Manual talk:Installation on Uniform Server (Windows)/archive

Goals

 * The goals of this procedure are:
 * to have one article that provides a quick and easy procedure to install MediaWiki on as many versions of Windows as possible,
 * to allow the installation to be portable on a small and inexpensive device, and
 * to allow the optional features of MediaWiki to be enabled later.

--Zigger 03:14, 2004 Oct 31 (UTC)

Idea for "installation on a portable device"
Couldn't we ask CH Software (www.chsoftware.net) to provide a ready to run package based on WOS Portable with MediaWiki as they have one with TYPO3?

To be done
--Zigger 03:14, 2004 Oct 31 (UTC)
 * Document how to change MySQL's root password
 * Complete text marked "...":
 * : configuring logging at the mediawiki level ...
 * : ...
 * : ...
 * : ...
 * : ...
 * Re-test final procedure again, on more versions and editions of Windows, by more people
 * Test from a read-only image, e.g. CD-ROM
 * Help fix monobook/PHPTAL incompatibility with PHP 5.
 * Can the "tidy" MediaWiki feature be enabled within this article's goals?
 * Create sourceforge project to contain link to these instructions and pre-built configuration files for further setup speed
 * Reduce storage usage to less than:
 * 20MB to fit on an Iomega Bernoulli Box floppy disk
 * 16MB to fit on a smaller memory card / USB stick

Experience Report
I' trying this out. Downloading works. W:\usr\local\Apache2\bin>apache -f %apachepath%conf\httpd.conf -d %apachepath%. Syntax error on line 288 of \\usr/local/Apache2/conf/httpd.conf: Cannot load W:/usr/local/Php/php5apache2.dll into server: Ein der f\xfcr die Aus f\xfchrung dieser Anwendung notwendige Bibliothekdateien kann nicht gefunden wer den.
 * FilZip won't expand the files with tar and gz and the same time.
 * Configuration of the underlying software; for some of the files you have to guess where they are ...
 * start w mysql gives back an apache.exe is running error, even I don't know about any apache.exe running. Taskman isn't showing one ... Commenting the test out of start.bat works. Maybe some problem with pskill on Win98? Now start.bat starts, gives some error about not enough memory in the environment. Netscape loads w:redirect.htm and shows a light blue screen and an error message (no connection to localhost). Same when I try to connect to 127.0.0.1 -- seems that apache isn't running.
 * After some trying it seems the following is the reason:
 * That is: apache cannot load one of the dlls
 * After some fiddling with "/" and "\" in php.inis, I found another reason why apache won't start: the programme call start.bat is building together get's to complex, especially %apacheit% is to long to store it in the dos batch environment. Starting uniserv with apache as argument manually starts apache. So, setting a higher environment memory for start.bat actually let us start and continue with the installation of mediawiki.
 * MediaWiki installation page says "Something's not quite right yet; make sure everything below is filled out correctly.", but doesn't give a hint what it is ... After some trying: the empty fields are supposed to be password fields for Sysop user account and the wikidb ... Now that works. Or at least, seems to work. It doesn't write out the localsettings file, showing a blank page with no error message. (Trying it on IE instead of Netscape shows that there are in fact labels in front of the form fields. Aha! But it doesn't work here, either).

-- Tillwe 16:17, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I need help configuring my Wiki on a Stick
'''[NOTE: I'm rewriting the procedure, based on my notes from a successful installation. Give me a few hours and it should be installable. August 12, 5PM (gmt-7)]'''

Procedures updated from a Windows-centric approach, with more point and click and less CLI typing. This works on Windows XP, and should work on Windows 2000 too. (September 14th or so) I have one picture to upload and link to, showing what a successful first installation should look like.

On the document it instructs the user to make changes to the LocalSettings.php file, but I can't find this in it supposed location, even after searching the entire directory.

I can't proceed with any customisation until I figure out how to access this file, or is it another file they are referring to, like defaultsettings.php?

Or is this file supposed to be create, the 1.3 install success page did not install, so should I try a different version of MediaWiki like 1.4?? (unsigned)
 * I think you missed this step? this is the one that installs LocalSettings.php:

Then, open  can be ignored, as you will be fixing it soon anyway. it will be capitalised on most of the wiki pages. The Cologne Blue skin will capitalise the entire name. This writes the file diskw\www\wi\config\LocalSettings.php  and creates the   database, with one initial user ( ). An empty page is displayed (due to bug #736 in MediaWiki v1.3.x) where a 1.3 install success page is expected.
 * 1) Fill out the form and note:
 * 2) The warning about
 * 1) If you use lower-case for the first letter of the site name,
 * 1) Leave "MySQL server" as
 * 2) Set "DB root password" to  
 * 3) Press the "Install!" button.
 * try going back to this step, I think that will do it.Pedant 17:50, 29 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * I had same problem. Tried with 1.4 following the instructions carefully. I did manage to set the wiki. --81.193.7.34 16:21, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This Localsettings.php file will not be created when your database server isn't running!!!! or when there are error's shown after pressing the install button.

