[Mediawiki-l] Is MediaWiki-l dysfunctional? What is it good for, really? and Re: Any leads on a basic wiki setup-and-configure instruction manual?
Kasimir Gabert
kasimir.g at gmail.com
Fri May 25 17:12:17 UTC 2007
Peter, you are absolutely correct in your assumption. I have never
documented all of the steps that it takes me to install a working
MediaWiki installation. Seeing that I was making an assumption, I
will proceed to document my success story.
Unfortunately it might not help you very much, because it is done on
Debian where things are wonderfully easy and make sense, but maybe
some parts you can use. Hopefully!
Here is my first attempt:
Operating system: Debian Etch
Installation of Apache and MySQL and PHP and Squid and ImageMagick all together:
`apt-get install apache2 libapache2-mod-php5 mysql-server php5-mysql
squid php5-imagick imagemagick`
Creating user for domain:
`adduser mywiki-tld`
NOTE: My /etc/skel contains public_html and cgi-bin
Configuring Apache:
`a2enmod rewrite`
File /etc/apache2/ports.conf:
=========================================
Listen 127.0.0.1:80
=========================================
File /etc/apache2/sites-available/mywiki.tld:
=========================================
<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80>
ServerName www.mywiki.tld
ServerAlias mywiki.tld www.mywiki.tld
DocumentRoot /home/mywiki-tld/public_html
Alias /wiki /home/mywiki-tld/public_html/w/index.php
Alias /index.php /home/mywiki-tld/public_html/w/index.php
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !www\.mywiki\.tld
RewriteRule ^/(.*) http://www.mywiki.tld/$1
ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /home/mywiki-tld/cgi-bin/
<Directory /home/mywiki-tld/cgi-bin/>
Options +ExecCGI
SetHandler cgi-script
</Directory>
CustomLog /home/mywiki-tld/access_log combined
</VirtualHost>
=========================================
`a2ensite mywiki.tld`
`/etc/init.d/apache2 reload`
Configuring MySQL:
`mysqladmin NEWROOTUSERPASSWORD`
Configuring Squid:
File: /etc/squid/squid.conf
=========================================
http_port YOUR_EXTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS_GOES_HERE:80 vport=80 vhost
defaultsite=mywiki.tld
cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 80 0 no-query round-robin
acl all src 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0
acl manager proto cache_object
acl localhost src 127.0.0.1/255.255.255.255
acl web_ports port 80
http_access allow web_ports
http_access allow manager localhost
http_access deny manager
acl purge method PURGE
http_access allow purge localhost
http_access deny purge
http_access deny all
=========================================
Installing Mediawiki:
`cd /home/mywiki-tld/public_html`
`wget http://download.wikimedia.org/mediawiki/1.10/mediawiki-1.10.0.tar.gz`
`tar zxvf *gz`
`rm *gz`
`mv media* w`
`chmod a+w w/config`
Open up a web browser and go to:
http://mywiki.tld/w/index.php
Press the link in the center of the page "set up the wiki"
Fill out the following fields:
Wiki name: __NAME__OF__THE__WIKI__
Contact e-mail: help at mywiki.tld
Admin username: __MY__USERNAME__
Password: __MY__PASSWORD__
Confirm password: __MY__PASSWORD__
Database type: MySQL
Database name: mywikidb
DB username: mywikidb
DB password: __MY__DATABASE__PASSWORD__
DB password confirm: __MY__DATABASE__PASSWORD__
Superuser account: **CHECK THIS BOX**
Superuser password: NEWROOTUSERPASSWORD
Press "Install MediaWiki"
Go back to the terminal
`cd w`
`mv config/LocalSe* LocalSettings.php`
`chmod 0777 -R images`
File: /home/mywiki-tld/public_html/w/LocalSettings.php: (CHANGE THE
FOLLOWING LINES, OR ADD THEM WHERE APPROPRIATE)
=========================================
ini_set("memory_limit","60M");
$wgScriptPath = "/w";
$wgArticlePath = "/wiki/$1";
$wgStylePath = "$wgScriptPath/skins";
$wgStyleDirectory = "$IP/skins";
$wgUploadPath = "$wgScriptPath/images";
$wgLogo = "$wgScriptPath/images/logo.png";
$wgUseSquid = true;
$wgSquidServers = array('127.0.0.1');
$wgEnableUploads = false;
$wgUseImageResize = true;
$wgUseImageMagick = true;
$wgImageMagickConvertCommand = "/usr/bin/convert";
=========================================
Now the wiki is completely installed. Go to http://mywiki.tld/ and
press Login in the upper right hand side, and use the username
__MY__USERNAME__ and the password __MY__PASSWORD__ to log in as the
administrator.
I hope that this helps, and I am sorry for making incorrect
assumptions because I am a lazy person!
Kasimir
On 5/25/07, Monahon, Peter B. <Peter.Monahon at uspto.gov> wrote:
>
> > Daniel wrote: ... I did this [install
> > MediaWiki on Windows]with the
> > EXISTING notes on MediaWiki.org.
> > I didn't do anything out of the
> > ordinary. If you are finding this
> > hard, you should hire an expert
> > to help you ... I have done 5
> > MediaWiki installations, on the
> > same PC and on different PCs,
> > using nothing but the instructions.
