GIS on a USB flash drive
A GNU/Linux installation, deployed on USB flash drive (or used as a virtual machine or installable live DVD), with many pre-installed FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) GIS programs/tools, all ready to use.
Version 06 (30 October 2010)
- Services and customisations
- Advantages
- Requirements
- Screenshots
- Installed Operating System & Software
- Download
- How to deploy the disk image to a USB flash drive
- More details
- Final notes
- Changelog
Services and customisations:
Please contact us for queries, availability and prices
- Faunalia can provide ready to use 8GB (or larger) USB flash drives
- Choose your preferred flash drive model and have it personalised (depending on USB flash drive model) with custom graphics
- Customise GRUB/splash screens/login screen/desktop environment (Gnome, KDE, etc.) and menus
- Choose whether to use the system as a Virtual Machine or Live DVD instead of deploying it to a USB flash drive
- Customise the pre-installed programs/tools
- Create a custom configuration to suit your existing working environment
- Updates and support
- Training for all pre-installed software
Advantages:
- Quickly deploy ready to use GIS environments
- Present your work at conferences and seminars
- Includes only GPL software - no need to worry about licences
Requirements:
An 8GB (or larger) USB flash drive and a PC that can boot from USB devices (booting from USB is not necessary if the system is to be used as a virtual machine or live DVD).
Screenshots:
Operating system:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10 GNU/Linux with the GNOME Desktop Environment
Username: faunalia
Password: faunalia
Installed software:
- Quantum GIS 1.8 dev (Nightly Build, updated daily)
- GRASS 6.4.1 with WXPyhton GUI
- Gshp2pgsql 0.4.1
- MapServer 5.6.x + Sample Dataset
- QGIS-Server, a WMS Server integrated with QGIS
- p.mapper 4.x + Sample Dataset
- PostgreSQL 8.4
- PhpPgAdmin 4.2.3
- PostGIS 1.5.2
- pgAdmin3 1.10.5
- OpenLayers 2.10 with samples
- Apache2 Web Server with PHP5
- JOSM, Openstreetmap editor
- QLandKarteGT 0.18.3, program for loading, displaying and editing data from GPS receivers
- TinyOWS, WFS-T server
- Tilecache, WMS-C/TMS server
Download:
You can download the disk image HERE
Please note that the download is 2.1 GB
How to deploy the disk image to a USB flash drive
After downloading and uncompressing the disk image (faunalia_usbgis_06.img) on your hard drive, you'll need to use the "dd" command (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix)) to write the disk image to the USB flash drive.
Under Windows you'll need to use either the Windows port of dd (www.chrysocome.net/downloads/dd-0.5.zip) or WinDD (sourceforge.net/projects/windd/).
Examples:
GNU/Linux
# dd if=faunalia_usbgis_06.img of=/dev/sdb bs=10M
assuming your USB flash drive is mapped to sdb
MS Windows
Using WinDD (with GUI):
sourceforge.net/projects/windd/
Manually:
Open a command prompt and type the following:
dd of=\\?\Device\Harddisk1\Partition0 if=c:\temp\faunalia_usbgis_06.img bs=10M --progress
where "c:\temp\faunalia_usbgis_06.img" is the path to the drive image and "\Harddisk1\Partition0" is where the USB flash drive is mapped on your MS Windows system. This example is appropriate for a system with one hard disk (with just one partition) and a USB flash drive plugged in.
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Be very careful when using the dd command as incorrect usage can lead to serious data loss. Only use it if you are 100% sure about how the target USB flash drive is mapped on your system
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More details:
PostgreSQL Username/Password: faunalia
In PostgreSQL, there is already a geospatial Database called "faunalia" (with a few layers already loaded) and a geospatial database template (called "template_gis") to allow simple creation of additional geospatial databases.
GRASS, QGIS, PostgreSQL, Postgis, PhpPgAdmin, MapServer, p.mapper, JOSM, QLandKarteGT, QGIS MapServer, TinyOWS, Tilecache and PgAdmin were installed using the Ubuntu repositories or other official/third party repositories.
Gshp2pgsql, was compiled from source.
Final notes:
For better performance a high quality USB flash drive is suggested. One recommended model is the Sandisk Cruzer Titanium.
Changelog:
Version 06: Upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 Removed Geoserver Added QGIS-Server Added TinyOWS Added Tilecache Added SAGA Added QLandKarteGT Use of QGIS nightly builds Upgraded GRASS, MapServer, p.mapper, PostgreSQL and Postgis to their respective latest versions
Version 05: Upgraded to Ubuntu 9.10 Upgraded QGIS to revision 13140 Upgraded MapServer, p.mapper, Geoserver, PostgreSQL and Postgis to their respective latest versions Removed gvSIG and OpenJump
Version 04: Installed the latest Ubuntu updates Upgraded QGIS to revision 11783 Added software documentation (either PDFs or Links)