Execution time
I got this messessage: "Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in W:\www\wi\languages\LanguageUtf8.php(98) : regexp code on line 1". I used a LangVi.php. Give me a way to escape plz. 141.53.194.251 00:25, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

As wiki relies on Db
As wiki relies on database it is my opinion a clear and concise explanation of how to backup and restore the database should be given.--81.193.7.34 16:25, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Importing wikipedia dump
I assume that a lot of folk want to install WikiOnAStick to run local wikipedias, that's what I'm trying to do.

I've installed 1.4, following the instructions VERY carefully, the Procedure works.

Would be nice to tell folk how to install from the wikipedia dump (like 20050623_cur_table.sql) into the local wiki or database or however you would say it. I'm fairly computer-savvy, I think, and I've been trying to figure it out for about 15 hours, with no clue as to how to do it. I'm sure it's quite simple. If someone would contact me on my user page with a clue as to what to do to go from the decompressed 20050623_cur_table.sql to accessing the wikipedia, starting with WikiOnAStick already installed according to the Procedure, I'll be glad to translate it into a 'for dummies' version.Pedant 17:44, 29 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Where is the documentation
If the documentation is included in the downloads, then it is difficult to find.

If the documentation is not included in the downloads, then perhaps it should be. There should at least be a link for downloading the documentation.

I might be overreacting when I say this, but my nephew's other uncle installed a Wikipedia using the Wiki on a stick instructions and download, then my nephew tried to use it and then asked me for help. He was working offline and therefore did not have a copy of the documentation to refer to. I made the comment to him that the documentation should be included in the downlaod.

This is my first use of Wikipedia and such. If my comments are innapropriate then let me know. If there is a more appropriate place for my comments, then let me know.

Is this necessary?
Is it necessary to use this procedure to put a Wiki on a stick? If not, then perhaps it would help to say so in the article.

Is it possible to install a Wiki into an existing installation of a server, MySql and such? I am not familiar with Wiki software, but it is my understanding that it is possible. I think it would be good to document what special requirements there are for a Wiki on a stick. Are there any, except for the relatively obvious requirement that the installation be dynamic enough to allow use in multiple systems.

Is it possible to have a Wiki on a stick that does not include the server and other software? It is possible that the server and the other software could exist in all systems and it is just the Wiki software and data that needs to be on a stick. Perhaps just the MySQL database needs to be on a stick for many uses. Are there instructions describing how to do that, or at least that it is a possibility?

I don't know a lot about Apache and MySQL, but I have installed them separately (that is, without the Wiki software). When I installed them, I used an Apache monitor to start and stop the server and I used a MySQL administration program for MySQL. Those things seem to be missing from the version installed using this article. I therefore think it would be better to install Apache and MySQL separately. If this is possible and still put everything on a stick, then it would help to have a comment saying so. Otherwise, if this procedure is necessary for use on a stick, then perhaps it would help to say that there are better ways to install the software if it is not for use on a stick.

More specifically, people are using this procedure to install a Wikipedia on the their local drives, but my understanding is that it is better not to.

Just use TiddlyWiki instead because it is the simplest thing to do.

Uniform Server
Hello, my name is Olajide Olaolorun and i am the Project Manager for The Uniform Server. I currently just saw the Wiki post and would like to give a big thank you to the person (or those) who wrote it.

I saw that there were some problems running MediaWiki on our server, and though we use MediaWiki for our own Wiki, i have not goten a chance to test it out on our server.

If you can please kindly post a reply with everything needed to run MediaWiki without problems and perfectly here, or send to my [mailto:olajideolaolorun@uniformserver.com email], i will be delighted so i can work on it as a plugin.

Thanks again.

By the way, our website is http://www.uniformserver.com and you van get support at http://forum.uniformserver.com

There is a new version avaliable - 3.5. Should the link be changed?

