Argenmap Deployment: Apache, Nginx, and Local Dev Servers

Argenmap is a fully static web application — there is no server-side runtime, no database, and no build step. Deploying it means copying the repository files to any directory that your web server can serve over HTTP or HTTPS. This page covers every common scenario: local development with VS Code Live Server or Python, and production deployments on Apache and Nginx.

Argenmap must be served by an HTTP server. If you open index.html directly as a file:// URL (by double-clicking the file), the browser’s CORS policy will block all WMS tile requests and the map will fail to load layers. Always use one of the server options below.

Requirements

Any static file web server (Apache, Nginx, lighttpd, VS Code Live Server, Python http.server, etc.)
The Argenmap source files on the server’s file system

Step 1 — Get the code

Clone the repository with Git, or download the ZIP archive directly. Clone with Git:

git clone https://github.com/ign-argentina/argenmap.git
cd argenmap

Download as ZIP:

# Download
curl -L -o argenmap.zip https://github.com/ign-argentina/argenmap/archive/master.zip

# Unzip (Linux / macOS)
unzip argenmap.zip
mv argenmap-master argenmap
cd argenmap

Or paste the URL directly into your browser:

https://github.com/ign-argentina/argenmap/archive/master.zip

Step 2 — Copy the configuration files

Argenmap ships with read-only reference configs in src/config/default/. Before editing anything, copy those files into src/config/ — the path the application actually reads at runtime. Linux / macOS:

cp -r src/config/default/* src/config/

Windows (PowerShell):

Copy-Item src\config\default\* src\config\ -Recurse

The two files you will edit are:

File	Purpose
`src/config/data.json`	Base maps, WMS/WMTS overlay layers, and layer panel sections
`src/config/preferences.json`	Map center, zoom levels, theme colors, toolbar, search bar, and meta tags

The src/config/default/ folder is the shipped reference. Keeping your edits in src/config/ means you can always compare against the defaults and pull upstream updates without overwriting your customizations.

Step 3 — Publish with a web server

Choose the option that matches your environment.

VS Code Live Server
Apache
Nginx
Python HTTP Server

VS Code’s Live Server extension is the fastest way to start developing locally. It serves files over HTTP and reloads the browser automatically when you save a file.Install the extension:

Open VS Code.
Go to the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X).
Search for Live Server by Ritwick Dey and click Install.

Start the server:

Open the argenmap folder in VS Code (File → Open Folder).
In the Explorer panel, right-click index.html.
Select Open with Live Server.

VS Code opens your browser at http://127.0.0.1:5500 (the port may vary). The map loads with the default Argentina base map.

Live Server watches for file changes and refreshes the browser automatically, but because Argenmap reads data.json and preferences.json asynchronously at startup, you may still need to manually reload after config edits to guarantee the new values are picked up.

Apache is a common choice for Linux-based production servers. Copy the Argenmap directory into Apache’s document root and navigate to it in a browser.Copy files to the document root:

sudo cp -r ~/argenmap /var/www/html/argenmap

Verify Apache is running:

sudo systemctl status apache2      # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo systemctl status httpd        # RHEL / CentOS / Fedora

Start Apache if needed:

sudo systemctl start apache2       # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo systemctl start httpd         # RHEL / CentOS / Fedora

Open http://localhost/argenmap/ in your browser. You should see the Argenmap viewer.If you want to serve Argenmap at the domain root instead of a subdirectory, point Apache’s DocumentRoot at the argenmap folder:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName maps.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/argenmap

    <Directory /var/www/html/argenmap>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Reload Apache after editing configuration:

sudo systemctl reload apache2

Nginx is well-suited to serving static files efficiently in production. Create a server block that points the root to the Argenmap directory.Copy files to the web root:

sudo cp -r ~/argenmap /var/www/argenmap

Create a server block configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name maps.example.com;

    root /var/www/argenmap;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Save this file to /etc/nginx/sites-available/argenmap (Debian/Ubuntu) or /etc/nginx/conf.d/argenmap.conf (RHEL/CentOS), then enable and reload:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/argenmap /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t          # test configuration syntax
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Open http://maps.example.com (or http://localhost if testing locally) in your browser.

For HTTPS, add a listen 443 ssl; block and point ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key at your certificate files. Let’s Encrypt provides free certificates and the certbot tool can configure Nginx automatically.

Python’s built-in HTTP server is ideal for quick local testing when you don’t want to install or configure a full web server.

# From the argenmap directory
python3 -m http.server 8080

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser. The Argenmap viewer loads with the default configuration.To stop the server, press Ctrl+C in the terminal.

Python’s http.server is single-threaded and not suitable for production use. Use Apache or Nginx for public-facing deployments.

Step 4 — Verify the deployment

Once the server is running, open the URL in your browser and check:

Base map tiles load — you should see the Argentina base map rendered from IGN’s TMS service at:

https://wms.ign.gob.ar/geoserver/gwc/service/tms/1.0.0/capabaseargenmap@EPSG%3A3857@png/{z}/{x}/{-y}.png

Layer panel appears — the collapsible sidebar on the left lists the sections defined in data.json.
Toolbar is visible — buttons for layers, base map selector, add layers, help, and accessibility appear in the top-left area.

If tiles are missing, open your browser’s developer console (F12) and check the Network tab for blocked requests. The most common cause is serving from a file:// URL instead of HTTP. If the layer panel is empty, confirm that src/config/data.json is present, valid JSON, and readable by the web server process.

Next steps

Now that Argenmap is running, customize it for your use case by editing the two configuration files:

Configure data.json — add base maps, WMS/WMTS overlay layers, and define the layer panel structure.

Get Started

Configuration

Features

Contributing

Argenmap Deployment: Apache, Nginx, and Local Dev Servers

Requirements

Step 1 — Get the code

Step 2 — Copy the configuration files

Step 3 — Publish with a web server

Step 4 — Verify the deployment

Next steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Configuration

Features

Contributing

Documentation Index

​Requirements

​Step 1 — Get the code

​Step 2 — Copy the configuration files

​Step 3 — Publish with a web server

​Step 4 — Verify the deployment

​Next steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Requirements

Step 1 — Get the code

Step 2 — Copy the configuration files

Step 3 — Publish with a web server

Step 4 — Verify the deployment

Next steps