Manual:Streamlined Windows Install Guide

Easy simple "lazy man's" setup (using XAMPP)
This includes a new version of Apache, MSQL, and PHP all in one integrated package. Just download and run the XAMPP installer and the database and server should be running.

Download mediawiki and extract it:

Find the root and add the extracted MediaWiki folder to it. Then open a browser to the directory of localhost/mediawiki-X.X.X/index.php (X's represent the file version you downloaded) and install.

After the installation, once wiki is started for the first time, a configuration screen will come up. Before doing the configuration you will have to set the password for root user of your mysql. see MySQL_config.

Having found the above advice did not make much sense, all you need to do is drop to command line e.g c:\program files\xampp\mysql\bin and run the following c:\program files\xampp\mysql\bin\mysqladmin -u root password. when you get to the next step below you keep database name the same and userid = root and password.

Once the configuration is completed, when you will go to the home page now, you will get the message "To complete the installation, move config/LocalSettings.php to the parent directory." Move the file ....\xampp\htdocs\mediawiki-1.7.1\config\LocalSettings.php to ....\xampp\htdocs\mediawiki-1.7.1 directory.


 * Required OS: Windows, Linux, Sun Solarisor Mac OS X
 * Disk space: enough for a server; XAMMP installs to 300+
 * MediaWiki specific help: http://www.nat32.com/xampp/index.htm

Step by Step setup of a MediaWiki on a Windows XP Computer
Apache Version 2.2.2 MySQL Community Edition Version 5.0.21 php Version 5.1.3 phpmyadmin Version 2.8.0.3 Mediawiki Version 1.6.7

Apache
Here we assume you don't want to compile the sources yourself, so just go to this mirror directory, select the appropriate platform and then the file you want (see version number etc) version 2.2.2 without SSL was used here. It is 4.2 MB in size.
 * 1) Download the file and execute it. Use the following settings in the installation wizard:
 * 2) * installed as a Service,
 * 3) * any domain as domain, any servername as servername and an appropriate email-address,
 * 4) * typical Installation, for all users, as a service,
 * 5) * install to e.g.  (from here on called.
 * 6) ** A few users have had installation issues with filepaths that contain spaces, but others have not, so it is a good idea to not use spaces in the file directories.
 * 7) ** If you have error "Could not find a suitable database driver! * For MySQL, compile PHP using --with-mysql, or install the mysql.so module" then you can try:
 * 8) *** I found it necessary to place the files: php_mysql.dll and libmysql.dll in the directory C:\Apache\Apache2.2\bin inorder to make the Wiki work.
 * 9) *** Apache didn't find php.ini since I wrote in httpd.conf: PHPIniDir "C:/php", but I had my php.ini in C:/windows. The solution was to copy php.ini to C:/php.
 * 10) *** If you are using Windows XP, you may need to add the directory in which you installed PHP to the "Path" Environment Variable. This can be done as follows: right click on My Computer; select the Advanced tab at the top of the window that opens; click the Environment Variables button; in the System variables section, find a variable called Path and select it; click Edit; at the end of the Variable value, add a semicolon (";"), and then type the location of the directory you installed PHP in. (Note: This process is described below in the PHP section of this article and was reproduced here for convenience).

MySQL
Use the MySQL 5.0 Community Edition &mdash; the installer file for Windows is 16.4 MB, and it was the version used in this installer.
 * 1) Make sure to turn off any firewalls or anti-virus software. These will make your life impossible and not let you install things correctly.
 * 2) Run the installer, and make sure you use the typical installation to e.g..
 * 3) Immediately after the installation finishes, the wizard offers you the opportunity to configure. Use it, and use the following settings:
 * 4) * Standard configuration (no other MySQL on this computer)
 * 5) * Run as a service
 * 6) * don't check bin paths,
 * 7) * Enter a root password
 * [[Image:Bulbgraph.png|20px|]] Note:
 * The root user must retain the name "root", as otherwise MediaWiki's installation script has problems during the initial installation.
 * 1) * no anonymous account
 * 2) * At the end, let MySQL's do its processing of the configuration.
 * [[Image:Bulbgraph.png|20px|]] Note:
 * Port 3306 has to be open for the current subnet, as otherwise the configuration can't be done. The wizard can remain open while opening the port and the processing started again afterwards. MySQL then uses about 57 MB of disk space.
 * 1) Test your installation by opening the MS-DOS command prompt (not MySQL's!), starting and stopping the MySQL server service by typing , followed by.

