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.
Note: These installation notes 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.
- Request the TWiki distribution (in Unix ZIP format) from http://TWiki.SourceForge.net/download.html .
- Create directory
/home/httpd/twiki and unzip the TWiki distribution to this directory.
- The
twiki/bin directory of TWiki must be set as a cgi-bin directory. Add /home/httpd/twiki/bin to file /etc/httpd/httpd.conf with only ExecCGI option.
- The
twiki/pub directory of TWiki must be set so that it is visible as a URL. Add /home/httpd/twiki to file httpd.conf with normal access options (copy from /home/httpd/html ).
- Now add
ScriptAlias for /twiki/bin and Alias for /twiki to file httpd.conf .
Note: The ScriptAlias must come before the Alias in Apache, otherwise it will fail to correctly set up /twiki/bin/ , due to the fact that it sees that as being just another subdirectory of the /twiki/ alias. (MichaelBrooks? 30 Jun 2000)
- Here are example
httpd.conf entries:
ScriptAlias /twiki/bin/ "/home/httpd/twiki/bin/"
Alias /twiki/ "/home/httpd/twiki/pub/"
<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>
- Restart Apache by
/etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S85httpd restart .
- Test if the
twiki/bin directory is cgi-enabled:
- Enter the URL of that directory into your browser (
http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin ). It is not set correctly as cgi-bin in case you get something like "Index of /twiki/bin" . It is OK if you get a message like "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access /twiki/bin/ on this server."
- Execute the
testenv script from your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/testenv ). It should show a table of all CGI environment variables.
- Make sure PERL and the PERL CGI library is installed on your system. Default location of PERL executable is
/usr/bin/perl . In case PERL is installed in a different location, the first line of all perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory need to be changed (alternatively you can create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl ).
- To be able to edit the perl scripts and .tmpl files it is necessary to
chown and chgrp -R twiki so all the files have the owner you want.
- The scripts execute as
nobody . Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rw-r-xr-x .
- Set the file permission of all files below
twiki/data to 666 ( -rw-rw-rw- ).
- Set the file permission of the
twiki/data directory and all its subdirectories to 777 ( drwxrwxrwx ).
- Set the file permission of the
twiki/pub directory to 777 ( drwxrwxrwx ).
- Edit the file
twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm and set the variables at the beginning of the file to your needs.
- Make sure RCS is installed. In case RCS is not in the
path environment variable, add it to path . Alternatively, add the full path name to the rcs, ci, co, rlog, rcsdiff commands in the variables of twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm .
- Point your browser at http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/view and start wiki-ing away!
- Note in case cgi user is not
nobody : The *,v RCS repository files delivered with the installation package are locked by user nobody . In case the user is different (e.g. www-data ), it is not possible to check in files, this has the effect that the topic version number does not increase when saving a topic. In this case you need to unlock all repository files and lock them as user www-data (check the rcs man pages), or simply delete all the repository files.
- Security issue: Directories
twiki/data , twiki/templates and all its subdirectories should be set so that they are not visible as a URL. (Alternatively, move the directries to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm accordingly)
- Enable email notification of topic changes, (3) has more.
- Add the PoweredByTWikiLogo if TWiki is installed on a public web server.
- Optional: You can add new rendering rules or new %variables%. To insure an easy upgrade of TWiki it is recommended to do this customization in
twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm , not twiki/bin/wiki.pm .
- Optional: If you are on a public server and you would like to authenticate users:
- Rename file
.htaccess.txt in the twiki/bin directory to .htaccess and change it to your needs. For details consult the HTTP server documentation (for Apache server: [1], [2], [3]). Note: In case .htaccess does not have any effect you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
- Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub topic to TWikiRegistration. You can customize the topic if needed. Note: You can delete or add new input variables to the registration form. The
name="" parameter of the input tags must start with: "Twk0..." (if this is an optional entry), or "Twk1..." (if this is a required entry). This will ensure that the fields are processed correctly.
- Optional: You can automatically generate usage statistics for all webs. To enable this:
- Make sure variable
$doLogTopicView, $doLogTopicSave and $doLogTopicUpload in wikicfg.pm are set. This will generate log entries in file twiki/data/log<date>.txt .
- Topic WebStatistics must be present in all webs where you want to have statistics. You can use the topic in the Main web as a template.
- Call the
twiki/bin/statistics script from a cron job, once a day is recommended. This will update the WebStatistics topics in all webs.
- Attention: The script must run as the same user as the CGI scripts are running, which is user
nobody on most systems. Example crontab entry:
0 0 * * * (cd /path/to/TWiki/bin; ./statistics >/dev/null 2>&1)
- There is a workaround in case you can't run the script as user
nobody : Run the utility twiki/bin/geturl in your cron job and specify the URL of the twiki/bin/statistics script as a parameter. Example:
0 0 * * * (cd /path/to/TWiki/bin; ./geturl mydomain.com /urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/statistics >/dev/null 2>&1)
- The
twiki/bin/statistics script can also be executed as a CGI script, just enter the URL in your browser. Examples:
- Update current month for all webs:
http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics
- Update current month for Main web only:
http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics/Main
- Update January 2000 for Main web:
http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics/Main?logdate=200001
- To create a new web:
- Use a name for the web consisting of characters
A..Z , a..z but not in WikiNotation.
