---
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 prerequesites available.

Required software:
* Web server with PHP 5.x or higher.
* A MySQL server, 4.0.14 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://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Installation


********************** 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://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Rewrite_rules      |
  +-----------------------------------------------------------+

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

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

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