> > If you are finding this too hard,
> > I recommend you hire an expert.
>
> Peter Blaise responds:
>
> Daniel,
>
> Please try LESS work and instead of arguing and telling me to hire "an
> expert" (as if I've had much luck finding any who are wiling to prove
> their value here! And, without a reference to a specific expert with
> which you've had success, well then, what's a referral good for
> anyway?!?), why not just respond with a LINK as was missing from your
> original posts, and was asked for?
>
> A link, man, a LINK?!? That is all I ask for!
>
> And when you Googled to resolve a conflict, since that was a departure
> from the "official instructions" can you help out with a link there,
> too?
>
> A link, man, a LINK - that is all I ask for!
>
> Please, Daniel. Way less work has been asked of you than you proffered
> here! No explanations or retributions needed. Save your energies, man!
>
>
> Instead, how about simply sharing the 2 links YOU used to accomplish
> your success?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -- Peter Blaise
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
> > Kasimir wrote: ... do not ask people for
> > their success stories. They take a *very*
> > long time to write up ... If something is
> > going to take a long time ... I just don't
> > feel like doing it ... There is no way that
> > I am going to spend a day writing up
> > everything that I did ... you do not
> > understand the fundamental workings
> > of the code ... Play around with simple
> > projects until you understand how code
> > and sysadmining works ... you should
> > first become very comfortable with the
> > basics, and with the ideas behind how
> > code functions, before jumping into a
> > project ... any amount of documentation
> > about MediaWiki would not help you at
> > this point ... step back a bit and just
> > understand the basics ...
>
> Peter Blaise responds:
>
> Thanks ... I think.
>
> I am playing with the basics.
>
> I am playing around.
>
> I am exploring what happens when I install and try different choices for
> each component. Over and over.
>
> I thought maybe someone in or using MediaWiki might have already
> confirmed a decision tree that best supports MediaWiki so that MediaWiki
> has the best chance for success in the end user's hands - with official
> guidance: "these specific decision trees work for us". I was wrong -
> oh, so wrong! And even asking for such - wrong again! Shame on me!
> :-(
>
> While I understand why some people do not want to share their success
> stories, that is still all I ask for, and all I can offer (failure
> stories, too)!
>
> I'll revisit http://www.wikipedia.org/ and http://www.mediawiki.org/ and
> see what they're made of ... OH, they're made of people contributing
> contents that makes sense to them, and some of it appears to have taken
> a long, long, *very* long time to master and share! Oh, my! Why on
> earth would they do that?!? =8^o
>
> Kasimir, I think you are insincere. You say it would take a long time,
> but you are only speculating, not speaking from experience. If you were
> speaking from experience, you'd have already done the documentation and
> known exactly how long it took, and then you'd be able to quickly share
> your documentation regardless. You say it would be useless to you or
> anyone else but again you are speculating. I value it. I imagine you
> and others would too, especially if you shared it on MediaWIki.org.
>
> My experience? I see automotive web pages and high-fidelity sound web
> pages and even PC-building web pages (and sewing and boating and health
> and home building and so on) that document to the minutest detail how to
> accomplish success in creating something beloved by their creators.
> What I ask for is nothing new or unprecedented. MediaWiki apparently
> has yet to garner such reverence and joy, at least on this list,
> apparently. MediaWiki is supposedly open source ... well?
>
> -- Peter Blaise
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
> > Ian wrote: ... I followed the instructions.
> ... [link?!?]
> > It worked. If you want a keystroke-by-
> > keystroke log of what I did, well, I didn't
> > create one. If you want me to go through
> > the whole process again and record
> > everything, I can do that, but it would
> > take solid days of work to cover the stuff
> > you want, and that is *way* more effort
> > than I am going to donate to the USPTO
> > for free. So, do you have a budget to pay
> > for this kind of support?
>
> Peter Blaise responds:
>
> ... oh, and you've proven yourself soooo willing to earn it! ;-)
>
> I KNOW how long it takes. In the earlier example I quoted of my own
> experience, it took approximately 100 times longer to accurately
> document any task than it took to perform the task itself in the first
> place. This is no news. I know that, though what I am asking for is
> simple to ask for, it is also very difficult and time consuming to
> execute authoritatively.
>
> However, I am not asking you or anybody to support the USPTO, I'm asking
> you to support MediaWiki. You don't have to. Nobody does.
>
> -- Peter Blaise
>
> PS - The US Trademark Office, by the way is paying-customer-driven,
> law-driven, and public (no tax-payer revenues here!). You're welcome to
> anything we create - none of our contractors own anything they design
> for us or for our customers! The US Patent Office (unrelated to the US
> Trademark Office, really) may be secret to protect patent applicants, I
> dunno nor care. Trademark applications and processes are public record
> from day one. Private individuals and companies may own the rights to
> their programming, and be as secretive as they wanna be. I do not
> control any moneys (or even admin rights) around here, that's why I
> built our first MediaWiki prototype on my own USB drive! But, as I see
> it, the only ones spending inordinate time and effort to avoid spending
> inordinate time and effort are ...
>
>
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>
--
Kasimir Gabert
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