Description
You have a pile of Shapefile, KML and GML map data and want others to view it in a browser, or other GIS software to pull it through standard interfaces, and writing a server for that yourself is a lot of work. GeoServer is an open source server written in Java that publishes geospatial data as standard OGC services, and once installed a few clicks in its web admin put a layer online.
The Windows installer is version 3.0.2 at about 116 MB, so the link goes to the official download page and nothing is mirrored here. It supports WMS and WFS, the two most used map service standards, and each published layer comes with an OpenLayers preview page to check the result in a browser right away. Everything is managed from the web admin.
WMS and WFS: publish data as WMS map services and WFS feature services that other GIS software and web map libraries fetch through standard interfaces
Many data formats: handles common formats like Shapefile, KML and GML without converting first
OpenLayers preview: after a layer is published, open its OpenLayers preview to zoom and pan in the browser and check the styling
Web admin: data stores, layers, styles and permissions are all set up in the web admin, with no config files to edit
Open source and free: built on Java and cross platform, with a Windows installer and public code and license
The Windows installer is version 3.0.2 at about 116 MB, so the link goes to the official download page and nothing is mirrored here. It supports WMS and WFS, the two most used map service standards, and each published layer comes with an OpenLayers preview page to check the result in a browser right away. Everything is managed from the web admin.
Features
WMS and WFS: publish data as WMS map services and WFS feature services that other GIS software and web map libraries fetch through standard interfaces
Many data formats: handles common formats like Shapefile, KML and GML without converting first
OpenLayers preview: after a layer is published, open its OpenLayers preview to zoom and pan in the browser and check the styling
Web admin: data stores, layers, styles and permissions are all set up in the web admin, with no config files to edit
Open source and free: built on Java and cross platform, with a Windows installer and public code and license