PHP
Make a manual installation using the zipped snapshot version (9 MB, 20 MB unzipped). While the CGI script can work, the zipped version contains all the necessary files, and does not require any additional downloads, so it is recommended.
 * 1) Just unzip to a local folder&mdash;e.g.  (from here on called  )
 * 2) Rename the file  in   to
 * [[Image:Bulbgraph.png|20px]] Note:
 * My experience installing under Windows XP was that the following needed to be performed also:
 * Copy php.ini-recommended to [Apache installation path]\conf\php.ini
 * --Myscha (novawoman@hotmail.com)
 * 1) Open the  file:
 * 2) Near the middle of the file, change the   directive line, so it reads   (or a different value if you installed your extensions in a different folder)
 * 3) Uncomment the   and   extensions by removing the semicolons that begin their respective lines (quite far at the back, under the heading "Windows extensions")
 * 4) In order to connect PHP to the Apache server as a module, you have to change the  (in  ) by adding the following text to the end of the file:
 * [[Image:Bulbgraph.png|20px]] Note:
 * Use  instead of "c:/php/"
 * --cqtlc (cqtlc@hotmail.com)
 * 1) the entry   needs to be expanded to:
 * 2) Expand the system variable  by the adding a semicolon, followed by the PHP directory   To do this, you can right-click on "My Computer", which will bring up the System Control Panel dialog box. If you do this, you can skip to substep three:
 * 3) Open the Start Menu, and point to Settings/Control Panel.
 * 4) Select "System" from the Classic view.
 * 5) Select the "Advanced" tab.
 * 6) Click on "Environmental variables"
 * 7) On the "System" section, look for the   variable.
 * 8) Click on "edit"
 * 9) Add the PHP entry to the variable, by entering , as described above.
 * 10) Restart the computer, as it is necessary at this point.
 * 1) Restart the computer, as it is necessary at this point.

MediaWiki
Download a release of MediaWiki. If you're looking to provide patches and help in development, use the version from SVN; if you are going to be an end user, and are not very concerned with having the latest features, download a stable release.
 * 1) Unzip your copy into   The file unzips from 2,7 MB to 10,5 MB.
 * 2) Rename the new directory to whatever you would like to have in the URL. If your apache server is running as   for example, installing MediaWiki on   would mean you would access your wiki at.
 * 3) In order to setup the wiki itself, open a browser of your choice and type in the URL from above. A page will appear that tells you that the wiki is not set up, and that you need to do that first.
 * 4) Click the appropriate link and then fill in form. The rest is done automatically.
 * 5) After the setup, you are told to move a configuration file from one directory to its parent.

Heureka, the Wiki can be visited!

Timespan: if everything goes well, less than an hour, including download (on a good connection ;-)) What to check if it does not work:
 * Are the necessary ports open? (80 for Apache, 3306 for MySQL)
 * Apache is installed to a path that is free of blanks?
 * Patch for php5apache2.dll and manifest copied to appropriate places?
 * .NET installed on the computer or the runtime that is necessary otherwise?
 * Browsercache is empty?

PHPMyAdmin

 * 1) Download the installation file.
 * 2) Unzip to   (or whatever folder you configured as the Apache server's document root)(henceforth ).
 * 3) You can rename the new directory to something easier to remember, such as e.g.  . the zip has 3.7MB, 12.5 MB unzipped