Christian WellsMediaWiki is a powerful, open-source wiki software developed by the Wikimedia Foundation. It allows for the collaborative creation and management of knowledge bases and is widely used to power wikis like Wikipedia. MediaWiki is designed to handle large-scale content, offering flexibility, scalability, and multilingual support. Its versioning features enable users to track and restore changes, making it ideal for team collaboration and content-heavy projects.
Why MediaWiki is Useful:
- Content Collaboration: Ideal for large teams and communities working together on documentation or shared knowledge projects.
- Version Control: Tracks edits and revisions, making it easy to manage changes over time.
- Customizable: MediaWiki supports a wide range of extensions, skins, and templates for enhanced functionality and design.
- Scalable: It can handle everything from small wikis to large-scale sites like Wikipedia.
- Multilingual Support: MediaWiki’s multilingual capabilities make it perfect for global projects.
Creating an Instance on Cloud.shape.host
Step 1: Access the Dashboard and Create
Log in to Cloud.shape.host, click Create, and select Instances.
Step 2: Choose a Datacenter Location
Pick a location such as New York, London, or Frankfurt to ensure low latency for your target audience.
Step 3: Select a Plan
Choose the appropriate plan (Standard, CPU-Optimized, or Memory-Optimized) based on your resource requirements.
Step 4: Choose an Operating System
Select Ubuntu 24.04 as your OS for MediaWiki installation.
Step 5: Configure and Launch
Configure Network Type and Authentication Method (SSH key or password), then click Create Instance.
Locate Your Instance’s IP Address
Accessing Your Instance
- SSH (for Linux/macOS):
ssh root@<your-instance-ip>Replace <your-instance-ip> with your instance’s public IP.
- PuTTY (for Windows):
Download PuTTY, enter the instance’s public IP, and click Open.
Installing and Configuring MediaWiki
Follow these steps to install and configure MediaWiki:
Step 1: Update and Upgrade the System
apt update -y
apt upgrade -y
Step 2: Install Required Dependencies
apt install apache2 mariadb-server imagemagick libapache2-mod-php php php-common php-intl php-xml php-curl php-gd php-mbstring php-mysql php-apcu
Step 3: Check Apache and MariaDB Status
Ensure both Apache and MariaDB are enabled and running:
systemctl is-enabled apache2
systemctl status apache2
systemctl is-enabled mariadb
systemctl status mariadb
Step 4: Verify PHP Version
php -v
Step 5: Configure UFW Firewall
ufw allow "Apache Full"
ufw allow ssh
ufw enable
ufw status
Step 6: Configure PHP Settings
Edit the PHP configuration file:
nano /etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini
Update the following:
date.timezone = Europe/Amsterdam
upload_max_filesize = 80M
memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 360Save and Exit:
- Press
CTRL + Oto save, thenEnter. - Press
CTRL + Xto exit Nano.
Step 7: Restart Apache
systemctl restart apache2
Step 8: Configure MariaDB for MediaWiki
mariadb-secure-installation
After MariaDB is secured, log in to the MariaDB server with the following – Enter your root password when prompted.
mariadb -u root -pCreate the database and user:
CREATE DATABASE mediawikidb;
CREATE USER 'mediawiki'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mediawikipassdb';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mediawikidb.* TO 'mediawiki'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
SHOW GRANTS FOR 'mediawiki'@'localhost';
Type quit to exit from the MariaDB server.
Step 9: Download and Install MediaWiki
cd /var/www/
curl -O https://releases.wikimedia.org/mediawiki/1.41/mediawiki-1.41.1.tar.gz
tar -xzvf mediawiki-1.41.1.tar.gz
mv mediawiki-1.41.1/ mediawiki/
Step 10: Set Permissions for MediaWiki Directory
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/mediawiki
chmod 755 /var/www/mediawiki
Step 11: Configure Apache for MediaWiki
Enable Apache rewrite module:
sudo a2enmod rewrite
Create the virtual host configuration file:
nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/mediawiki.conf
Add this configuration:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName your.domain.com
ServerAdmin example@your.domain.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/mediawiki
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/your.domain.local_error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/your.domain.local_access.log combined
<Directory /var/www/mediawiki/>
Options FollowSymlinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
Save and Exit:
- Press
CTRL + Oto save, thenEnter. - Press
CTRL + Xto exit Nano.
