TWiki Operating Environment

Server and client system requirements, file system structure

Overview

Low requirements on client-side and server-side environment, to keep TWiki deployment as broad as possible is a key element of the TWikiMission. Strict W3C and ECMA standards compliance is also a mandate. These requirements are amended from time to time as technology progresses.

Server-Side Requirements

TWiki is written in Perl 5 and uses a number of shell commands. It requires that GNU RCS (Revision Control System) be installed on the same system. Current development is on Linux. the recommended platform, but it can also work with Microsoft Windows and other OS.

Required Server Environment by Platform
Resource Unix Windows
Perl 5.005_03 or higher
Non standard Perl modules Net::SMTP (or sendmail) Net::SMTP
RCS 5.7 or higher
Other external programs ls, fgrep, egrep
Web server Apache and others (support for cgi, authentication, extended path) *
OS versions Linux, Unix... every last Win?!
Required disk space    

ISP INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS: SSI, RCS local or sysadmin, same for perl modules for plugins, cron, basic authentication,...

Client-Side Requirements

The basic TWiki engine and templates have a low requirement on the browser:

Recommend PC Requirement
Component Min/Rec

Browser Requirements
Resource Details
HTML 3.2 browser  
JavaScript 1.? Optional: JS degrades gracefully
Cookies Not used
CSS1/2 ????

WHAT ABOUT WEB STANDARDS BROWSER COMPATIBILITY MOVEMENT & CSS CONTROL

Known Issues

TWiki File System

You can rename the root TWiki directory - twiki - to whatever you like by changing it in the twiki.cfg configuration file. However, to keep the current installation and future upgrades simple, you should leave the subdirectory structure intact:

Directory: Files: Used for:
twiki list Start-up info
twiki/bin list Perl scripts
twiki/lib list Configuration file, main library, Perl system modules, Plugins
twiki/pub list Public support files (ex: FileAttachments, images) and RCS histories)
twiki/data list Topic text (page content) and RCS histories;
twiki/templates list HTML templates, used by TWiki scripts

File Descriptions

A rundown of the individual files in the current %VERSION% distribution, organized by TWiki root directories. Note that there may be minor differences in the start-up data files. All listings are complete unless otherwise noted.

Files in twiki

Introductory and installation files.

File: Used for:
index.html A page with a link to first launch TWiki after install
license.txt GNU General Public License and TWiki-specific info
readme.txt General TWiki start-up info with relevant URLs.
TWikiDocumentation.html All documentation packaged as a single page
TWikiHistory.html TWiki development timeline

Files in twiki/bin

All Perl CGI scripts.

File: Used for:
.htaccess.txt Authentication. Rename to .htaccess and customize if used
attach Script that shows the attach file page (FileAttachment)
delete (not used yet)
edit Script to edit a topic
geturl Script to fetch URL data
mailnotify Script called by cron job to notify users of changes
oops Script that shows an OK or oops dialog
preview Script to preview topic after edit
rdiff Script to see differences of topics
rename Script to rename/move topics and move attachments
register Script to register new users
save Script that saves a topic, called by preview
search Script that displays search results
statistics Script to create statistics topic
testenv Script to test CGI environment variables
upload Script that does file upload (FileAttachment)
view Script to view a topic ( the script )
viewfile Script to view an file attachment

Files under twiki/lib

The new lib/TWiki/Plugins directories contain core configuration, libraries and function modules, and Plugins.

File: Used for:
TWiki.pm Main TWiki library
TWiki.cfg For configuration, used by TWiki.pm
TWiki/Access.pm Access control
TWiki/Attach.pm Attachment handling
TWiki/Meta.pm Meta data in topics
TWiki/Net.pm SMTP mail handling
TWiki/Plugins.pm Plugin handling
TWiki/Prefs.pm Preferences handling
TWiki/Search.pm Search engine, used by wiki.pm
TWiki/Store.pm Back-end storage, *.txt text file and *.txt,v RCS repository file handling
TWiki/Plugins/DefaultPlugin.pm Default plugin
TWiki/Plugins/EmptyPlugin.pm Empty plugin, use to create your own
TWiki/Plugins/InterwikiPlugin.pm Refer to external Wikis and other Web sites

Files under twiki/pub

attachments like images...

File: Used for:
favicon.ico xxxx
twikilogo.gif xxxx
twikilogo1.gif xxxx
twikilogo2.gif xxxx
twikilogo3.gif xxxx
twikilogo4.gif xxxx
wikiHome.gif xxxx
icn/_filetypes.txt xxxx
icn/bat.gif xxxx
icn/bmp.gif xxxx
icn/c.gif xxxx
icn/dll.gif xxxx
icn/doc.gif xxxx
icn/else.gif xxxx
icn/exe.gif xxxx
icn/fon.gif xxxx
icn/h.gif xxxx
icn/hlp.gif xxxx
icn/html.gif xxxx
icn/java.gif xxxx
icn/mov.gif xxxx
icn/pdf.gif xxxx
icn/pl.gif xxxx
icn/ppt.gif xxxx
icn/ps.gif xxxx
icn/py.gif xxxx
icn/ram.gif xxxx
icn/reg.gif xxxx
icn/sh.gif xxxx
icn/sniff.gif xxxx
icn/ttf.gif xxxx
icn/txt.gif xxxx
icn/wav.gif xxxx
icn/wri.gif xxxx
icn/xls.gif xxxx
icn/zip.gif xxxx
Know/IncorrectDllVersionW32PTH10DLL/W32PTH10.DLL xxxx
TWiki/FileAttachment/Sample.txt xxxx
TWiki/FileAttachment/Smile.gif xxxx
TWiki/PreviewBackground/blankltgraybg.gif xxxx
TWiki/PreviewBackground/blankwhitebg.gif xxxx
TWiki/PreviewBackground/previewbg.gif xxxx
TWiki/WabiSabi/wabisabi.gif xxxx

Files under twiki/data

The data directory stores the content of TWiki pages as individual text files. Each active web has its own subdirectory. The TWiki distribution package includes four start-up webs, and quite a number of pages with documentation and demo content. This is a representative partial file listing...

