How To Install MediaWiki On Windows In 4 Simple Steps

How To Install MediaWiki On Windows In 4 Simple Steps

by

How To Install MediaWiki On Windows In 4 Simple Steps

Embark on the transformative journey of installing MediaWiki on your Windows operating system. MediaWiki, the formidable platform that powers Wikipedia, offers a robust and customizable content management system, empowering you to create and manage your own online encyclopedia or knowledge repository. As you navigate this article, you will uncover the intricate steps involved in successfully installing MediaWiki, from preparing your system to configuring the software. Brace yourself for a comprehensive guide that will illuminate the path towards creating and sharing your own invaluable collection of knowledge.

installing mediawiki on windows

Before embarking on this installation odyssey, it is imperative to ensure that your Windows system meets the minimum requirements for MediaWiki. These prerequisites include PHP 8.1 or later, a web server such as Apache or Nginx, and a compatible database management system like MySQL or MariaDB. Additionally, you will need a text editor or integrated development environment (IDE) for editing configuration files. With these foundational elements in place, you can proceed with confidence towards the installation process.

The installation process for MediaWiki on Windows can be broadly divided into two distinct phases: initial setup and database configuration. During the initial setup, you will download the MediaWiki software package and extract it to a designated directory on your system. Subsequently, you will create a new database and a database user with appropriate permissions. Armed with the necessary database credentials, you can proceed to the configuration phase, where you will modify the MediaWiki configuration files to establish the connection between the software and the database. Upon successful configuration, you will be able to access the MediaWiki interface and commence the exciting task of creating and managing your very own online encyclopedia.

System Requirements for MediaWiki on Windows

MediaWiki is a powerful and versatile content management system (CMS) that is used to create and manage wikis. It is an open-source software that is freely available for download and use. MediaWiki is written in PHP and requires a web server, such as Apache or Nginx, and a database, such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, to run.

The following are the minimum system requirements for MediaWiki on Windows:

Requirement Details
Operating system Windows 7 or later
Web server Apache 2.4 or Nginx 1.10 or later
Database MySQL 5.7 or PostgreSQL 9.6 or later
PHP 7.2 or later
Memory At least 256MB, recommended 512MB or more
Disk space At least 1GB, recommended 2GB or more

In addition to the minimum requirements, the following software is also recommended:

  • PHP extensions: GD, mbstring, curl, zip, XML, iconv
  • ImageMagick or GraphicsMagick for image processing
  • A caching system, such as Memcached or Redis

Downloading and Extracting the MediaWiki Files

To install MediaWiki on Windows, you first need to download the software package from the official MediaWiki website. The latest stable version is currently MediaWiki 1.38.4, which can be downloaded as a ZIP file from the following link:

https://releases.wikimedia.org/mediawiki/1.38/mediawiki-1.38.4.zip

Once the ZIP file has been downloaded, you need to extract its contents to a directory on your computer. You can use any ZIP extraction software for this purpose, such as WinRAR or 7-Zip.

Extracting the MediaWiki Files

To extract the MediaWiki files, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on the ZIP file and select “Extract All…” from the context menu.
  2. In the “Extract Compressed (Zipped) Folders” window, select the destination folder where you want to extract the files. It is recommended to create a new folder specifically for MediaWiki, such as “C:\MediaWiki”.
  3. Click the “Extract” button to start the extraction process.
  4. Once the extraction is complete, you will find the MediaWiki files in the specified destination folder.

Note: The MediaWiki ZIP file contains a large number of files and directories. The extraction process may take several minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your computer and the size of the ZIP file.

Setting Up the Web Server (e.g., Apache)

To install MediaWiki, you’ll need a web server such as Apache. Here’s how to set up Apache on Windows:

  1. Download the latest Apache HTTP Server from the Apache Lounge website.
  2. Install Apache by following the on-screen instructions.
  3. Configure Apache to serve MediaWiki:
    1. Open the Apache configuration file (httpd.conf) in a text editor.
    2. Locate the section about virtual hosts and add the following directives:

“`html

DocumentRoot “C:\path\to\your\MediaWiki\installation”
ServerName your.domain.com

“`

  • Save the configuration file and restart Apache.

