INAV Configurator MapProxy setup

July 7, 2026 · View on GitHub

There are several different approaches to setting up MapProxy service. All that iNav needs is a working MapProxy WMS URL and the name of the layer that you want to use for caching

Generic MapProxy Installation Guides

https://mapproxy.org/docs/latest/install.html Unix Install Guide

https://mapproxy.org/docs/latest/install_windows.html Windows Install Guide

https://hub.docker.com/r/yagajs/mapproxy/ Docker image

Linux MapProxy virtual machine setup instructions

Using virtualization platform of your choice, install a base 14.04 LTS Ubuntu server http://releases.ubuntu.com/14.04/ubuntu-14.04.5-server-i386.iso
Use NAT networking so that the virtual machine can download maps while online
Create a mapproxy user (this can be done during installation)
All commands executed as mapproxy user from mapproxy user home directory
Choose defaults for everything else unless you want to change anything

After installation, update all packages and reboot

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo reboot

Set a static IP so that your iNav proxy URL does not need to be updated

# get dhcp ip address and host gateway
mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ ip route get 8.8.8.8 | awk '{print $NF; exit}'
192.168.145.133
mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ cat /etc/resolv.conf | tail -n 1
nameserver 192.168.145.2
mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
default         192.168.145.2   0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth0
192.168.145.0   *               255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 eth0
mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces
# replace existing eth0 section with this:
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.145.20
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    network 192.168.145.0
    broadcast 192.168.145.255
    gateway 192.168.145.2
    dns-nameservers 192.168.145.2
# reboot to apply changes
mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ sudo reboot

Install ssh server so you can connect from host
```
sudo apt-get -y install openssh-server
```
Connect to virtual machine ssh using mapproxy@192.168.145.20

Install python-virtualenv and dependencies

sudo apt install python-virtualenv python-imaging python-yaml libproj0 \
   build-essential python-dev libjpeg-dev \
   zlib1g-dev libfreetype6-dev libapache2-mod-wsgi apache2

Update pillow and install mapproxy

sudo pip install pillow 
sudo pip install MapProxy

Initialize MapProxy server

# check that mapproxy is installed
mapproxy-util --version
# create inav config
mapproxy-util create -t base-config inavmapproxy
virtualenv --system-site-packages mapproxy
source mapproxy/bin/activate

Update apache wsgi.conf

sudo vi /etc/apache2/mods-available/wsgi.conf

so it looks like this:

WSGIScriptAlias /inavmapproxy /home/mapproxy/inavmapproxy/config.py
WSGIDaemonProcess mapproxy user=mapproxy group=mapproxy processes=8 threads=25
WSGIProcessGroup mapproxy
# WSGIPythonHome should contain the bin and lib dir of your virtualenv
WSGIPythonHome /home/mapproxy/mapproxy
WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL}

<Directory /home/mapproxy/inavmapproxy/>
  Order deny,allow
  Require all granted
</Directory>

Create wsgi config file

vi inavmapproxy/config.py

with the following content:

from mapproxy.wsgiapp import make_wsgi_app
application = make_wsgi_app(r'/home/mapproxy/inavmapproxy/mapproxy.yaml')

Enable wsgi and restart apache

sudo a2enmod wsgi
sudo service apache2 restart

Test your MapProxy instance using web browser on host, you should see a demo link http://192.168.145.20/inavmapproxy/
Open iNav Configurator, connect to your flight controller
In upper right corner click on Application Options (gears icon)
For MapProxy URL use: http://192.168.145.20/inavmapproxy/service?
For MapProxy layer use: osm
If everything is working you should see a map in the GPS and Mission Planner tabs

You can change your server configuration by editing

mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ vi ~/inavmapproxy/mapproxy.yaml

After editing configuration, restart apache

mapproxy@MapProxy:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Some additional sample configurations, use at your own discretion (change layer in inav to layer from configuration)

# mundialis openstreetmap wms example
services:
  demo:
  wms:
    md:
      title: MapProxy WMS Proxy
layers:
  - name: osm
    title: mundialis
    sources: [osm_cache]
caches:
  osm_cache:
    grids: [webmercator]
    sources: [osm_wms]
sources:
  osm_wms:
    type: wms
    req:
      url: http://ows.mundialis.de/services/service?
      layers: osm
grids:
    webmercator:
        base: GLOBAL_WEBMERCATOR

# google maps hybrid example, use inav_layer in configurator as layer name
services:
  demo:
  wms:
    md:
      title: MapProxy WMS Proxy
layers:
  - name: inav_layer
    title: Google Maps Hybrid
    sources: [inav_cache]
caches:
  inav_cache:
    grids: [inav_grid]
    sources: [inav]
    cache:
      type: file
      directory_layout: tms
sources:
  inav:
    type: tile
    url: http://mt0.google.com/vt/lyrs=y&hl=en&x=%(x)s&y=%(y)s&z=%(z)s
    grid: inav_grid
grids:
  inav_grid:
    base: GLOBAL_MERCATOR
    origin: ul

