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Importing a dataset

Importing a dataset is done in two stages, both tracked on the same record (an IntegrityLink, one per dataset): staging the raw data, then processing it into its published form.

1. Choose a source

The import wizard supports the following source types:

Source Description
File CSV, GeoPackage, GeoJSON, zipped Shapefile, Parquet or GeoParquet upload
URL Same file formats, fetched from a remote HTTP(S) URL
FTP Same file formats, fetched from an FTP server
Database A table or query read from one of the configured source databases
API An OGC service: WFS or OGC API Features

Once submitted, Datafeeder ingests the raw source into a staging table in PostgreSQL, with no transformation applied yet. This step lets you inspect the actual columns, geometry and data types before deciding how to publish them.

Re-staging

If the staging step needs to be redone (wrong file, source moved, credentials changed), you don't need to start over: editing the source configuration on an existing dataset re-triggers staging without losing the rest of the configuration.

2. Configure the transformation

Once staged, you configure how the data should be transformed into its final, published form:

  • Column mapping: rename, drop or retype columns
  • Projection: reproject the geometry to a target CRS (the available projections are configured platform-wide)
  • Filters: restrict the rows carried over to the final table

3. Publish

Submitting the transformation writes the final table, then:

  • creates the GeoNetwork metadata record for the dataset
  • publishes the corresponding layer on GeoServer

If anything fails at this stage, the partial final table is dropped so the dataset never ends up in a half-published state.

Recurring imports

A dataset can be configured to automatically re-fetch from its original source and re-run the transformation on a schedule (every minute, hour, day, week, month or year). This is useful for sources that change over time, such as an OGC service or a periodically updated file at a fixed URL. See Managing datasets for how to configure and monitor a recurring import.

Empty datasets

It is also possible to create a dataset with no source at all (empty dataset): Datafeeder creates the IntegrityLink record and a skeleton GeoNetwork metadata record immediately, with no data pipeline involved. This is useful to reserve a metadata record ahead of publishing data manually, or for datasets that live entirely on GeoServer already.