QGIS Server Python Plugins Ubuntu Setup

by filed under GIS, Linux, QGIS, QGIS Server.
QGIS Server Python Plugins Ubuntu Setup

In this article I describe step by step how to setup QGIS Server Python Plugins on a fresh Ubuntu server 14.04 installation.

Prerequisites

I assume that you are working on a fresh install with Apache and FCGI module installed with: 
$ sudo apt-get install apache2 libapache2-mod-fcgid
$ # Enable FCGI daemon apache module
$ sudo a2enmod fcgid

Package installation

First step is to add debian gis repository, add the following repository: 
$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-gis.list
deb http://qgis.org/debian trusty main
deb-src http://qgis.org/debian trusty main

$ # Add keys
$ sudo gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-key 3FF5FFCAD71472C4
$ sudo gpg --export --armor 3FF5FFCAD71472C4 | sudo apt-key add -

$ # Update package list
$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Now install qgis server: 
$ sudo apt-get install qgis-server python-qgis

Install the HelloWorld example plugin

This is an example plugin and should not be used in production! Create a directory to hold server plugins, you can choose whatever path you want, it will be specified in the virtual host configuration and passed on to the server through an environment variable: 
$ sudo mkdir -p /opt/qgis-server/plugins
$ cd /opt/qgis-server/plugins
$ sudo wget https://github.com/elpaso/qgis-helloserver/archive/master.zip
$ # In case unzip was not installed before:
$ sudo apt-get install unzip
$ sudo unzip master.zip 
$ sudo mv qgis-helloserver-master HelloServer

Apache virtual host configuration

We are installing the server in a separate virtual host listening on port 81. Rewrite module can be optionally enabled to pass HTTP BASIC auth headers (only needed by the HelloServer example plugin). 
$ sudo a2enmod rewrite
Let Apache listen to port 81: 
$ cat /etc/apache2/conf-available/qgis-server-port.conf
Listen 81
$ sudo a2enconf qgis-server-port
The virtual host configuration, stored in /etc/apache2/sites-available/001-qgis-server.conf: 
<VirtualHost *:81>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/qgis-server-error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/qgis-server-access.log combined

    # Longer timeout for WPS... default = 40
    FcgidIOTimeout 120 
    FcgidInitialEnv LC_ALL "en_US.UTF-8"
    FcgidInitialEnv PYTHONIOENCODING UTF-8
    FcgidInitialEnv LANG "en_US.UTF-8"
    FcgidInitialEnv QGIS_DEBUG 1
    FcgidInitialEnv QGIS_SERVER_LOG_FILE /tmp/qgis-000.log
    FcgidInitialEnv QGIS_SERVER_LOG_LEVEL 0
    FcgidInitialEnv QGIS_PLUGINPATH "/opt/qgis-server/plugins"

    # ABP: needed for QGIS HelloServer plugin HTTP BASIC auth
    <IfModule mod_fcgid.c>
        RewriteEngine on
        RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} .
        RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
    </IfModule>

    ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/
    <Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin">
        AllowOverride All
        Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +FollowSymLinks
        Require all granted
        #Allow from all
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Enable the virtual host and restart Apache: 
$ sudo a2ensite 001-qgis-server
$ sudo service apache2 restart
Test: 
$ wget -q -O - "http://localhost:81/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?SERVICE=HELLO"
HelloServer!

See all QGIS Server related posts