You can use any map provider that is compatible with MapProxy, and once you zoom in on the region you will be flying in, the map tiles will be cached for offline use. You can test this by disabling your internet connection and browsing the demo URL in a browser

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WMS#OSM_WMS_Servers OpenStreetMap WMS servers

https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/data_access/web_map_services_wms # USGS currently has 400+ WMS layers
- You can use QGIS to browse different providers and pick the maps you like for your iNav layers https://qgis.org/en/site/
- There are many government and public WMS providers available in different regions worldwide

Docker Setup Instructions

Using Docker is the easiest way to run MapProxy without needing to manually configure Python, Apache, or virtual environments.

1. Prerequisites

Make sure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed:

Docker Desktop (Windows/macOS)
docker-compose or docker compose CLI plugin (Linux)

2. File Structure

Create a directory for your MapProxy configuration and cache data:

mapproxy/
├── docker-compose.yml
├── cache_data/
└── docker/
    ├── mapproxy.yaml
    └── logging.ini

3. Configuration Files

`docker-compose.yml`

services:
  mapproxy:
    image: ghcr.io/mapproxy/mapproxy/mapproxy:6.1.1-dev
    volumes:
      - ./docker/mapproxy.yaml:/mapproxy/config/mapproxy.yaml
      - ./cache_data:/mapproxy/config/cache_data
      - ./docker/logging.ini:/mapproxy/config/logging.ini
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"

`docker/mapproxy.yaml`

services:
  demo:
  wms:
    md:
      title: MapProxy WMS Service
      abstract: MapProxy serving Satellite and other spatial layers.
    srs: ['EPSG:3857', 'EPSG:4326', 'EPSG:900913']
    image_formats: ['image/png', 'image/jpeg']
  wmts:
  tms:
    use_path_info: true

layers:
  - name: arcgisonline
    title: Satellite Imagery (ArcGIS World Imagery)
    sources: [arcgisonline_cache]
  - name: google
    title: Google Satellite Imagery
    sources: [google_cache]

caches:
  arcgisonline_cache:
    grids: [webmercator_high_zoom]
    sources: [arcgisonline_source]
    upscale_tiles: 3
    cache_rescaled_tiles: true
    cache:
      type: file
      directory_layout: tc
      directory: /mapproxy/config/cache_data/arcgisonline

  google_cache:
    grids: [webmercator_high_zoom]
    sources: [google_source]
    upscale_tiles: 3
    cache_rescaled_tiles: true
    cache:
      type: file
      directory_layout: tc
      directory: /mapproxy/config/cache_data/google

sources:
  arcgisonline_source:
    type: tile
    url: https://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer/tile/%(z)s/%(y)s/%(x)s
    grid: webmercator_native
    format: image/jpeg
    coverage:
      bbox: [-180, -85.0511, 180, 85.0511]
      srs: 'EPSG:4326'
    on_error:
      404:
        response: transparent
        cache: true

  google_source:
    type: tile
    url: http://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=s&hl=en&x=%(x)s&y=%(y)s&z=%(z)s
    grid: webmercator_native
    on_error:
      404:
        response: transparent
        cache: true

grids:
  webmercator_native:
    base: GLOBAL_WEBMERCATOR
    num_levels: 20
  webmercator_high_zoom:
    base: GLOBAL_WEBMERCATOR
    num_levels: 23

globals:
  cache:
    base_dir: /mapproxy/config/cache_data
    lock_dir: /mapproxy/config/cache_data/locks
  image:
    resampling_method: bicubic

`docker/logging.ini`

[loggers]
keys=root,mapproxy

[handlers]
keys=console

[formatters]
keys=simple

[logger_root]
level=INFO
handlers=console

[logger_mapproxy]
level=INFO
handlers=console
qualname=mapproxy
propagate=0

[handler_console]
class=StreamHandler
args=(sys.stdout,)
level=NOTSET
formatter=simple

[formatter_simple]
format=%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s

4. Running the Container

Permissions: Make sure the cache directory exists and is writable by the container:
```
mkdir -p cache_data
chmod -R a+w cache_data
```
Start service: Run the docker container:
```
docker compose up -d
```
Verify: Open your browser and navigate to the demo page: http://localhost:8080/demo/

5. iNav Configurator Settings

In the upper right corner click on Application Options (gears icon).
For Map Provider select: MapProxy
For MapProxy URL use: http://localhost:8080/service?
For MapProxy layer use: arcgisonline or google (as configured above).
If map updates do not immediately display in the Mission Control tab, click to navigate to another tab and then return to Mission Control so the changes take effect.