- Create a new template directory under
twiki/templates .
- Create a new data directory under
twiki/data and check the file permission of the directory.
- Copy the files
WebHome.txt , WebPreferences.txt , WebNotify.txt , WebSearch.txt and WebStatistics.txt from the twiki/data/Main directory to the new data directory, preserving the original files' owner, group and permissions ( on Unix use cp -p ). The data files must be writable by the owner the CGI scripts are running on ( usually nobody ). Hint: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- and then edit the topic using your browser, RCS will restore the file permission correctly when saving the topic.
- Add the new web to the web list (on top of each topic) by editing the site-level preferences TWikiPreferences?:
- Add the new web to the WIKIWEBLIST variable.
- Add the new web to the web table (at the bottom of each WebHome topic) by editing the TWikiWebsTable? topic.
- Change the web preferences by editing the WebPreferences topic of the new web:
- Set the WEBBGCOLOR variable to a color of your taste. The number represents the unique color for the web (consult an HTML book for colors.)
- Customize the WEBTOPICLIST variable to contain the web specific links you prefer.
- Optional: Set the WEBCOPYRIGHT variable to have a web-specific copyright text (at the bottom of each topic).
- If needed, create customized templates in the new templates directory. (Non existing templates are inherited from
twiki/templates )
- If you want to use a category table, copy the three files
twikicatitems.tmpl , twikicatedit.tmpl and twikicatview.tmpl from the twiki/templates/Know directory to the new templates directory, and customize it. The TWiki Category Table section has more.
- In case you want usage statistics for this web: Copy file
WebStatistics.txt from the twiki/data/Main directory to the new data directory. Edit topic WebStatistics in the new web and delete old usage entries.
Here are contents of directories with file permissions. Please note that this is for debugging reasons only and does not exactly reflect the distribution:
directory
twiki/bin :
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 18 18:31 .
drwxr-xr-x 8 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 twiki twiki 770 Feb 10 12:10 .htaccess
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 3968 Feb 18 00:26 attach
-rwxr-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 3033 Feb 17 23:57 changes
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 1377 Feb 8 18:18 delete
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 8785 Feb 17 23:58 edit
-rwxr--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1811 Feb 4 14:31 geturl
-rwxr-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 5047 Feb 8 20:33 mailnotify
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 1825 Feb 8 18:29 oops
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 6932 Feb 11 02:06 preview
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 7804 Feb 17 23:59 rdiff
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 7010 Feb 18 00:03 register
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 2501 Jan 25 19:39 save
-rwxr-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 1778 Feb 18 00:04 search
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 9810 Feb 8 18:43 statistics
-rwxr-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 509 Feb 7 18:55 testenv
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 6856 Feb 18 00:11 upload
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 4922 Feb 17 23:54 view
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 1606 May 21 1999 viewfile
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 27794 Feb 26 06:03 wiki.pm
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 10143 Feb 27 04:03 wikicfg.pm
-rw-r-xr-x 1 twiki twiki 5440 Feb 7 04:36 wikisearch.pm
directory
twiki/templates/ :
drwxr-xr-x 7 twiki twiki 1024 Jan 16 19:39 .
drwxr-xr-x 8 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Jun 8 1999 Know
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Dec 9 1998 Main
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 2286 Feb 24 21:50 attach.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1272 Feb 8 16:07 attachtable.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1884 Feb 24 21:54 changes.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 2242 Feb 24 21:33 edit.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 965 Feb 8 16:07 mailnotify.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 30 Jan 14 1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 934 Feb 8 16:07 notext.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 899 Feb 8 16:07 notwiki.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 299 Feb 24 21:58 noweb.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 957 Feb 24 22:17 oops.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 871 Feb 24 22:17 oopsdel.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1330 Feb 24 22:17 oopslocked.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregexist.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 912 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregpasswd.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 923 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregrequ.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1125 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregthanks.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 942 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregwiki.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1564 Feb 24 22:17 oopsrev.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 906 Feb 24 22:17 oopsupload.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1535 Feb 24 22:02 preview.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1661 Feb 24 22:04 rdiff.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 263 Aug 3 1999 register.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 936 Feb 8 16:08 registernotify.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1779 Feb 24 22:06 search.tmpl
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1533 Feb 24 21:43 view.tmpl
directory
twiki/templates/Main :
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Dec 9 1998 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 twiki twiki 1024 Jan 16 19:39 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 2732 Feb 24 21:34 edit.tmpl
directory
twiki/templates/Know (has a TWiki Category Table) :
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Jun 8 1999 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 twiki twiki 1024 Jan 16 19:39 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 twiki twiki 446 Jun 8 1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-rw-r-- 1 twiki twiki 206 Jun 8 1999 twikicatedit.tmpl
-rw-rw-r-- 1 twiki twiki 1060 Jul 16 1999 twikicatitems.tmpl
-rw-rw-r-- 1 twiki twiki 231 Jun 8 1999 twikicatview.tmpl
directory
twiki/data/ :
drwxrwxrwx 8 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 26 04:17 .
