TWiki Installation Guide

Clean install of the current public release (01-Sep-2001)

Overview

These installation steps use the Apache web server on Linux as an example. TWiki should run on other web servers and Unix systems as well. (TWiki on Windows is possible, but has not been well-documented. More on that at http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/TWikiOnWindows.)

Note: Below installation steps assume user nobody for all files manupulated by the cgi scripts (executed by the web server), and user twiki for all other files. You need to replace user nobody with an other user in case the web server executes the script with a different user ( default for Debian is www-data ). Also, you can substitute user twiki with your own user name.

Note: Below installation steps assume that you have control over the web server configuraton files. In case you don't - you may be installing on an ISP-hosted server - follow the steps but use these directories instead:

TWiki dir: What it is: Where to copy: Example:
twiki/bin CGI bin cgi-bin enabled dir /home/smith/public_html/cgi-bin/twiki
twiki/pub public files htdoc enabled dir /home/smith/public_html/pub
twiki/data topic data outside of htdoc tree (for security) /home/smith/twiki/data
twiki/templates web templates outside of htdoc tree (for security) /home/smith/twiki/templates

Read http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/SourceForgeHowTo in case you want to install TWiki on SourceForge.

Standard Installation

Request and download the TWiki %VERSION% distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html.

Step 1: Create & Configure the Directories

Example httpd.conf entries:
 ScriptAlias /twiki/bin/ "/home/httpd/twiki/bin/"
 Alias /twiki/ "/home/httpd/twiki/"
 <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/bin">
    Options +ExecCGI
    SetHandler cgi-script
    Allow from all
 </Directory>
 <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/pub">
    Options FollowSymLinks +Includes
    AllowOverride None
    Allow from all
 </Directory>

Step 2: Check the Server Directory Settings

Step 3: Enable Perl File Permissions

Step 4: Set the Main Configuration File

Step 5: Finish Up from Your Browser

That's it for the standard virgin installation of TWiki. Read on to learn how to customize TWiki.

Extra Server-Level Options

Complete a Standard Installation and your new TWiki site should be up and running. You can develop and manage most aspects of your site from the browser interface. Core set-up functions require direct access to the server file system, via Telnet or FTP. You can make server-level site changes during installation, or at any time afterwards.

Creating a New Web

Adding Variables & Rendering Rules

Enabling Basic Authentication (.htaccess)

TWiki File System Snapshot

Here are partial directory listings showing typical file permissions and ownership. This is provided for general debugging use only and isn't an exact representation of the current distribution. There is also a complete file listing by directory, with individual file descriptions, for the current TWiki release.

Directory twiki/bin :

drwxrwxr-x   2 twiki twiki   4096 Jun 17 16:34 .
drwxrwxr-x   3 twiki twiki   4096 Jun 17 16:34 ..
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    650 Feb 10  2000 .htaccess
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   4322 Mar 12 00:31 attach
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   1426 Jun 20 19:52 delete
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   9001 Jul 28 11:03 edit
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   1811 Mar 11 02:27 geturl
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   5006 Mar 11 02:41 mailnotify
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   1769 Mar 11 03:07 oops
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   6890 Jun 21 19:58 preview
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   7606 Mar 31 18:30 rdiff
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   8349 Jun 21 18:12 register
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   2693 Jul  5 14:32 save
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   3831 Jul 20 12:13 search
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   9835 Jun 20 19:03 statistics
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki    509 Feb  7  2000 testenv
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki  14543 Jul 20 18:46 upload
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   4755 May 22 18:11 view
-rwxrwxr-x   1 twiki twiki   1689 Jun 20 20:10 viewfile

Directory twiki/templates/ :

drwxrwxr-x   4 twiki twiki   4096 Aug  3 01:17 .
drwxrwxr-x   4 twiki twiki   4096 Aug 19 18:38 ..
drwxrwxr-x   2 twiki twiki   4096 Jun 17 16:35 Know
drwxrwxr-x   2 twiki twiki   4096 May  1 01:24 Main
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   2688 Aug 15 18:15 attach.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1283 Jul 20 15:56 attachtable.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1907 Jul 28 16:41 changes.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   2265 Aug 15 17:57 edit.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    965 Feb  8  2000 mailnotify.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki     30 Jan 13  1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    940 Jul 20 15:59 notext.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    907 Jul 20 16:01 notwiki.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    341 Mar  8 11:39 noweb.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1000 Mar  8 11:40 oops.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1043 Oct 23 19:17 oopsaccesschange.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1036 Oct 23 19:17 oopsaccessview.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    914 Mar  8 11:40 oopsdel.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1423 May 29 01:23 oopslocked.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki   1067 Mar  8 11:41 oopsregexist.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki twiki    955 Mar  8 11:41 oopsregpasswd.tmpl

Directory twiki/data/ :

drwxrwxrwx   6 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug  3 01:09 .
drwxrwxr-x   4 twiki   twiki   4096 Aug 19 18:38 ..
-rw-rw-r--   1 nobody  nobody    51 Apr 21 16:48 .htpasswd
drwxrwxrwx   2 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug 20 17:18 Know
drwxrwxrwx   2 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug 19 04:15 Main
drwxrwxrwx   2 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug 20 17:56 TWiki
-rw-rw-rw-   1 twiki   twiki      1 Mar 11 04:19 debug.txt
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody  1516 Aug 20 17:56 log200008.txt

Partial file list for twiki/data/Main :

drwxrwxrwx   2 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug 19 04:15 .
drwxrwxrwx   6 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug  3 01:09 ..
-rw-rw-rw-   1 twiki twiki     3716 Aug 19 02:19 .changes
-rw-rw-rw-   1 twiki twiki        9 Aug 19 02:45 .mailnotify
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   358 Aug 18 17:22 OfficeLocations.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   878 Aug 18 17:22 OfficeLocations.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   680 Aug 18 17:36 TWikiGuest.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody  1989 Aug 18 17:36 TWikiGuest.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   459 Aug 18 17:19 TWikiUsers.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody  3840 Aug 18 17:19 TWikiUsers.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody    95 Aug 19 03:06 WebChanges.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   284 Aug 19 03:06 WebChanges.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody  1853 Aug 18 18:08 WebHome.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody  6523 Aug 18 18:08 WebHome.txt,v

Directory twiki/pub/ :

drwxrwxrwx   6 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug  3 01:21 .
drwxrwxr-x   3 twiki   twiki   4096 Jun 17 16:35 ..
drwxrwxrwx   3 nobody  nobody  4096 Jun 17 16:35 Know
drwxrwxrwx   2 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug  3 01:21 Main
drwxrwxrwx   3 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug  3 01:21 TWiki
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   1078 Jan 14  2000 favicon.ico
drwxrwxr-x   2 twiki   twiki   4096 Jun 17 16:35 icn
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   3016 Oct  5  1999 twikilogo.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   5320 Oct  5  1999 twikilogo1.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   6125 Oct  5  1999 twikilogo2.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   7218 Oct  5  1999 twikilogo3.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   6710 Oct  5  1999 twikilogo4.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki   2877 Jun  7  1999 wikiHome.gif

Partial file list for twiki/pub/icn/ :

drwxrwxr-x   2 twiki   twiki   4096 Jun 17 16:35 .
drwxrwxrwx   6 nobody  nobody  4096 Aug  3 01:21 ..
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki    801 Mar 26  1999 _filetypes.txt
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki    143 Mar  9  1999 bat.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki    926 Mar  9  1999 bmp.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki    141 Mar 25  1999 c.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki    144 Mar  9  1999 dll.gif
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki    152 Mar  9  1999 doc.gif

-- MikeMannix - 07 Sep 2001