I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal
1. Create a database in MySQL called wikidb.
2. Create a new user called wikiserver that has full priviledges to this database (the user does not need to be called wikiserver, but that is the username we will be using for this walkthrough).
3. Download the latest stable release of MediaWiki from http://mediawiki.sourceforge.net.
4. Extract the tar files into a new folder (for this example we are going to call it wiki to keep things easy). This can be done using the tar -xvzf mediawiki.tar.gz (or subsititute your file name for mediawiki.tar.gz
5. Make the configuration files writeable using the command chmod a+w config while in the new wiki folder
6. Move the wiki folder onto a web server
7. From your web server, visit the site 127.0.0.1/wiki or the subfolder that you placed the wiki files into
8. At the MediaWiki Installation page, you will either see a notice that you can install MediaWiki or a notice that your system does not meet the minimum requirements for installion. If your system does not meet the requirements, install the modules that are listed. If it does, move on to the next steps
9. At the MediaWiki Installation page, scroll down to the Site Config section. Here, fill in the fields for:
a. Wiki name: The name assigned to your wiki.
b. Conact e-mail: Displayed when error notices are encountered.
c. Language: The language to be used for your Wiki
d. Copyright: The copyright type, typically leave this as the default setting
e. Admin Username: The username to use for administering the Wiki
f. Admin Password: The password to use for administering the Wiki
g. Shared Memory caching: Decide whether to use memcached
10. Fill in the appropriate values for the Email and authentication setup section:
a. Email (General): Enable or disable the global use of email for your Wiki
b. User-to-User email: Allow users to email one another
c. Email Notification: Allows users to be notified if there is a change in a folder or page
d. Email Authentication: Enable email authentication for the wiki. Sends request for users to click a link to authenticate into the wiki.
11. Database Configuration options:
a. Database Type: Most users use MySQL, but Oracle is an option as well, although experimental.
b. SQLServerHost: The address of the MySQL Server. If MySQL is on the system you are currently using then leave this field as localhost.
c. Database Name: The name of the database you will be using in MySQL to store your wiki’s data.
d. DB Username: If you used wikiserver in step 2 then use wikiserver here; otherwise use the username you chose in step 2.
e. DB Password: The password you assigned for your wikidb user.
f. Database Table Prefix: Use this option if you would like to share you will be using other tables within the wiki database for other applications.
g. Database Character set: leave this as defualt unless you will be using
h. Superuser account: The MySQL SuperUser account – typically root
i. Superuser Password: The MySQL SuperUser or root account password
12. Click on Install MediaWiki!
13. Move the LocalSettings.php file from the /config directory of the wiki installation into the root directory of the wiki installation
14. Go to the http://127.0.0.1/wiki folder and the default Main MediaWiki page will open
15. Customize the wiki to work for your organization
