Download from SVN

 Subversion (SVN) is a version control software that allows users to download the very latest version of a branch, without having to wait for someone to get around to packaging it. Advantages to using Subversion include the latest version, vastly simplified updating, the ability to roll back an upgrade, the ability to create and submit patches.

See Subversion for more details; below are some quick directions for a couple common tasks.

Prerequisites
You must have a Subversion client installed before you can use it. (Although you can theoretically download files without Subversion, this would mean tediously downloading each individual file manually.) The recommended software is the official Subversion client, available from the Subversion project page. Note that this client uses a command-line interface, which the instructions below use. Alternatively, you can get subversioning software with a graphical user interface such as TortoiseSVN.

Download
You can download from any branch and module in MediaWiki SVN.


 * Modules: The two modules important to web applications are phase3 (the main application) and extensions (extension code).
 * Branches: Named release branches use the naming scheme REL$1_$2[_$3], where $1 is the MediaWiki version, $2 is a major version and $3 is a minor revision. For example, version 1.6.3 is branch, the latest 1.6 is  , 1.5.8 is  , and the latest (untagged) would be.

To download from the latest release (recommended), enter the following command from the command-line in the directory you wish to download to:

svn checkout http:// svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/branches//phase3

Alternately, you can download the latest bleeding-edge development version using the following command: svn checkout http:// svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/trunk/phase3

To get the latest skins directory including the Vector skin, use this line: svn checkout http:// svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/trunk/phase3/skins

Using TortoiseSVN
TortoiseSVN is a convenient SVN client for Windows that integrates with Windows Explorer.
 * Go to Windows Explorer (hit WIN+E or right-click on the Start button and click Explore), and create a new folder in a location of your choice. You may want to name it something like "Mediawiki Repository."
 * Right click on that folder and TortoiseSVN -> Create repository here.
 * Right click on that folder again and click SVN Checkout; DO NOT CLICK "IMPORT".
 * For the "URL of repository," put http://svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/trunk/phase3/
 * The checkout directory should automatically populate to the mediawiki subfolder of your repository folder.
 * Click OK.

Installing
Normal installation rules apply. However, for best results, use PHP 5.3.3 as an Apache module.

Upgrading and downgrading
Upgrading between releases with SVN is simple. If you have direct access to the command-line on the server, you can enter the commands below directly; alternatively, you can maintain a copy on a local machine and upload updated versions to the server.

To upgrade MediaWiki, simply use the command below in the root of the installation directory. Note that this will upgrade to the latest version of the current major version. If you are using MediaWiki 1.6, this will upgrade to any version 1.6.x, but not to 1.7:

svn update

To upgrade to another release branch (version 1.7 in the example below) or to switch between individually-selected version tags, you can use the "switch" command (substituting the appropriate versions):

svn checkout http://svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/tags/REL1_6_2/phase3 svn switch http://svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/tags/REL1_7_3/phase3

Don't forget to run maintenance/update.php every once in a while, especially if things start acting strangely.