Preferences > Connection settings

This is work in progress which is neither available in latest nor in tested. The corresponding features will be available shortly. Please check the JOSM Message of the Day.

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The URL to the OSM server

Downloading and uploading to the default server

Most JOSM users want to exchange geo data with the standard OSM server operated by the OSM community.

Tick the respective checkbox in order to download from and upload to the standard server (see screenshot above). This is the default setting.

Advanced option: Downloading and uploading to a custom server

Some JOSM users need to configure the API URL of an OSM server because they are working with a custom server:

• Some users are working with local installations of the OSM server
• Some users are working with development and test instances of the OSM server (for instance with ​http://api06.dev.openstreetmap.org).

You can set the URL for requests to the OpenStreetMap server. It is very unlikely you will need to change this.

The default base server URL for the the official OSM server is "​http://www.openstreetmap.org/api".

Before you upload any changes to the OpenStreetMap server you need to ​create an account. Your chosen username and password need to be entered on the connection settings page.

Authentication Settings

Working anonymously or with an OSM account

You don't need to identify and authenticate yourself provided that you neither upload data to the OSM server nor download data for which you must authenticate first.

If your work anonymously you are allowed

• to download geo-data from the OSM server and save it to a local file
• to download public GPS traces from the OSM server
• to load geo data from a file, edit it, and save it back to a file

However, you can't

• upload geo-data to the OSM server. You can't created, update, or close changesets either.
• download your private GPS traces

You are recommended to ​create an OSM user account. By using ​this form you can choose an OSM username and an OSM password both of which you will use below.

Basic authentication

Basic authentication is the basic mechanism to authenticate yourself at the OSM server.

To use Basic Authentication

1. In the Connection Preferences go to the tab Authentication
2. Select the authentication method Basic authentication
3. Enter your OSM username and your OSM password

Warning!
The password is stored in plain text in the JOSM preferences file. Furthermore, it is transferred unencrypted in every request sent to the OSM server. Do not use a valuable password.

OAuth based authentication

​OAuth is an open protocol to allow secure API authorization in a simple and standard method from desktop and web applications. The OSM server supports OAuth in addition to basic authentication.

OAuth has two major advantages over basic authentication:

1. Your OSM password doesn't have to be saved in clear text in the JOSM preferences file.
2. Your OSM password has to be transferred only once over the Internet, in contrast to basic authentication where your OSM password is trasferred as part of every request sent from JOSM to the OSM server.

Warning!
Currently, the OSM server doesn't offer a secure communication channel. Even if you use OAuth your password is therefore transferred once in clear text over the Internet. Do not use a valuable password until the OSM server provides a secure communication channel (HTTPS).

For advanced users, OAuth has addional advantages:

• With OAuth you can generate restricted Access Tokens which you given somebody else such that another mapper can act on your behalf. For instance, a mapper could generate an Access Token which grants somebody else the right to download its private GPS traces. Even if he gives this Access Token to somebody else, his OSM password is kept private. In addition, he can revoke the special Access Token at any time. JOSM supports this kind of advanced configuration in the OAuth Autorisation Wizard with the authorisation procedure Manual authorization.

To use OAuth based Authentication

1. In the Connection Preferences go to the tab Authentication
2. Select the authentication method OAuth based authentication
3. Enter your OSM username
4. Click on Authorise now to OAuth Autorisation Wizard

Proxy Settings

File Backup