drwxr-xr-x 8 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 2241 Feb 25 20:18 .htpasswd
drwxrwxrwx 2 twiki twiki 3072 Feb 27 01:15 Know
drwxrwxrwx 2 twiki twiki 9216 Feb 27 18:16 Main
-rw-rw-rw- 1 twiki twiki 1 Feb 26 06:01 debug.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 1263064 Jan 31 23:13 log200001.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 1063398 Feb 27 18:33 log200002.txt
part of directory
twiki/data/Main :
drwxrwxrwx 2 twiki twiki 9216 Feb 27 18:16 .
drwxrwxrwx 8 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 26 04:17 ..
-rw-rw-rw- 1 twiki twiki 5722 Feb 27 18:13 .changes
-rw-rw-rw- 1 twiki twiki 9 Feb 27 18:15 .mailnotify
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 26163 Feb 24 12:22 TWikiDocumentation.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 44133 Feb 24 12:22 TWikiDocumentation.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 11661 Feb 27 18:13 TWikiHistory.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 18877 Feb 27 18:13 TWikiHistory.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 3029 Feb 26 04:46 TWikiPreferences.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 3219 Feb 26 04:46 TWikiPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 7188 Feb 11 21:39 TWikiRegistration.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 7375 Feb 11 21:39 TWikiRegistration.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 3180 Feb 25 20:19 TWikiUsers.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 16537 Feb 25 20:19 TWikiUsers.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 2613 Feb 7 04:47 TWikiVariables.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 3125 Feb 7 04:47 TWikiVariables.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 2068 Feb 10 11:34 TWikiWeb.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 3610 Feb 10 11:34 TWikiWeb.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 1677 Feb 26 05:11 TWikiWebsTable.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 1866 Feb 26 05:11 TWikiWebsTable.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 2294 Feb 27 17:54 WebHome.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 5282 Feb 27 17:54 WebHome.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 586 Jan 17 01:05 WebNotify.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 1629 Jan 17 01:05 WebNotify.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 1834 Feb 25 14:13 WebPreferences.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 2023 Feb 25 14:13 WebPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 4407 Feb 11 21:08 WebSearch.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 10822 Feb 11 21:08 WebSearch.txt,v
-rw-r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 4416 Feb 27 00:00 WebStatistics.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 nobody nobody 27759 Feb 27 00:00 WebStatistics.txt,v
directory
twiki/pub/ :
drwxrwxrwx 11 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 8 18:10 .
drwxr-xr-x 8 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
drwxrwxrwx 4 nobody nobody 1024 Aug 28 1999 Know
drwxrwxrwx 19 nobody nobody 1024 Feb 27 09:56 Main
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 1078 Jan 14 20:24 favicon.ico
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Mar 27 1999 icn
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 3016 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 5320 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo1.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 6125 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo2.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 7218 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo3.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 6710 Sep 11 02:21 twikilogo4.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 2877 Jun 15 1999 wikiHome.gif
directory
twiki/pub/icn/ :
drwxr-xr-x 2 twiki twiki 1024 Mar 27 1999 .
drwxrwxrwx 11 twiki twiki 1024 Feb 8 18:10 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 801 Mar 27 1999 _filetypes.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 143 Mar 27 1999 bat.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 926 Mar 27 1999 bmp.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 141 Mar 27 1999 c.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 144 Mar 27 1999 dll.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 152 Mar 27 1999 doc.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 130 Mar 27 1999 else.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 876 Mar 27 1999 exe.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 147 Mar 27 1999 fon.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 142 Mar 27 1999 h.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 156 Mar 27 1999 hlp.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 186 Mar 27 1999 html.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 144 Mar 27 1999 java.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 148 Mar 27 1999 mov.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 150 Mar 27 1999 pdf.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 146 Mar 27 1999 pl.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 150 Mar 27 1999 ppt.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 148 Mar 27 1999 ps.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 148 Mar 27 1999 py.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 130 Mar 27 1999 ram.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 154 Mar 27 1999 reg.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 147 Mar 27 1999 sh.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 155 Mar 27 1999 sniff.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 149 Mar 27 1999 ttf.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 134 Mar 27 1999 txt.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 154 Mar 27 1999 wav.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 152 Mar 27 1999 wri.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 152 Mar 27 1999 xls.gif
-rw-r--r-- 1 twiki twiki 144 Mar 27 1999 zip.gif
--
PeterThoeny? - 27 Jul 2000
