Got five minutes? That’s all it takes to add GeoServer to an existing installation of Express Server.

GeoServer is an open source server for geospatial data and imagery. It includes support for Shapefiles, GeoTIFF, PostGIS, and much more.  You can use GeoServer to distribute imagery via standard protocols, including WMS, WFS, and WCS.

In the example below, LizardTech’s GeoViewer software displays imagery from Express Server and GeoServer. The basemap layer is a MrSID image hosted by Express Server. The vector layer is a shapefile of all the roads in Washington hosted by GeoServer.

To install GeoServer on the machine that hosts the Express Server, complete the following steps:

1. Open a web browser and navigate to the GeoServer Stable Download page:
   http://geoserver.org/display/GEOS/Stable
2. Download the GeoServer Web Archive.
3. Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the web archive, and extract the contents of the zip file.
4. Copy the geoserver.war file to the following directory:<Express Server Installation Directory>\ImageServer\Tomcat\webapps
5. Restart Tomcat.
   • On Windows, open the Services utility, right-click the LizardTech Express Server Tomcat Service, and click Restart.
   • On UNIX, open a terminal and enter the following command to stop Tomcat:
     sudo /etc/init.d/lttomd stop
     
     Then, enter the following command to start Tomcat:
     
     sudo /etc/init.d/lttomd start

To open the GeoServer Web Administration Interface, navigate to the following URL:

https://localhost:8443/geoserver

The GeoServer Welcome page appears:

Note that the URL uses https. Because Express Server’s configuration of Tomcat uses https for the Express Server Manager, GeoServer also uses https. To access imagery via WMS with GeoServer, use the following URL in your GIS software:

https://localhost:8443/geoserver/wms?

Note that GeoViewer currently only supports http connections.

To allow connections to GeoServer over http, complete the following steps:

1. Open the following Tomcat configuration file:
   <Express Server Installation Directory>\ImageServer\Tomcat\conf\server.xml
2. Search for the following line:

   <!--<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
                  connectionTimeout="20000"
                  redirectPort="8443" />-->

3. Remove the opening and closing comment brackets (<!-- and -->.)
4. Save the file and restart Tomcat.

Now, when you access GeoServer imagery via WMS, you can use the following URL:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver/wms?

For more information on how to use and configure GeoServer,  refer to the GeoServer documentation.

Did you know that you can view Express Server imagery with Leaflet via WMS? Leaflet is an open-source JavaScript library for creating rich, interactive web maps.

In the example below, we’ve used Leaflet to display a raster layer of Washington state, a raster basemap layer, and a marker icon that identifies the location of the LizardTech office. The raster layers are stored in the MrSID format on the LizardTech demo Express Server and displayed via WMS. Note that out of the box, Leaflet includes keyboard controls, smooth zoom, support for mobile interactions, and many other features. Additionally, because Leaflet is styled with CSS3, it’s easy to customize pop-ups, controls, and even transitions.

To create the above map, complete the following steps:

1. Download Leaflet and extract the files.
2. Create an html file in the same directory where you extracted the Leaflet files.
3. Link to the Leaflet stylesheet and JavaScript file in the document head.
4. Paste the following code in the document body:

<div id="div_map" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;">
</div>
	
<script>
						
var washington = new L.tileLayer.wms(
'http://demo.lizardtech.com/lizardtech/iserv/ows', {
    layers: 'Washington',
    maxZoom: 18,
    format: 'image/png',
    transparent: true
});		
		
var modis = new L.tileLayer.wms(
'http://demo.lizardtech.com/lizardtech/iserv/ows', {
    layers: 'MODIS',
    maxZoom: 18,
    format: 'image/png',
    transparent: true
});
		
var map = new L.map('div_map', {
    center: new L.LatLng(47.60489, -122.33695), 
    zoom: 12,
    layers: [modis,washington],
    zoomControl: true
});
		
var marker_LT_office = new L.marker(
[47.60489, -122.33695]).addTo(map);
marker_LT_office.bindPopup("The LizardTech office!");
		
</script>

It’s summertime in Seattle, and you know what that means—interns! The LizardTech team is thrilled to welcome Mika to the marketing team. In the month that she’s been here, she’s done a great job helping out with press kits, organizing our GIS literature, and all in all making our lives just a little bit easier.

Mika is a third-year at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. She’s studying economics and has a special interest in international marketing. She hopes to one day work for an industrial firm that helps provide infrastructure to developing countries.

If that’s not cool enough, Mika has a hobby that puts all of mine to shame. She’s a scuba diver! We’ll have to convince her to scout out the Puget Sound for us and report back.

Welcome to the team Mika!

Hello again San Diego! LizardTech returns to the Esri User Conference this year carrying precious cargo. We’ll be offering a sneak peek at the latest, shiniest version of our image compression and manipulation software, GeoExpress. Now in version 9, GeoExpress offers a serious speed boost and a much simpler workflow.

A Sneak-Peek at GeoExpress 9

Some of the benefits of GeoExpress 9 include the following:

• Speed. GeoExpress is four times faster than before with support for distributing multiple jobs across multiple cores.
• Intelligent Encoding. GeoExpress automatically uses its update and optimization features whenever possible for optimal performance.
• Simple User Interface. You can work with all of your images in the same, simple job list regardless of the image compression or manipulation tasks that you want to perform.
• Secret stuff. That’s right. You’ll have to meet us at Esri to get the full scoop.

If you’re attending the Esri User Conference, swing by booth 1704 for a slick demo. Alternatively, attend the following presentation by our very own director of product management, Jon Skiffington:

What’s New with MrSID and GeoExpress

Wednesday, July 10 at 1:30 p.m.

Imagery Island Exhibit Hall C

Can’t make it to the conference? Don’t feel too broken up about it. You can see the full product description here.

Feeling adventurous? Install the trial version of GeoExpress 9 today!

LizardTech software architect and occasional Zoom blogger Mike Rosen and I put together an article for GeoWorld about LiDAR data — why LiDAR is so big (both in file size and in popularity), the havoc that its size has caused in efforts to harness its impressive imaging power, and the various ways the geospatial industry has attempted to bring this leviathan to its knees.

The thing about LiDAR. Hot off the press.

Among other things, Mike is lead developer on our LiDAR Compressor project, so his insight into the challenges that LiDAR presents the industry with is keen, and since he’s been with LizardTech since MrSID was very young, there are ways, he notes, in which this is a familiar story.

The article is called “The Inaccessible Plenty: Trying to Tame LiDAR’s Largeness.” Read it here.

And if whopping LiDAR point clouds are your cup of tea (or your cross to bear, or even a horror that you just can’t pull your eyes away from), GeoWorld’s editor, Todd Danielson, will be joining us Thursday, January 24, for a webinar with our own geo-jockey, Robert Parker*, to hear the good news and follow up in a practical way on the lessons learned in the article.

We won’t run out of virtual chairs, so sign up and then drop in to pick up some LiDAR Compressor best practices. Webinar details are here.

*Actually, Robert is our sales engineer, but his renown as a calm, reassuring webinista who can put you at ease with LizardTech’s powerful suite of geospatial software products through the simple medium of a shared desktop has led him to consider a second career as a high-tech spiritual guru.