Time for action – improving security settings

1. We will start by changing the default password for the administrator. Click on the Change it link on the left-hand side of the warning.

2. A new page containing user properties will show up. Insert the new password in the Password and Confirm password textboxes and click on the Save button. You don't need to restart GeoServer or Tomcat; the new password is active now!

   

3. The users.properties.old file is a security risk because it contains user passwords in plain text. GeoServer does not need it so it's safe to delete it.

   ~$ sudo rm /opt/apache-tomcat-7.0.27/webapps/geoserver/data/security/users.properties.old
   

4. Now open the masterpw.info file. It contains the password generated by GeoServer for the root user. Store it in a secure place and delete the file.

   ~$ sudo rm /opt/apache-tomcat-7.0.27/webapps/geoserver/data/security/masterpw.info
   

What just happened?

Although you are setting up a development machine, security is always an issue. GeoServer ships with...