    • Additional Configuration Settings

    You may need to make additional configuration changes in Apache to optimize MediaWiki’s performance. Here are some recommended settings:

    Setting Value
    MaxRequestWorkers 100
    MaxConnectionsPerChild 100
    KeepAliveTimeout 5
    LimitRequestBody 1024000000

    These settings will help handle increased traffic and improve MediaWiki’s overall responsiveness.

    Configuring the Database (e.g., MySQL)

    Before you can install MediaWiki, you need to configure a database for it to use. A database is a collection of related data, and it’s where MediaWiki will store all of its content, such as pages, revisions, and user accounts.

    To create a database, you will need to use a database management system (DBMS). We recommend using MySQL, as it is a popular and easy-to-use DBMS that is compatible with MediaWiki.

    Once you have installed MySQL, you can create a database for MediaWiki by following these steps:

    1. Open the MySQL command prompt.
    2. Type the following command to create a database named “my_wiki”:

      3. “`
      CREATE DATABASE my_wiki;
      “`

    3. Type the following command to create a user named “my_wiki_user” with the password “my_wiki_password” and grant them all privileges on the “my_wiki” database:

      4. “`
      CREATE USER ‘my_wiki_user’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘my_wiki_password’;
      GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_wiki.* TO ‘my_wiki_user’@’localhost’;
      “`

    Now that you have created a database and a user for MediaWiki, you can proceed with the installation process.

    Additional Notes:

    Setting Recommendation
    Database name my_wiki
    Database user my_wiki_user
    Database password my_wiki_password

    You can change these settings to whatever you like, but be sure to remember them, as you will need them later during the MediaWiki installation process.

    Creating the MediaWiki Database and User

    Before installing MediaWiki, you need to create a database and a database user to be used by MediaWiki. The following steps will guide you through the process:

    1. Creating the Database

    Using your preferred database management tool (e.g., MySQL or MariaDB), create a new empty database. For this example, we’ll name it “wikidb”.

    2. Creating the Database User

    Next, create a new database user with the following privileges:

    • SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, ALTER, INDEX, CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES

    For this example, we’ll name the user “wikiuser” and grant it access to the “wikidb” database.

    3. Modifying the Database User Privileges

    To ensure that MediaWiki can access the database without using a password, you need to disable password authentication for the “wikiuser” account. This can typically be achieved using the following command:

    “`sql
    GRANT USAGE ON *.* TO ‘wikiuser’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ”;
    “`

    4. Flushing Privileges

    To make the changes effective, execute the following command:

    “`sql
    FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
    “`

    5. Configuring the Database Parameters

    In the MediaWiki configuration file (usually located at “LocalSettings.php”), update the following settings to reflect the database details you just configured:

    Setting Value
    $wgDBserver ‘localhost’
    $wgDBname ‘wikidb’
    $wgDBuser ‘wikiuser’
    $wgDBpassword ” (leave empty)

    Modifying the LocalSettings.php File

    Now that MediaWiki is installed and configured, it’s time to modify the default settings to match your specific requirements.

    The LocalSettings.php file is a crucial configuration file that contains the settings for your MediaWiki installation. It’s located in the ‘config’ subdirectory of your MediaWiki installation directory. To modify the file, you can use any text editor, such as Notepad or Atom.

    Open the LocalSettings.php file and locate the following section:

    “`php
    $wgSitename = “My MediaWiki”;
    $wgMetaNamespace = “My_Meta_Namespace”;
    “`

    Here, you can edit the values to modify the site name and the namespace for metadata pages.

