Geographical Maps

Geographical maps in NetXMS display monitored objects on a world map based on their configured geolocation coordinates. This visualization is useful for distributed networks, multi-site monitoring, and location-aware infrastructure management.

Overview

Geographical maps render objects as markers at their configured latitude/longitude positions. Each marker reflects the object’s current status through color coding (green for normal through red for critical).

Geographical maps can be used in several contexts:

  • World Map view — global map of all located objects, available under Tools in the management client

  • Geolocation view — per-object view showing the location of a specific object

  • Dashboard element — embedded as a Geo Map element in a dashboard (see Dashboard Elements)

  • Network map background — used as background layer for network maps (see Network Maps)

Configuring Object Geolocation

For an object to appear on a geographical map, it must have geolocation coordinates configured.

To set an object’s geolocation:

  1. Open the object’s properties

  2. Navigate to the Location page

  3. Set the Location type: Undefined, Manual, or Automatic from GPS receiver (the location is updated automatically from reported GPS positions)

  4. For manual locations, enter latitude and longitude coordinates

  5. Optionally fill in the structured address fields for display purposes

  6. Click OK

Coordinates use decimal degrees format (e.g., latitude: 48.8566, longitude: 2.3522 for Paris, France).

Map Tile Providers

NetXMS uses map tile services to render the geographical background. The map tile provider is configured in the server configuration:

Server Variable Description

Client.TileServerURL

URL template for map tile requests

The default value is https://tile.netxms.org/osm/, an OpenStreetMap tile proxy hosted by the NetXMS project. You can configure alternative providers (e.g., a local tile server for air-gapped environments).

URL templates support the {x}, {y}, \{-y\}, {z}, and {q} placeholders. If the URL contains no placeholders, z/x/y.png is appended automatically.

Example custom tile server URL:

https://tiles.example.com/{z}/{x}/{y}.png

Geo Map in Dashboards

When using a Geo Map as a dashboard element:

  • Latitude and Longitude — center point of the map view

  • Zoom level — initial zoom level, 0 to 18 (0 = world view, 18 = street level; default: 14)

  • Root object — optionally filter to show only objects within a specific container

The map opens at the configured latitude, longitude, and zoom level; there is no automatic fitting to the displayed objects. The root object only filters which objects are shown.

Geo Map as Network Map Background

Network maps can use a geographical map as their background layer. In this mode, objects are positioned at their geolocation coordinates on the map, and the network topology links are drawn between them.

To configure:

  1. Open the network map properties

  2. Set Background type to Geographic map

  3. Configure the initial zoom level and center coordinates

Objects on the map are placed at their geolocation coordinates automatically. Objects without geolocation data are not displayed on geographic background maps.

Status Display

Objects on geographical maps show their status through:

  • Marker color — follows the status theme colors (Normal=green, Warning=cyan, Minor=yellow, Major=orange, Critical=red)

  • Tooltips — hovering over a marker shows the object name and status summary

Dragging with the left mouse button pans the map, and double-click zooms in. Right-clicking a marker selects the object and opens its context menu.

Geographical Areas

Geographical areas are named polygons on the map, managed in the Geographical Areas view in the Configuration perspective. Once defined, an area can be used for location-based checks: for objects with automatic location reporting, the server can detect when the reported location enters or leaves configured areas and generate events accordingly.