You are here: Reference > Performing Common Tasks in XML and on the Command Line > Adding and Configuring a WMS Layer Using XML and the Command Line

Adding and Configuring a WMS Layer Using XML and the Command Line

This section describes the steps required to publish an Express Server catalog as a WMS Layer. For information about the prerequisite basic WMS configuration see Configuring the WMS API Using XML Files.

Express Server includes components that organize catalogs according to the geospatial location of their images. This information is contained in a "spatial index", a special database that allows quick retrieval of images in response to geospatial queries.

In order to publish an Express Server catalog as a WMS layer, you must create a spatial index for the catalog. This is accomplished with the tool isindex, located in the <Express Server installation directory>/ImageServer/bin directory. Whenever you add or remove images from the catalog, you must run isindex again to update the index. For more information see isindex.

Before running any of the command-line tools on Unix, you must source the runtime environment.

Here is a detailed explanation of the steps required to publish a WMS layer with Express Server.

  1. Add a catalog
    1. Follow the instructions to add a catalog (for information see Adding a Catalog Using XML Files), but do not restart the server.
    2. This catalog should contain the images that you wish to include in the layer. Each of these images must be in the same spatial reference system (SRS), in order for Express Server to index them properly.

  2. Create an index for the catalog by running the isindex tool located in <Express Server installation directory>/ImageServer/bin: 

    $ isindex -create -c MyCatalog -srs EPSG:XXXX

    Make sure you provide a valid EPSG code for the SRS. This SRS should match that of each image in the catalog. For more information on EPSG codes, visit www.epsg.org.

  3. Generate an overview (recommended for large catalogs) 

    $ isindex -overview create -c MyCatalog

    For large WMS catalogs (i.e. catalogs with more than 25 images) generating an overview can speed things up considerably. For more information see Generating an Overview for a Spatial Index.

  4. Restart Express Server.

  5. Verify that everything worked by entering the following URL in a browser: 

    http://<server>/lizardtech/iserv/ows?request=GetCapabilities&service=WMS

    This should return a valid WMS capabilities document.