GeoServer is an open-source server for sharing geospatial data. It allows users to publish and manage spatial data efficiently, making it a vital tool for GIS professionals. If you want to build your own WMS server, GeoServer is a great tool to start with. In this article we will guide you how to install GeoServer on Windows 11. GeoServer supports wide range of operating systems including Windows, Linux and macOS. In the previous article, we learned how to install GeoServer on Ubuntu 24.04.
Steps to Install GeoServer on Windows 11
Step 1. Download GeoServer Installer
Navigate to the official download site for GeoServer. Choose Windows version and let the download begin. You should have the installation file such as: GeoServer-2.26.2-winsetup.exe
Step 2. Install GeoServer
Double-click the installer and follow the installation steps shown on your screen.
Hit Next to continue and accept the license agreement
Click Agree and the next step is setting the valid Java path. Please make sure that you have installed JRE 11 or 17. You can download from the Oracle Java download page. Please note that GeoServer requires Java 11 or 17. If you have Java JRE version 23, or 24, it won’t work. You will get the error like this (This path is INVALID: no 64-bit JRE(11 or 17) found.
So, the solution is to install the Java 11 or Java 17 which can be downloaded from the above link. If all good, you will see this window.
Once the Java path is valid, we can continue to set the GeoServer data folder. You may change the directory with your desired one.
Next, we need to specify the web server port. The default value is 8080 but you can change it to something else such as 8282.
Next, choose Install as a service for ease of use.
Check the installation summary before pressing the Install button.
Make sure the installation completed successfully with no errors.
At this point, we have successfully installed GeoServer on Windows 11.
Step 3. Configure Firewall
If you want to access GeoServer from the network, we need to configure the firewall to allow the incoming traffic through the GeoServer port number. In my case, my port number is 8282.
Open Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security. Click Inbound Rules and then create a new rule. Select Port and then type the port number. Make sure you choose Allow Connection.
Step 4. Open GeoServer web page
At this point, we have successfully installed GeoServer on Windows 11. Now open the web browser and type your IP address with the following format:
http://your-ipaddress:8282/geoserver
The default user is: admin and default password is: geoserver.