---
Installing MediaWiki
---

Starting with MediaWiki 1.2.0, it's possible to install and configure the wiki
"in-place", as long as you have the necessary prerequisites available.

Required software:
* Web server with PHP 5.x or higher.
* A MySQL server, 4.0.14 or higher OR a Postgres server, 8.1 or higher

MediaWiki is developed and tested mainly on Unix/Linux platforms, but should
work on Windows as well.

If your PHP is configured as a CGI plug-in rather than an Apache module you may
experience problems, as this configuration is not well tested. safe_mode is also
not tested and unlikely to work. 

If you want math support see the instructions in math/README

Don't forget to check the RELEASE-NOTES file...


Additional documentation is available online, which may include more detailed
notes on particular operating systems and workarounds for difficult hosting
environments:

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Installation_guide


******************* WARNING *******************

REMEMBER: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATABASE BEFORE 
ATTEMPTING TO INSTALL OR UPGRADE!!!

******************* WARNING *******************

----
In-place web install
----

Decompress the MediaWiki installation archive either on your server, or on your
local machine and upload the directory tree. Rename it from "mediawiki-1.x.x" to
something nice, like "wiki", since it'll be in your URL.

  +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  |  Hint: If you plan to use a fancy URL-rewriting scheme to prettify your  |
  |  URLs, you should put the files in a *different* directory from the      |
  |  virtual path where page names will appear.                              |
  |                                                                          |
  |    See: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Short_URL                   |
  +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

To run the install script, you'll need to temporarily make the 'config'
subdirectory writable by the web server. The simplest way to do this on a
Unix/Linux system is to make it world-writable:

  chmod a+w config

Hop into your browser and surf into the wiki directory. It'll direct you into
the config script. Fill out the form... remember you're probably not on an
encrypted connection.
Gaaah! :)

If all goes well, you should soon be told that it's set up your wiki database
and written a configuration file. There should now be a 'LocalSettings.php' in
the config directory; move it back up to the main wiki directory, and the wiki
should now be working.

  +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  |  Security hint: if you have limited access on your server and cannot    |
  |  change ownership of files, you might want to *copy* instead of *move*  |
  |  LocalSettings.php.                                                     |
  |                                                                         |
  |  This will make the file owned by your user account instead of by       |
  |  the web server, which is safer in case another user's account is       |
  |  compromised.                                                           |
  +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Once the wiki is set up, you should remove the config directory, or at least
make it not world-writable (though it will refuse to config again if the wiki
is set up).


----

Don't forget that this is free software under development! Chances are good
there's a crucial step that hasn't made it into the documentation. You should
probably sign up for the MediaWiki developers' mailing list; you can ask for
help (please provide enough information to work with, and preferably be aware of
what you're doing!) and keep track of major changes to the software, including
performance improvements and security patches.

http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce (low traffic)

http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l (site admin support)

http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l (development)