    Additionally, if you want to connect your MediaWiki installation to a database, you need to configure the database settings in the LocalSettings.php file. Find the following section:

    “`php
    $wgDBserver = “localhost”;
    $wgDBuser = “my_user”;
    $wgDBpassword = “my_password”;
    $wgDBname = “my_database”;
    “`

    Replace the default values with the correct database information. You can also specify the database type by setting the $wgDBtype variable. For example, for a MySQL database, you would set $wgDBtype = “mysql”;

    Once you have made the necessary changes, save the LocalSettings.php file and restart Apache to apply the new settings.

    Completing the Installation and Configuration

    1. Running the Web Server

    After completing the MediaWiki installation, execute the web server to run the software. If you use Apache, use the following command:

    apachectl start

    2. Configuring Firewall

    Allow incoming connections to port 80, which MediaWiki typically uses. In Windows Firewall, open the "Inbound Rules" section and create a new rule for TCP Port 80.

    3. Creating Database

    Use a database management system like MySQL or MariaDB to create a new database for MediaWiki. The database name, username, and password should match those specified in the LocalSettings.php file.

    4. Setting Up MySQL

    Once the database is created, execute the following command to generate the MediaWiki database tables:

    php maintenance/install.php --dbuser=YOUR_USERNAME --dbpass=YOUR_PASSWORD --dbname=DATABASE_NAME

    5. Configuring Virtual Hosts

    If you’re using Apache with SSL, set up virtual hosts to handle HTTP and HTTPS connections. Add the following lines to your Apache configuration file:

    <VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName example.com
  Redirect permanent / https://example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerName example.com
  DocumentRoot "/path/to/mediawiki"
  SSLCertificateFile "/path/to/certificate.pem"
  SSLCertificateKeyFile "/path/to/key.pem"
</VirtualHost>

    6. Enabling Extensions

    MediaWiki extensions provide additional functionality. To enable extensions, edit the LocalSettings.php file and add the following lines:

    wfLoadExtension( 'ExtensionName' );

    7. Troubleshooting

    PHP Version: Ensure you have PHP 5.6 or later installed.
    Server Permissions: Check that the web server user has write permissions to the MediaWiki directory.
    Database Configuration: Verify that the database name, username, and password are correct in LocalSettings.php.
    Extension Compatibility: Make sure the extensions you’re enabling are compatible with your MediaWiki version.
    Apache Configuration: Ensure that Apache is configured to handle MediaWiki requests correctly.
    Firewall: Ensure that port 80 is not blocked by a firewall.
    Error Log: Check the MediaWiki error log (var/log/mediawiki/error.log) for any errors during installation or configuration.

    Establishing Virtual Hosts for Multiple Wikis

    To enable multiple wikis to coexist on a single server, you need to set up virtual hosts. Each virtual host represents a specific domain name or IP address and points to the corresponding wiki’s directory.

    Creating a Virtual Host for Each Wiki

    In the Apache configuration file (httpd.conf), you need to create a virtual host block for each wiki. This block should include the following elements:

    1. NameVirtualHost: The domain name or IP address associated with the wiki.
    2. DocumentRoot: The directory where the wiki’s files are stored.
    3. VirtualHost: The IP address and port number that the virtual host will respond to.
    Virtual Host Name Document Root Virtual Host
    wiki1.example.com /var/www/wiki1 127.0.0.1:8080
    wiki2.example.com /var/www/wiki2 127.0.0.1:8081

    Testing the Virtual Hosts

    Once you have created the virtual host blocks, you can test them by adding the following line to the end of the httpd.conf file:

    Include /etc/httpd/sites-enabled/*.conf

    Restart Apache and visit the domain names or IP addresses of your wikis to see if they resolve correctly.

    Customizing MediaWiki with Extensions and Themes


    Extensions

    Extensions are add-ons that extend the functionality of MediaWiki. They can be used to add new features, such as polls, maps, or calculators. To install an extension, download it from the MediaWiki Extensions Directory and unzip it onto your server. Then, add the line “extensionName” to your LocalSettings.php file. Activate the extension by adding the following lines to your LocalSettings.php file.

    wfLoadExtension( 'extensionName' );
    wfSetupExtension( 'extensionName' );

    Themes

    Themes control the appearance of MediaWiki pages. To install a theme, download it from the MediaWiki Themes Directory and unzip it onto your server. Then, add the line “$wgDefaultTheme” to your LocalSettings.php file.

