tileserver-gl/docs/deployment.rst

==========
Deployment
==========

Typically, you should use nginx, lighttpd or apache on the frontend. The tileserver-gl server is hidden behind it in production deployment.

Caching
=======

There is a plenty of options you can use to create proper caching infrastructure: Varnish, Cloudflare, ...

Cloudflare Cache Rules
-----------

Cloudflare supports custom rules for configuring caching:
https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/about/cache-rules/

tileserver-gl renders tiles in multiple formats - ``.png``, ``.jpg (jpeg)``, ``.webp`` for the raster endpoints, ``.pbf`` for vector endpoint. In addition, style information is generated with ``.json`` format.

Endpoint data can be configured to be cached by Cloudflare. For example to cache vector endpoint you will need to configure Cloudflare rules for the ``.pbf`` and ``.json`` data.

Create a rule which matches ``hostname (equal)`` and ``URI Path (ends with)`` for ``.pbf`` and ``.json`` fields. Set cache status to eligible for cache to enable the caching and overwrite the ``Edge TTL`` with ``Browser TTL`` to be 7 days (depends on your application usage).

This will ensure that your tiles are cached on the client side and by Cloudflare for seven days. If the tileserver is down or user has no internet access it will try to use cached tiles.

Note that ``Browser TTL`` will overwrite expiration dates on the client device. If you rebuild your maps, old tiles will be rendered until it expires or cache is cleared on the client device.

Nginx Cache
-----------

If you have a reverse proxy setup in front of the tileserver you may want to enable caching as it will greatly offload requests from the application.

Configure the proxy cache path directive to initialize your cache store:

::

  proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx/tileserver
                   keys_zone=TileserverCache:50m
                   levels=1:2
                   inactive=2w
                   max_size=10g;

Make sure to give proper permissions for the /var/cache/nginx/tileserver folder. Usually nginx is running with www-data user.
Enable caching on specific proxy pass:

::

  location / {
    include proxy_params; 
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080/;

    proxy_cache TileserverCache;
    proxy_cache_valid 200 1w;

    # add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status;
  }

If you need to confirm whether caching works or not, uncomment the X-Cache-Status header. This will return a header on response with `HIT` or `MISS` header value which indicates if nginx cached the response or not.

Make sure to clean your cache by removing files in the configured directory after you change your styles or tile information. You may experiment with the caching values to fit your needs.

More about Nginx caching: https://docs.nginx.com/nginx/admin-guide/content-cache/content-caching/

Securing
========

Nginx can be used to add protection via https, password, referrer, IP address restriction, access keys, etc.

Running behind a proxy or a load-balancer
=========================================

If you need to run TileServer GL behind a proxy, make sure the proxy sends ``X-Forwarded-*`` headers to the server (most importantly ``X-Forwarded-Host`` and ``X-Forwarded-Proto``) to ensure the URLs generated inside TileJSON, etc. are using the desired domain and protocol.

Nginx Reverse Proxy
-----------

An example nginx reverse proxy server configuration for HTTPS connections. It enables caching, CORS and Cloudflare Authenticated Pulls.

::

  proxy_cache_path /var/cache/nginx/tileserver
                   keys_zone=TileserverCache:50m 
                   levels=1:2
                   inactive=2w
                   max_size=1g;

  map_hash_bucket_size 128;
  map $http_origin $allow_origin {
      https://www.example.com $http_origin;
      default "";
  }

  server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;

    ssl_certificate         /etc/ssl/www.example.com/cert.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key     /etc/ssl/www.example.com/key.pem;

    # https://developers.cloudflare.com/ssl/origin-configuration/authenticated-origin-pull/
    ssl_client_certificate  /etc/ssl/cloudflare.pem;
    ssl_verify_client on;

    server_name www.example.com example.com;

    # Disable root application access. You may want to allow this in development.
    location ~ ^/$ {
      return 404;
    }

    # Disable root application access. You may want to allow this in development.
    location /favicon.ico {
      return 404;
    }

    location / {
      # This include directive sets up required headers for proxy and proxy cache.
      # As well it includes the required ``X-Forwarded-*`` headers for tileserver to properly generate tiles.
      include proxy_params;

      proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8080/;

      # Disable default CORS headers
      proxy_hide_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin;

      # Enable proxy cache
      proxy_cache TileserverCache;
      proxy_cache_valid 200 1w;

      # Set our custom CORS
      add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' $allow_origin;
      
      # If you need to see nginx cache status. Uncomment line below.
      # add_header X-Cache-Status $upstream_cache_status;
    }
  }