Manual:Installing MediaWiki on Windows XP

MediaWiki can be installed on IIS (Microsoft's web server) or Apache (free open source). When installing on Apache, it is easier if one uses a WAMP (Windows Apache/MySQL/PHP) bundle.

Apache
Installing a WAMP will cover the prerequisites. Following that, download and install MediaWiki.

The Uniform Server
The Uniform Server has five key advantages:
 * 1) It is updated often, which helps reduce security concerns.
 * 2) It can be made portable, meaning the programs can be run directly from a removable medium on other Windows computers.
 * 3) There is a MediaWiki plugin (of version 1.15.2) that can be dropped into place for a painless installation.
 * 4) An additional plugin will secure the stack and MediaWiki for production use.
 * 5) There is an extensive Wiki with in-depth information, and a Forum for additional help.

See complete details at Installation on Uniform Server (Windows)

XAMPP
XAMPP is a stable, full-featured WAMP, so that installing and running MediaWiki on it is straightforward.


 * 1) Download and install XAMPP from here.
 * 2) Use the XAMPP control panel to make sure that both MySQL and Apache are running. Port 80 must be free.
 * 3) Download MediaWiki and unzip into the htdocs directory (eg, c:\xampp\htdocs\mediawiki)
 * 4) Connect to http://localhost/mediawiki/ and follow the instructions.

Note that this method produces an insecure installation and you should follow the instructions in the XAMPP documentation to secure it. In particular, you should change the default passwords.

PostgreSQL
Another easy method to install MediaWiki:
 * 1) Download and install PostgreSQL.
 * 2) After installation start Stack Builder utility and check MediaWiki in Web applications. It should install Apache as the web Server by itself.
 * 3) Connect to http://localhost/mediawiki/ and follow the instructions.