Possible error(s) in article
A few weeks back I set up a wiki on a stick using the instructions that were available here at the time. Total time from downloading the software to editing the main page was around fifteen minutes. I deleted the wiki along with the related server and db software because it did not include the monobook skin. Today, I noticed that a version is available with the monobook skin. I figured that since it was a cinch last time, it'll be no problem to install it again. I was wrong. I just got finished with the install after about 2 hours of work. It seems that this article has been updated since the last time I viewed it because I remember a particular step that explicitly stated to do one thing and now the article states almost the opposite. Here are some problems that I had:


 * In the "Install the MediaWiki software" section, I assumed that  was vi (which slowed me down a bit). I guess my eyes are going bad, I removed the italics.
 * In the "Creating shortcuts for starting and stopping the servers" subsection, it tells us to do just that. I thought we had to assign arguments while running the start.bat file. The current version did not work for me, luckily there's the history tab.
 * After I added the code that was provided in the performance section, I saved and the saved document reformmated making all of the code unusable from that save. Perhaps a bug in creating LocalSettings.php?

I just wanted state those problems so that someone with a little more experience can proof the article and make it better.

--Robert Harrison 01:30, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Ver 1.5
Has anybody done this with 1.5 yet? Rich Farmbrough 09:58, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Just did with 1.5.2 an upgrade from 1.4.0 11 november 2005. Basically BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP old installation and database
 * 1) get the whole 1.4 installation running
 * 2) download 1.5.2
 * 3) extract under diskw\www as wi152
 * 4) http://localhost/wi152
 * 5) type in the userid's password of mysql
 * 6) installation should go smoothly (converting your existing database)
 * 7) copy your localsettings.php one directory up
 * 8) edit localsettings.php to comply with what you did on the 1.4 version
 * 9) instead of http://localhost/wi/index.php make it http://localhost/wi152/index.php

Full 1.5.2 install following existing 1.3 instructions works with no problems. 28 December 2005.

Succesfull installation using Windows2000 1 hour
I did install it succesfully in about 1 hour. (no experience previously with this tooling)

Did take some time before I found out that one important Step for starting MySQL is missing

MySql Server can be started by

\UniServer3_2a\diskw\usr\local\mysql\mysqlrun.bat

If MySQL server is not running the localsettings.php won't be created

I used the wikipedia 1.4 version for install.

Server Help
I would like to know if anyone has successfully accessed their wiki from another computer. I have read, followed, then re-read the instuctions in the How to access the wiki from other computers section. I can now connect using my dynamic network IP and my hostname, but only from my computer, which is the same as accessing the localhost. I can ping my static IP, but do not have access, even though I edited both the httpd.conf and .htaccess files.

Any help would be great, if someone could e-mail me so we can correspond to figure out this problem I would greatly appreciate it. After I get all this set up, I plan to edit the article to correlate. Shashe 00:57, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Trying to get it running on Win98
Apache fails to start, there is a problem with (I think) pskill.exe. I looked at the forum pages on http://www.uniformserver.com/, and found that it's a known bug, caused by something they changed, and they're hoping to fix it for UniServer v3.3. They suggested trying 3.1 instead, so that's what I'm about to try. -- w:User:LesleyW --203.110.29.30 11:43, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

3.1 seems to work okay, now I can't get the wikidb to work - the tables are all missing their .MYI files and other stuff. I know nothing about MySQL so that'll be a "start again" job. Not sure when I'll have time to get back to it though. I'm using mediawiki-1.5.2.tar.gz - would I be better off with an older version? -- w:User:LesleyW --203.110.29.30 20:04, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Vague step
I am not sure how to execute this step. Because I am new to this, I am not exactly sure how to reference the SQL server executable in the start.bat file. So I am unable to complete step 4 (I am still trying to figure it out). Could someone clarify this step:

"You may also wish to have the SQL Server start automatically when your server does - to achieve this, you will need to add a line in your 'start.bat' file to automatically load the server. The same effect can also be achieved by removing the 'if' clause from the beginning of a line. "

Thanks --68.60.55.162 09:42, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Second issue - the localhost/wi (and subdirectories) are not created. Is there a known issue with this and Windows? I'm not even sure what part of the process would create the "wi" directory tree. Because of this I cannot Configure the wiki variables, and I am stuck on this step. Could someone please help? --68.60.55.162 10:04, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Man ok I got it, the tar has to be extracted twice. (we should clarify this in the article)--68.60.55.162 10:10, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Next, I get through everything fine. But I cannot login as WikiSysop. Even though I use the correct PW, the system says that it is incorrect. I reinstalled the Localsettings.php file and still get the same problem. Is there a proper way to setup the WikiSysop user and PW? And is it perhaps it is not to be a logon user in the Wiki service? --68.60.55.162 12:06, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Ok I had a problem shutting down the Apache server. It indicates a Security breach but I think this is either due to Microsoft Active X being prompted or some bug. At any rate, I shut down apache via the batch file, and then I am able to properly move the localsettings.php file. Then after that I am able to properly login as WikiSysop. --68.60.55.162 12:42, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

ImageMagick
I installed and configured ImageMagick for my StickWiki... Can someone confirm that this works.. I already put this information on the Main Page.. because I was confident it would work... WOuld be great if someone can confirm.
 * Karthikraman 04:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Uses for Wiki on a stick
First, congratulations on an awesome project. A great way to teach the ease of creating a MediaWiki! I was able to do it in about 2 hours with little trouble on a 64 meg USB drive.

