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GeoNode Customisation

GGIS does not use the upstream GeoNode packages directly. Both the GeoNode backend and the GeoNode Mapstore frontend client are replaced with IGRAC-maintained forks.

GeoNode Backend (submodule)

Source: github.com/kartoza/geonode — branch 4.4.3.igrac

The GeoNode backend fork is included as a Git submodule at geonode/ in the repository root. It is cloned into the Docker image at build time (see deployment/docker/Dockerfile) and replaces the upstream GeoNode installation entirely.

Changes in this fork are patches that cannot be applied from the outside via Django's extension points — template overrides, signal hooks, or settings — and therefore had to be made directly in the GeoNode source.

GeoNode Mapstore Client (pip package)

Source: github.com/kartoza/geonode-mapstore-client — branch 4.4.3-igrac

The Mapstore client is the React/Mapstore2-based frontend that GeoNode uses for the map viewer, layer detail pages, and dashboards.

GGIS replaces the upstream package with the IGRAC fork, installed directly from GitHub in deployment/docker/REQUIREMENTS.txt:

git+https://github.com/kartoza/geonode-mapstore-client.git@4.4.3-igrac

The Dockerfile explicitly uninstalls the upstream version first to ensure the fork takes precedence:

RUN pip uninstall -y django-geonode-mapstore-client

Customisations in this fork include IGRAC-specific UI changes to the map viewer and related frontend pages that cannot be achieved through GeoNode's template override mechanism.

Keeping Forks Up to Date

Both forks are pinned to a specific branch/tag. To update them:

  • GeoNode backend — update the GEONODE_VERSION build arg in deployment/docker/Dockerfile and point the geonode submodule to the new commit.
  • Mapstore client — update the Git ref in deployment/docker/REQUIREMENTS.txt (e.g. change @4.4.3-igrac to the new tag), then rebuild with make build.