers running an open source OS are much less expensive than those running Windows, I felt the need to begin transferring my entire setup over to open source tools.
For now, I’m just going to do a short outline of what it took to get a basic Ubuntu/Apache/OpenGeo Suite operating on my home server. Once I get a better handle on how Ubuntu and Apache work I’ll add some posts about that.

Starting with a clean install of Ubuntu 10.10

Download and install Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop

I downloaded Ubuntuu 10.10 Desktop Edition from their website:
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download
Yes, I could have used the Server edition, but Coming from a Windows world, It’s easier for me to work with some kind of GUI than to go 100% command line. After downloading the .iso, I burned it to a CD, installed it on a clean hard drive, and then installed all updates.

Turn Ubuntu Desktop into an Apache Server

Install LAMP with a single command

In case you didn’t know, LAMP stands for “Linux Apache MySQL PHP”. This may or may not be more than I need for my purposes, but a one-line install looked like the easiest way to go, so:
http://nick.onetwenty.org/index.php/2010/12/02/installing-lamp-server-on-ubuntu-10-10-desktop/
Then I opened a terminal window and entered:
sudo apt-get install lamp-server^

Add in the ability to serve maps

Install OpenGeo Suite

This was the most difficult part for me to figure out. Instructions can be found here:
http://projects.opengeo.org/suite/wiki/LinuxPackages
Being somewhat new to Ubuntu, I missed what the first step under “Repository Setup” meant (sudo to root). Once I figured that out, things went smoothly. The steps are:
In terminal, sudo to root:
sudo su
Import the OpenGeo gpg key:
wget -qO- http://apt.opengeo.org/gpg.key | apt-key add -
Add the OpenGeo repository:
echo "deb http://apt.opengeo.org/ubuntu lucid main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
Update the package list:
apt-get update
Search for OpenGeo packages:
apt-cache search opengeo
Install the OpenGeo Suite package:
apt-get install opengeo-suite
Restart Ubuntu

See if everything works

The last step was to see if everything was working properly, which it was.

Test the Apache2 default website:

on the host computer – http://localhost – It works!
and via a remote computer (substitute your server’s domain here) – http://24.105.210.45/ – It works!

Test the OpenGeo Suite:

Open the dashboard – http://localhost:8080/dashboard/
Launch GeoExplorer
Save the default map and exit Geoexplorer

Test GeoServer by loading a GeoExplorer map:

Open the default map on a remote computer (again, substitute your server’s domain here) – http://24.105.210.45:8080/geoexplorer/viewer#maps/1
In my case, everything worked as expected. After this, I continued trying to set up a custom website to serve my GeoServer maps, but ran into a few problems. I’ll be switching the GeoSandbox back and forth between the Windows and Apache server as I continue my climb up the learning curve, so don’t be surprised if some of the links appear to be broken on occasion.