Tutorial: How to Install Nominatim on Arch Linux

Nominatim is a popular open-source geocoding software for searching and processing global location data. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Nominatim on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the Nominatim installation, ensure that your Arch Linux system has met the following requirements:

• You have access to root or sudo privileges.
• Your system has at least 10GB of free disk space.
• You have a stable internet connection.

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies

Before installing Nominatim, ensure that all necessary dependencies are installed on your system. Run the following command as root or with sudo:

sudo pacman -S gcc make cmake g++ libboost-iostreams libboost-system libboost-filesystem libexpat libgeos libpqxx libtool libxml2 libzip lua openstreetmap-license osmium-tool postgresql-libs proj protobuf-c python python-lxml python-psycopg2 python-pyosmium zlib bzip2

This command installs all required dependencies that are necessary for building Nominatim.

Step 2: Download and Extract Nominatim

You can download the latest version of Nominatim from the official website or you can run the following command to download the source code:

wget https://nominatim.org/release/Nominatim-3.7.2.tar.bz2

After the download is completed, extract the package using the following command:

tar xvf Nominatim-3.7.2.tar.bz2
cd Nominatim-3.7.2

Step 3: Build and Install Nominatim

Now it's time to build and install Nominatim on your system. Run the following commands to compile and install Nominatim:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
make install

Step 4: Setup PostgreSQL Database

Nominatim stores all location data in a PostgreSQL database. Therefore, setting up a PostgreSQL database is essential for running Nominatim.

First, install PostgreSQL on your system and create a new database by following these commands:

sudo pacman -S postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo su postgres
psql
CREATE DATABASE nominatim;
\q
exit

Step 5: Configure Nominatim

After installing PostgreSQL, you need to configure Nominatim by updating the settings in the local.php file located in the settings directory.

Copy the example configuration file to the settings directory and rename it to local.php with the following command:

cp ./settings/local.php.sample ./settings/local.php

Edit the local.php file and enter your PostgreSQL database credentials and other settings appropriate for your system. You can refer to the local.php.sample file for additional configuration options.

Step 6: Import OpenStreetMap Data

Finally, you need to import OpenStreetMap data into the newly created PostgreSQL database. Download the latest OpenStreetMap data dump from the official website or use the following command to download it:

wget https://download.geofabrik.de/north-america/us-latest.osm.pbf

After downloading the data, run the following command to import it into the database:

sudo nominatim import /path/to/openstreetmap/data.osm.pbf

Step 7: Start Nominatim

After completing all the previous steps, you can finally start Nominatim by running the following command:

sudo nominatim Nominatim

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Nominatim on your Arch Linux system.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to install Nominatim on Arch Linux. Now you can use Nominatim to search for global location data or create custom maps according to your needs.

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