Nominatim is a tool used for geocoding which can be installed on Elementary OS. Geocoding is the process of transforming addresses or place names into geographic coordinates. In this tutorial, we will go through the steps on how to install Nominatim on Elementary OS.
Before we start with the installation process, we need to make sure that our system is up to date and we have the necessary packages installed.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Next, we need to install some prerequisite packages for Nominatim:
sudo apt install build-essential libxml2-dev libgeos-dev libpq-dev libbz2-dev libtool automake libproj-dev
Nominatim requires PostgreSQL as its database. We need to install PostgreSQL and create a new database and user for Nominatim.
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib
Once PostgreSQL is installed, create a new database and user:
sudo -u postgres createuser -s nominatim
sudo -u postgres createdb nominatim
Now it's time to download and build Nominatim.
sudo apt-get install git
Clone the Nominatim repository using the following commands:
mkdir ~/src && cd ~/src
git clone --recursive https://github.com/osm-search/Nominatim.git
cd Nominatim
Next, build Nominatim using the following command:
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
After building is complete, we need to set up Nominatim.
sudo mkdir /srv/nominatim
sudo chown $USER:$USER /srv/nominatim
Next, create a file "settings/local.php" and add the following content:
<?php
@define('CONST_Database_DSN', 'pgsql://nominatim@localhost/nominatim');
@define('CONST_Geoserver', 'http://127.0.0.1/osm_tiles/');
@define('CONST_Mapnik_Font_Directory', '/usr/share/fonts/truetype');
?>
Configure Apache web server to serve the Nominatim tool by creating "nominatim.conf" file under Apache configuration directory:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/conf-available/nominatim.conf
Add the following content:
ServerName localhost
DocumentRoot /srv/nominatim/build
<Directory "/srv/nominatim/build">
Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
Save and close the file, then enable the configuration:
sudo a2enconf nominatim.conf
You also need to change the PHP configuration, edit the file "/etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini":
sudo nano /etc/php/7.4/apache2/php.ini
Set the following:
memory_limit = 2G
cgi.fix_pathinfo=0
Save and exit the file.
Finally, we will download and import OpenStreetMap data to our Nominatim database.
Download OpenStreetMap data for your desired location or area from https://download.geofabrik.de/.
Once downloaded, extract the data file, and rename it as "data.osm.pbf". Copy the file to the "/srv/nominatim" directory.
Now, import the data to the Nominatim database:
./utils/setup.php --osm-file /srv/nominatim/data.osm.pbf --all --threads 4
After the import is complete, generate tiles and restart Apache:
sudo ./utils/setup.php --create-functions --enable-diff-updates
sudo service apache2 restart
That's it! You have successfully installed and configured Nominatim on your Elementary OS. You can now run geocoding requests using Nominatim.
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