Step 12: Enable the Site and Restart Apache
a2ensite mediawiki.conf
apachectl configtest
systemctl restart apache2
Step 13: Secure MediaWiki with SSL
Install Certbot and configure SSL:
apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
certbot --apache --agree-tos --redirect --hsts --staple-ocsp --email contact@shape.host -d tutorials.shape.host
Step 14: Complete Installation via Browser
Open your browser and navigate to:
http://your-domain.comFollow the setup wizard to complete the installation.
Step 15: MediaWiki Installation Initialization
The MediaWiki installation has begun, but the LocalSettings.php file is not found, indicating the initial setup is incomplete. To proceed, click on the “complete the installation” link, which will guide you through the configuration process.
Step 16: Language Selection
The first step in the MediaWiki installation process is to select the language for your wiki. You can choose both the interface language (for users) and the language of the wiki content itself. After selecting your preferred language, click “Continue” to proceed.
Step 17: Environment Check
In this step, MediaWiki performs several checks to ensure your server environment meets the necessary requirements for installation. Here, it verifies that PHP, ICU, ImageMagick, and other essential components are installed and properly configured. If all checks are successful, click “Continue” to proceed with the installation.
Step 18: Database Configuration
In this step, you’ll configure the database for your MediaWiki installation. MediaWiki supports several database systems, such as MariaDB and MySQL. Enter the database host (e.g., localhost), database name, username, and password. Ensure that these settings match those of the database you previously set up. After filling in the details, click “Continue.”
Step 19: Wiki Name and Administrator Account Setup
Here, you’ll name your wiki and configure the administrator account. The admin account will have full control over the wiki. Enter a username, password, and email address for the admin account, and click “Continue” to finalize this step.
Step 20: Skin Selection
MediaWiki offers different skins (themes) that change the appearance of your wiki. Here, you can select a default skin for your wiki from the available options, such as MinervaNeue, MonoBook, Timeless, or Vector. Once you’ve made your selection, click “Continue” to proceed.
Step 21: Caching Configuration
In this step, you can configure object caching for your MediaWiki installation. Caching can significantly improve the performance of your wiki, especially for larger installations. For most setups, enabling “PHP object caching” is recommended. After selecting the caching option, click “Continue.”
Step 22: Final Review and Installation Completion
After reviewing all settings and verifying that the environment checks have passed, MediaWiki is ready for installation. The installer summarizes the steps, and once everything is confirmed, click “Continue” to complete the installation. You will then be prompted to download the LocalSettings.php file and place it in the root of your MediaWiki directory.
Now the file LocalSettings.php will be downloaded automatically to your local machine. Upload that file or create the LocalSettings.php file with the same content as you have.
To change the default skin to Minerva:
cd /var/www/mediawiki/
nano LocalSettings.phpChange $wgDefaultSkin to minerva.
$wgDefaultSkin = “minerva”;Update MediaWiki:
php maintenance/update.phpStep 23: Main Page of Your MediaWiki Installation
The installation is complete, and you are now directed to the main page of your new wiki. From here, you can start customizing your wiki, adding content, and configuring user permissions. The default MediaWiki tools and links to helpful resources are listed on this page.
Step 24: Admin Login
To access the admin dashboard and manage your new wiki, use the credentials you set during the installation process. Enter your username and password, and check the “Keep me logged in” option if you prefer staying logged in between sessions.
For reliable and scalable hosting, consider using Shape.Host’s Linux SSD VPS services. Their high-performance infrastructure ensures your MediaWiki installation runs smoothly, even for large-scale wikis.
