MediaWiki - ArchWiki

# MediaWiki

Note: If you are using xampp, instead of LAMP, there are different steps you need to take after installing. More info here

## Installation

You need to have a web server, such as Apache installed, configured to be able to use PHP.

Install the php-gd, php-intl and mediawiki packages.

You will also need a database system, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite.

## Configuration

The steps to achieve a working MediaWiki configuration involve editing the PHP settings and adding the MediaWiki configuration snippets.

### PHP

First, adjust the `open_basedir` in `/etc/php/php.ini` to include the mediawiki data directory (`/var/lib/mediawiki` by default):

    /etc/php/php.ini

    open_basedir = /srv/http/:/home/:/tmp/:/usr/share/pear/:/usr/share/webapps/:/var/lib/mediawiki/

Then, also in `/etc/php/php.ini`, uncomment the following lines: (in the `Dynamic Extensions` section)

    extension=gd.so
    extension=intl.so
    extension=iconv.so

Note:

- If you would like to use SQLite as database, also uncomment `extension=pdo_sqlite.so`.
- If you would like to use MariaDB as database, also uncomment `extension=mysqli.so`.

Second, tweak the session handling or you might get a fatal error (`PHP Fatal error: session_start(): Failed to initialize storage module[...]`) by finding the `session.save_path` path. A good choice can be `/var/lib/php/sessions` or `/tmp/`.

    /etc/php/php.ini

    session.save_path = "/var/lib/php/sessions"

You will need to create the directory if it doesn't exist and then restrict its permissions:

    # mkdir -p /var/lib/php/sessions/
    # chown http:http /var/lib/php/sessions
    # chmod go-rwx /var/lib/php/sessions

### Web server

#### Apache

Copy `/etc/webapps/mediawiki/apache.example.conf` to `/etc/httpd/conf/extra/mediawiki.conf` and edit it as needed.

Add the following lines to `/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf`

    Include conf/extra/mediawiki.conf

Restart the `httpd.service` daemon.

Note: The default file from `/etc/webapps/mediawiki/apache.example.conf` will overwrite the PHP open_basedir setting, possibally conflicting with other pages. This behavior can be changed by moving line starting with `php_admin_value` between the `<Directory>` tags. Further, if you are running multiple applications that depend on the same server, this value could also be added to the open_basedir value in `/etc/php/php.ini` instead of `/etc/httpd/conf/extra/mediawiki.conf`

#### Nginx

To get MediaWiki working with Nginx, create the following file:

    /etc/nginx/mediawiki.conf

    location / {
       index index.php;
       try_files $uri $uri/ @mediawiki;
    }
    location @mediawiki {
       rewrite ^/(.*)$ /index.php;
    }
    location ~ \.php5?$ {
       include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
       fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php-fpm/php-fpm.sock;
       fastcgi_index index.php5;
       fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
       try_files $uri @mediawiki;
    }
    location ~* \.(js|css|png|jpg|jpeg|gif|ico)$ {
       try_files $uri /index.php;
       expires max;
       log_not_found off;
    }
    # Restrictions based on the .htaccess files
    location ^~ ^/(cache|includes|maintenance|languages|serialized|tests|images/deleted)/ {
       deny all;
    }
    location ^~ ^/(bin|docs|extensions|includes|maintenance|mw-config|resources|serialized|tests)/ {
       internal;
    }
    location ^~ /images/ {
       try_files $uri /index.php;
    }
    location ~ /\. {
       access_log off;
       log_not_found off;
       deny all;
    }

Ensure that php-fpm is installed and started.

Include a server directive, similar to this

    /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

    server {
      listen 80;
      server_name mediawiki;
      root /usr/share/webapps/mediawiki;
      index index.php;
      charset utf-8;
    # For correct file uploads
      client_max_body_size    100m; # Equal or more than upload_max_filesize in /etc/php/php.ini
      client_body_timeout     60;
      include mediawiki.conf;

    }

Finally, restart `nginx.service` and `php-fpm.service` daemons.

#### Lighttpd

You should have Lighttpd installed and configured. "mod_alias" and "mod_rewrite" in server.modules array of lighttpd is required. Append to the lighttpd configuration file the following lines

    /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf

    alias.url += ("/mediawiki" => "/usr/share/webapps/mediawiki/")
    url.rewrite-once += (
                    "^/mediawiki/wiki/upload/(.+)" => "/mediawiki/wiki/upload/$1",
                    "^/mediawiki/wiki/$" => "/mediawiki/index.php",
                    "^/mediawiki/wiki/([^?]*)(?:\?(.*))?" => "/mediawiki/index.php?title=$1&$2"
    )

Restart the `lighttpd.service` daemon.

### Database

If the database server is already set up, MediaWiki can automatically create the database (provided that the database root password is supplied) during the next step. Otherwise the database needs to be created manually, see upstream instructions.

### LocalSettings.php

Open the wiki url (usually `http://your_server/mediawiki/`) in a browser and do the initial configuration. Follow upstream instructions.

The generated `LocalSettings.php` file is offered for download, save it to `/usr/share/webapps/mediawiki/LocalSettings.php`. This file defines the specific settings of your wiki. Whenever you upgrade the mediawiki package, it is not replaced.

## Tips and tricks

### Mathematics (texvc)

Usually installing texvc and enabling it in the config are enough:

    $wgUseTeX = true;

If you get problems, try to increase limits for shell commands:

    $wgMaxShellMemory = 8000000;
    $wgMaxShellFileSize = 1000000;
    $wgMaxShellTime = 300;

### Unicode

Check that php, apache and mysql uses UTF-8. Otherwise you may face strange bugs because of encoding mismatch.

### VisualEditor

After following this instruction on how to install the VisualEditor, you need a backend nodejs application on your server, called Parsoid, to get it finally working.

Simply install parsoid-gitAUR from the AUR and adjust the path to your MediaWiki in following file:

    /usr/share/webapps/parsoid/api/localsettings.js

    parsoidConfig.setInterwiki( 'localhost', 'http://localhost/mediawiki/api.php' );

After that simply enable and start `parsoid.service`.

Category:

- Web server