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GeoServer WPS Extension Installation Guide

This session covers the steps to install the WPS (Web Processing Service) extension in GeoServer, enabling advanced geospatial data processing capabilities through standardized web service operations.

If you want to access the complete tutorial, click on the link.

Introduction

GeoServer is a powerful open-source server application that enables users to publish geospatial data and interactive maps on the web. It supports a wide range of data formats and protocols, making it a flexible solution for managing and delivering geospatial content. One of its standout capabilities is functioning as a geoprocessing server.

Geoprocessing involves analyzing spatial data to derive insights and perform operations such as Buffer, Clip, Union, Contour, and more. By default, GeoServer does not include Web Processing Service (WPS) functionality. However, WPS is available as an optional extension that’s easy to install. Adding this extension unlocks advanced geospatial analysis and processing features directly within GeoServer. To get started, download the WPS extension ZIP file that matches your GeoServer version.

Note: This tutorial uses GeoServer version 2.25.3. Be sure to download the WPS extension that corresponds exactly to your GeoServer version—mismatched versions will result in errors.

Installing the WPS Extension

Here are the steps to install the WPS extension in GeoServer:

  • Navigate to the GeoServer website and select the download link.
  • Under the Archive tab, choose the version that matches your installed GeoServer.
  • Select the WPS option from the Services section. After a few seconds, the extension file will begin downloading automatically.

Prepare for Installation:

  • It’s recommended to stop GeoServer before installing any extensions. This will prevent any potential conflicts or problems during the installation process.
  • Unzip the downloaded WPS extension file.
  • Copy all extracted .jar files directly into the WEB-INF/lib directory of your GeoServer installation. Ensure the extracted files are placed directly in this directory, avoiding subfolders.
  • Once the files are in place, restart GeoServer to ensure that the changes take effect. This activates the newly installed WPS extension.

Verifying the WPS Extension Installation

Once GeoServer is running again, open the GeoServer web interface. From the Server Status section, click on the Modules tab to confirm that the WPS extension is in the list of installed modules.

Testing WPS Functionality:

  • Navigate to the Demos section in the GeoServer interface.

  • Select WPS Request Builder to access a tool for testing WPS processes.

  • The WPS Request Builder consists of a drop-down list containing various processes. It supports many types of processes that are categorized based on prefixes. These prefixes are:
    • JTS: Java Topology Suite
    • geo: geometry processes
    • ras: raster processes
    • vec: Vector processes
    • gs: GeoServer-specific processes
  • The geo and JTS processes return text-based analysis results but do not support internal GeoServer layers as input.
  • The gs and vec function groups support both text input and GeoServer layers or WFS layer URLs.
  • For raster data analysis, use processes with the Ras prefix.

In this session, we took a brief look at how to install the WPS extension in GeoServer. To access the full tutorial, click on this link.