    Finding Extensions and Themes

    The MediaWiki community has created a vast repository of extensions and themes. You can browse the latest releases or search for specific features on the MediaWiki Extensions Directory and MediaWiki Themes Directory websites.

    Installing Extensions and Themes from the Web Interface

    MediaWiki also provides a convenient web interface for installing extensions and themes. To use this feature, log in to your MediaWiki instance as an administrator and navigate to the “Extension Manager” or “Theme Manager” pages. From here, you can browse and install extensions and themes directly from the MediaWiki website.

    Managing Extensions and Themes

    Once you have installed extensions and themes, you can manage them through the MediaWiki dashboard. The “Extension Manager” and “Theme Manager” pages allow you to enable, disable, and configure installed extensions and themes.

    Creating Your Own Extensions and Themes

    If you have programming experience, you can create your own extensions and themes. To do this, refer to the MediaWiki documentation for developers. Customizing MediaWiki with extensions and themes is a great way to tailor your wiki to specific needs and enhance user experience.

    Extension Type Description
    Parser Functions Add new functions to the MediaWiki parser.
    Output Format Control how content is displayed.
    Special Pages Create new special pages that provide additional functionality.
    Hooks Alter the behavior of MediaWiki by intercepting events.
    Widgets Add interactive elements to pages.

    Troubleshooting Common Installation Issues

    1. Unable to access MySQL database

    Make sure MySQL is running and the database user has the necessary privileges. Check the database username, password, and host in LocalSettings.php.

    2. Error: Can’t connect to MySQL server

    Verify that MySQL is running on the default port (3306) or the port specified in LocalSettings.php. Check if there is a firewall blocking the connection.

    3. Error: Can’t find Apache server

    Make sure Apache is running and listening on port 80. Check that the RewriteEngine is enabled in the Apache configuration.

    4. Error: PHP version not supported

    MediaWiki requires PHP 7.2 or higher. Update PHP to the required version or install a compatible version of MediaWiki.

    5. Error: Can’t write to data directory

    Ensure that the data directory specified in LocalSettings.php has write permissions for the web server user.

    6. Error: Invalid session handler

    Verify that the session handler is set to “files” in LocalSettings.php and that the session directory has write permissions for the web server user.

    7. Error: Can’t load extension

    Make sure the extension is installed and enabled in the PHP configuration. Check the extension name and path in LocalSettings.php.

    8. Error: missing imagemagick library

    Install the ImageMagick library on the server and make sure it is added to the system PATH.

    9. Error: DataTables PHP extension missing

    Install the DataTables PHP extension and enable it in the PHP configuration.

    10. Error: Invalid URI specified in base property

    Solution
    Ensure that the base URL in LocalSettings.php is a valid and accessible URL. It should start with “http” or “https” and have no trailing slashes.

    Check if any web server configuration settings are overriding the base URL.

    Verify that the server’s hostname or IP address is properly configured in the Apache or Nginx configuration.

    Disable any browser extensions or plugins that may be interfering with the URL parsing.

    Try accessing the MediaWiki site from another browser or computer to rule out browser-specific issues.

    How To Install MediaWiki On Windows

    Before we begin, ensure that you have the following requirements:

    • Windows 10 or later
    • IIS (Internet Information Services) 8.5 or later
    • PHP 7.1 or later
    • MySQL 5.6 or later

    Once you have these requirements, you can proceed with the installation.

    Step 1: Install IIS

    If you do not have IIS installed, you can install it from the Windows Control Panel.

