Security

GeoServer has a robust security subsystem, modeled on Spring Security. Most of the security features are available through the Web administration interface. A detailed explanation of all security options is far beyond the goals of this workshop and the default settings are almost good enough for the basic usage of GeoServer as well. Here we'll focus on the most important fact after installing a GeoServer: Changing the default admin user and master password. (You may have recognized the appropriate warnings on the GeoServer welcome page.)

For further instructions please have a look at the official GeoServer documentation.

Change master password

The master password serves two purposes:

  • Protect access to the keystore.
  • Protect access to the GeoServer Root account (The root account is always active, regardless of the state of the security configuration. Much like its UNIX-style counterpart, this account provides "super user" status, and is meant to provide an alternative access method for fixing configuration issues. The user name for the root account is root. Its name cannot be changed.).

Exercise

To change the master password follow these steps:

  • Go to Security ❭ Passwords.
  • Select Change password.
  • In the upcoming form use the following values to change the password to momo-ws:
    • Current password: geoserver
    • New password/Confirmation: momo-ws (Please use a more secure password in a real world GeoServer usage!)
  • Click Change Password.

Change admin user password

Exercise

To change the password for the user admin please follow these steps:

  • Go to Security ❭ Users, Groups, Roles.
  • Open panel Users/Groups where you'll see a list of all current users of your GeoServer instance. At the moment (and in most future applications) you'll find the user admin only.
  • Select the user admin by clicking on its username.
  • In the upcoming form use the following values to change the password to momo-ws:
    • Password/Confirm Password: momo-ws (Please use a more secure password in a real world GeoServer usage!)

  • Click Save.