ogr2ogr

Convert vector geospatial data between formats

TLDR

Convert a shapefile to GeoJSON

$ ogr2ogr -f "GeoJSON" [output.json] [input.shp]

Convert GeoJSON to GeoPackage

$ ogr2ogr -f "GPKG" [output.gpkg] [input.json]

Reproject data to WGS84

$ ogr2ogr -t_srs EPSG:4326 [output.shp] [input.shp]

Import a shapefile into PostGIS

$ ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" PG:"dbname=[db]" [input.shp]

Filter features with a WHERE clause

$ ogr2ogr -where "[population > 10000]" [output.shp] [input.shp]

Clip features to a bounding box

$ ogr2ogr -spat [xmin] [ymin] [xmax] [ymax] [output.shp] [input.shp]

Append data to an existing PostGIS layer

$ ogr2ogr -append -f "PostgreSQL" PG:"dbname=[db]" [input.shp]

Select specific fields and rename the output layer

$ ogr2ogr -select [name,population] -nln [cities] [output.gpkg] [input.shp]

SYNOPSIS

ogr2ogr [options] dstdatasource srcdatasource [layer]

ogr2ogr converts vector geospatial data between file formats, databases, and web services. It is part of the GDAL/OGR library and supports over 80 vector formats including Shapefile, GeoJSON, GeoPackage, PostGIS, KML, and GML.Beyond simple format conversion, ogr2ogr can reproject coordinates between spatial reference systems, filter features by attribute or spatial extent, clip geometries, select specific fields, and transform geometry types.

PARAMETERS

DSTDATASOURCE_

Destination dataset (file path, database connection string, etc.).

SRCDATASOURCE_

Source dataset.

-f FORMAT

Output format name (e.g., "GeoJSON", "ESRI Shapefile", "PostgreSQL", "GPKG").

-t_srs SRS

Target spatial reference system (e.g., EPSG:4326).

-s_srs SRS

Source spatial reference system (override if not defined in source).

-a_srs SRS

Assign a spatial reference system to the output without reprojecting.

-select FIELDS

Comma-separated list of fields to copy from the source.

-where EXPR

SQL WHERE clause to filter features from the source.

-sql STATEMENT

SQL statement to execute against the source for feature selection.

-spat XMIN YMIN XMAX YMAX

Spatial filter: only select features intersecting this bounding box.

-clipsrc XMIN YMIN XMAX YMAX

Clip geometries to the specified bounding box or WKT geometry.

-overwrite

Delete and recreate the output layer if it already exists.

-append

Append to an existing layer instead of creating a new one.

-update

Open existing output datasource in update mode.

-nln NAME

Assign a new name to the output layer.

-nlt TYPE

Define the geometry type for the output layer (e.g., POINT, POLYGON, MULTILINESTRING).

-lco NAME=VALUE

Layer creation option (format specific).

-dsco NAME=VALUE

Dataset creation option (format specific).

-skipfailures

Continue processing after a failure, skipping the failed feature.

-progress

Display a progress bar on the terminal.

-gt N

Group N features per transaction (default 20000). Increase for better performance with database drivers.

INSTALL

sudo apt install gdal-bin

sudo apk add gdal-tools

CAVEATS

Part of the GDAL suite and must be installed separately. Format support depends on how GDAL was compiled. Coordinate system reprojection requires correct SRS definitions. The -skipfailures option forces transaction grouping to 1, which can severely slow database inserts.