Running The GeoServer Binary Distribution

The binary distribution of GeoServer comes with a built-in Jetty servlet container so that it can be run directly without the need for additional software. For information on other distributions on GeoServer, please see the website:

https://geoserver.org

In order to install and run this application, follow these steps:

Download and install a Java Development Kit
- Download a Java Runtime Environment (Java 8 or Java 11) from:
  
  https://adoptium.net
  
  or:
  
  http://openjdk.java.net/
- Install the JRE according to the instructions included with the release.
- Set an environment variable JAVA_HOME to the pathname of the directory into which you installed the JDK.
Download and install the GeoServer binary
- Download a binary distribution of GeoServer from:
  
  https://geoserver.org/download/
  
  or:
  
  https://sourceforge.net/projects/geoserver
- The file should be of the form:
  
  geoserver-a.b.c-bin.zip
  
  Where a.b.c is the version number you are downloading.
- Unpack the binary distribution into a convenient location so that the distribution resides in its own directory (conventionally named geoserver). For the purposes of the remainder of this document, the symbolic name GEOSERVER_HOME is used to refer to the directory where GeoServer resides.
There is more help available at the GeoServer home page: https://geoserver.org
Start Up GeoServer

There are two techniques by which GeoServer can be started:

Use an environment variable:
- Set an environment variable GEOSERVER_HOME to the path of the directory into which you have installed GeoServer.
- Windows terminal command:
```
%GEOSERVER_HOME%\bin\startup
```
- Linux shell command:
```
$GEOSERVER_HOME/bin/startup.sh
```
Modify your current working directory:
- Windows terminal command:
```
cd %GEOSERVER_HOME%\bin
startup
```
- Unix shell command:
```
cd $GEOSERVER_HOME/bin
./startup.sh
```
After startup, the default web administration tool included with GeoServer will be available by browsing:

http://localhost:8080/geoserver
Shut Down GeoServer

There are two techniques by which GeoServer can be stopped:

Use an environment variable:
- Set an environment variable GEOSERVER_HOME to the path of the directory into which you have installed GeoServer.
- Windows terminal command:
```
%GEOSERVER_HOME%\bin\shutdown
```
- Linux shell command:
```
$GEOSERVER_HOME/bin/shutdown.sh
```
Modify your current working directory:
- Windows terminal command:
```
cd %GEOSERVER_HOME%\bin
shutdown
```
- Linux shell command:
```
cd $GEOSERVER_HOME/bin
./shutdown.sh
```
Troubleshooting

There are two common problems encountered when attempting to use the binary distribution of GeoServer:
- Another web server (or other process) is already using port 8080. This is the default HTTP port that GeoServer attempts to bind to at startup.
  
  To change this port, open the file: $GEOSERVER_HOME/start.ini
  
  Search for jetty.port or 8080. Change this to a port that isn't in use, but is greater than 1024 (such as 8090). Save this file and restart GeoServer.
  
  Access GeoServer on the new port: http://localhost:#### (where #### is the new port).
- The "localhost" address can't be found. This could happen if you're behind a proxy. If so, make sure the proxy configuration for your browser knows to not travel through the proxy to access the "localhost" address. Please see your browser's documentation for how to check this.
Further information

For more information about configuring and running GeoServer, please see the GeoServer documentation:
```
https://docs.geoserver.org
```