    1. Open the Control Panel.
    2. Click on “Programs and Features”.
    3. Click on “Turn Windows features on or off”.
    4. Expand the “Internet Information Services” node.
    5. Select the “Web Server (IIS)” checkbox.
    6. Click on “OK”.

    Step 2: Install PHP

    You can download PHP from the official PHP website.

    1. Browse to the PHP download page.
    2. Select the latest stable PHP version.
    3. Click on the “Download” button.
    4. Run the PHP installer.
    5. Select the “IIS” option.
    6. Click on “Install”.

    Step 3: Install MySQL

    You can download MySQL from the official MySQL website.

    1. Browse to the MySQL download page.
    2. Select the latest stable MySQL version.
    3. Click on the “Download” button.
    4. Run the MySQL installer.
    5. Select the “Server” option.
    6. Click on “Install”.

    Step 4: Configure IIS

    Now that you have IIS, PHP, and MySQL installed, you need to configure IIS to use PHP and MySQL.

    1. Open the IIS Manager.
    2. Expand the “Sites” node.
    3. Right-click on the “Default Web Site” icon and select “Properties”.
    4. Click on the “Directory Security” tab.
    5. Click on the “Edit” button.
    6. Select the “Anonymous access” option.
    7. Click on the “OK” button.
    8. Click on the “OK” button.

    Step 5: Download MediaWiki

    You can download MediaWiki from the official MediaWiki website.

    1. Browse to the MediaWiki download page.
    2. Click on the “Download MediaWiki” button.
    3. Extract the MediaWiki files to a folder on your computer.

    Step 6: Copy MediaWiki files to IIS

    Now that you have MediaWiki downloaded, you need to copy the files to your IIS website.

    1. Open the IIS Manager.
    2. Expand the “Sites” node.
    3. Right-click on the “Default Web Site” icon and select “Explore”.
    4. Copy the MediaWiki files to the “wwwroot” folder.

    Step 7: Create a MySQL database

    Now that you have MediaWiki copied to your IIS website, you need to create a MySQL database for MediaWiki to use.

    1. Open the MySQL Command Prompt.
    2. Type the following command:


      3. CREATE DATABASE mediawiki;

    3. Press Enter.
    4. Type the following command:


      5. GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mediawiki.* TO 'mediawiki'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';

    5. Press Enter.
    6. Type the following command:


      7. FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

    7. Press Enter.

    Step 8: Configure MediaWiki

    Now that you have a MySQL database created, you need to configure MediaWiki to use it.

    1. Open the “LocalSettings.php” file in the MediaWiki folder.
    2. Find the following lines:


      3. $wgDBserver = "localhost";
      $wgDBuser = "mediawiki";
      $wgDBpassword = "password";
      $wgDBname = "mediawiki";

    3. Replace the values with the appropriate values for your database.
    4. Save the file.

    Step 9: Install MediaWiki

    Now that you have MediaWiki configured, you can install it.

    1. Browse to your MediaWiki website.
    2. Follow the on-screen instructions.

    People Also Ask About

    How do I access my MediaWiki database?

    You can access your MediaWiki database using the MySQL Command Prompt.

    1. Open the MySQL Command Prompt.
    2. Type the following command:


      3. mysql -u mediawiki -p mediawiki

    3. Press Enter.
    4. Enter your password when prompted.

    How do I update MediaWiki?

    You can update MediaWiki by downloading the latest version from the official MediaWiki website and copying the files to your IIS website.

    1. Download the latest version of MediaWiki from the official MediaWiki website.
    2. Extract the MediaWiki files to a folder on your computer.
    3. Open the IIS Manager.
    4. Expand the “Sites” node.
    5. Right-click on the “Default Web Site” icon and select “Explore”.
    6. Copy the MediaWiki files to the “wwwroot” folder.

    How do I troubleshoot MediaWiki?

    If you are having problems with MediaWiki, you can check the MediaWiki documentation or ask for help on the MediaWiki forums.

    1. Browse to the MediaWiki documentation.
    2. Post a question on the MediaWiki forums.