2. Overview

Platforms

GeoNetwork opensource has been developed, tested and should run on Windows (2000 and above), Linux and Mac OS X (FreeBSD) operating systems.

Servlet engine

The application is running as a servlet on a servlet engine like Apache Tomcat or Jetty. This requires that both a Java environment as well as a servlet engine are in place before installing GeoNetwork opensource. We are working on a version of GeoNetwork opensource that comes with its own embedded servlet engine.

Database

GeoNetwork opensource uses a DBMS to store metadata and information related to these metadata. It therefor needs a DBMS in place. By default the installer comes with an embedded DBMS, McKoiDB. This database can be used in test environments and for desktop installations but is not recommended for server installations. In fact, version 1 of GeoNetwork opensource does not support multi user access to the embedded database, making it absolutely unsuitable for server installations.

As an alternative to the embedded DBMS, the user can choose to install GeoNetwork opensource with any other DBMS with JDBC support. We have currently added support for MySQL and Oracle. While installing the GeoNetwork opensource software you are given the option to select a DBMS to be used. You need the JDBC driver for that DBMS at hand so you can copy it into its proper place during the completion of the installation process. You will be warned when you have to copy the driver and in what location you should put it. The installer will then generate the database schema and insert the necessary content into the database.

Language support

GeoNetwork opensource comes with a number of languages preconfigured. However, it is easy to add your own translation in order to make a localized version of the Graphical User Interface. All you have to do is create a new language folder (using the 2 letter ISO code) inside the \web\loc (on Windows) or /web/loc (on UNIX) folder. This could be done by copying the English folder (/web/loc/en) and renaming it. The XML files contained inside the xml folder need translation as well as the (few) graphics inside the images folder. To effectively contribute translations for inclusion in a next GeoNetwork opensource release please read the instructions that can be found here in the How-to section.

Next: Setting up the development environment