File: Used for:
.htpasswd xxxx
debug.txt xxxx
mime.types xxxx
warning.txt xxxx
_default/.changes xxxx
_default/WebChanges.txt xxxx
_default/WebChanges.txt,v xxxx
_default/WebHome.txt xxxx
_default/WebHome.txt,v xxxx
_default/WebIndex.txt xxxx
_default/WebIndex.txt,v xxxx
_default/WebNotify.txt xxxx
_default/WebNotify.txt,v xxxx
_default/WebPreferences.txt xxxx
_default/WebPreferences.txt,v xxxx
_default/WebSearch.txt xxxx
_default/WebSearch.txt,v xxxx
_default/WebStatistics.txt xxxx
_default/WebStatistics.txt,v xxxx
... ...
Know/TopicClassification.txt xxxx
Know/TopicClassification.txt,v xxxx
Know/TWikiCategory.txt xxxx
Know/TWikiCategory.txt,v xxxx
Know/UseCategory.txt xxxx
Know/UseCategory.txt,v xxxx
Know/WebChanges.txt xxxx
Know/WebChanges.txt,v xxxx
Know/WebForm.txt xxxx
Know/WebForm.txt,v xxxx
... ...
Main/NicholasLee.txt xxxx
Main/NicholasLee.txt,v xxxx
Main/NobodyGroup.txt xxxx
Main/NobodyGroup.txt,v xxxx
Main/OfficeLocations.txt xxxx
Main/OfficeLocations.txt,v xxxx
Main/PeterThoeny.txt xxxx
Main/PeterThoeny.txt,v xxxx
Main/SanJoseOffice.txt xxxx
Main/SanJoseOffice.txt,v xxxx
... ...
Main/TWikiGroups.txt xxxx
Main/TWikiGroups.txt,v xxxx
Main/TWikiGuest.txt xxxx
Main/TWikiGuest.txt,v xxxx
Main/TWikiUsers.txt xxxx
Main/TWikiUsers.txt,v xxxx
Main/TWikiVariables.txt xxxx
Main/TWikiVariables.txt,v xxxx
... ...
Test/TestTopic1.txt xxxx
Test/TestTopic1.txt,v xxxx
Test/WebChanges.txt xxxx
Test/WebChanges.txt,v xxxx
Test/WebHome.txt xxxx
Test/WebHome.txt,v xxxx
... ...
Trash/.changes xxxx
Trash/WebChanges.txt xxxx
Trash/WebChanges.txt,v xxxx
Trash/WebHome.txt xxxx
Trash/WebHome.txt,v xxxx
... ...
TWiki/AlWilliams.txt xxxx
TWiki/AlWilliams.txt,v xxxx
TWiki/AndreaSterbini.txt xxxx
TWiki/AndreaSterbini.txt,v xxxx
... ...
TWiki/DeleteTopic.txt xxxx
TWiki/DeleteTopic.txt,v xxxx
TWiki/DontNotify.txt xxxx
TWiki/DontNotify.txt,v xxxx

Files in twiki/templates

Used to flexibly control appearance of rendered pages...

File: Used for:
oopsbadpwformat.tmpl xxxx
attachagain.tmpl xxxx
attachnew.tmpl xxxx
changeform.tmpl xxxx
changes.tmpl xxxx
edit.iejs.tmpl xxxx
edit.tmpl xxxx
mailnotify.tmpl xxxx
moveattachment.tmpl xxxx
oopsaccesschange.tmpl xxxx
oopsaccessgroup.tmpl xxxx
oopsaccessrename.tmpl xxxx
oopsaccessview.tmpl xxxx
oopsauth.tmpl xxxx
attach.tmpl xxxx
oopschangepasswd.tmpl xxxx
oopsempty.tmpl xxxx
oopslocked.tmpl xxxx
oopslockedrename.tmpl xxxx
oopsmissing.tmpl xxxx
oopsmoveerr.tmpl xxxx
oopsnoformdef.tmpl xxxx
oopsnotwikiuser.tmpl xxxx
oopsnoweb.tmpl xxxx
oopspreview.tmpl xxxx
oopsregexist.tmpl xxxx
oopsregpasswd.tmpl xxxx
oopsregrequ.tmpl xxxx
oopsregthanks.tmpl xxxx
oopsregwiki.tmpl xxxx
oopsrenameerr.tmpl xxxx
oopsresetpasswd.tmpl xxxx
oopsrev.tmpl xxxx
oopssave.tmpl xxxx
oopssaveerr.tmpl xxxx
oopssendmailerr.tmpl xxxx
oopstopicexists.tmpl xxxx
oopsupload.tmpl xxxx
oopswrongpassword.tmpl xxxx
preview.tmpl xxxx
rdiff.tmpl xxxx
register.tmpl xxxx
registernotify.tmpl xxxx
rename.tmpl xxxx
renamebase.tmpl xxxx
renameconfirm.tmpl xxxx
renamerefs.tmpl xxxx
search.tmpl xxxx
searchbookview.tmpl xxxx
searchmeta.tmpl xxxx
searchrenameview.tmpl xxxx
twiki.tmpl xxxx
view.plain.tmpl xxxx
view.print.tmpl xxxx
view.tmpl xxxx

-- MikeMannix - 29 Aug 2001