The second paragraph states "Having the wiki on a stick is useful for demonstrations, sophisticated note-taking, or super-fast installations using a simple copy."

Could we possibly expand this and show some more benefits of a wiki on a stick? This would help sell the page as more than a curiousity for geeks or a teaching tool for MediaWiki (both are valid benefits in my book!)

Thanks! Mike --64.251.230.39 15:25, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Server2go
Anyone have a clue how and if it would work with Server2go? http://www.server2go-web.de/


 * I downloaded the 50Mb version of Server2go. The installation was very easy. There were a few directories: admin, cgi-bin, dbdir, dlls, htdocs, and server. In Server there where the directories for MySQL, Apache and PHP. No complicated setup problems


 * In htdocs, I installed Mediawiki-1.7.1. Total size: 120 Mb. Which I copied on a flash stick of 2 Gb


 * And it worked fine. 213.93.113.124 13:25, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Migrating
I've got a copy of wiki-on-a-stick from about a year ago, and I'm thinking I'd like to migrate it to a more permanent solution. My question is, has anyone got any good docs on how to migrate from wiki-on-a-stick to Linux? If not, no biggie, just need some pointers really.

Fix the intro guys ...
Ordinarily I'd just fix it, but I couldn't even imagine what this was trying to say:

Among the WAMP systems, Uniform Server allows a and required and servers to be installed,

Can someone better equipped with imagination or knowledge of what's intended fix that intro?


 * I fixed it, there were links with "en:".--Patrick 11:44, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Idea?
Here's one for you guys, that I can't seem to find anywhere: The servers running on a Pocket PC device. Is that possible? I run several wikis for different people, and taking my Pocket PC to a site and testing extensions or changes on it, instead of lugging my laptop around, makes sense... what does everyone think? Rockerbaby 01:18, 30 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Well that's a very different idea. The Manual:Wiki on a stick idea will make storage of wiki program files and content highly portable, but you'll still need a PC/laptop to run the wiki (apache & mysql servers). Now you're asking a very different question: "Is it possible to run and apache & mysql server on a Pocket PC?". The answer may well be yes. It's a question of software compatibility. -- Harry Wood 10:28, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

part 2? - speed issues
I wonder if I am the only one - the wiki on a stick is not very fast (on average, a page-load takes at least half a minute to one minute, by guestimate). In the future, it would be interesting to add a part 2 on how to do quick things directly with the wikidb, either via the mySQL command line or using a programming language such as python with MySQL-python. Hillgentleman 04:19, 6 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Runs super speedy for me (local apache is faster than any remote website wiki!) so I guess you're probably doing something wrong. I'm using the other software package though. "WOS" listed on Manual:Wiki on a stick -- Harry Wood 10:28, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

New uniform server is up
Uniformserver 4.0-mona is released so this manual needs updating.

Uniform Server 4.2-Mona
I like MediaWiki, one real problem I had when running on a memory stick it clashed with a server on a host’s machine. Thought you would be interested in this page Self-contained USB MediaWiki, it resolves this issue.

If you have any problems please post on Uniform Server’s forum I will do my best to resolve these. Regards Ric

Uniform Server 5.0-Nano Beta3
Problems: In the section "Edit two text files to configure the servers" udrive aka. wdrive is the folder where server is installed (I guess), it is now called "UniServer".

Instructions say: Edit the config file for the MySQL server by following these steps... There is no configuration file, my-small.cnf, or at least not in any of the Uniform Server folders. Did not seem to be critical, I was able to install the wiki anyway.

"Assigning a drive letter" and "Editing the Uniform Server start-up script (optional)" talk about modifying the uniform server script, Server_Start.bat. There is no file Server_Start.bat, there is a file Service_Install_Run_Run.bat but it's contents do not correspond to the discussion.

Section with: Starting the Wiki Servers 2. Doubleclick the "Start Wiki Servers" shortcut icon to start the servers. Perhaps what is meant is the start the Uniform Server?

Section § Configuring the Wiki Variables recommends: Set "DB root password" to root (Yes, it's BAD from a security standpoint, but it won't work with a proper password) the name has also to be set to root When the configuration page didn't succeed I was able to get it to work by using mysql from the command prompt and creating the user, wikiuser (with a password), and database, wikidb, and then granting privileges, then I reran the configuration page.

Dealing with register_globals
Would someone verify that this also works with other versions of Windows?

Operating system: Windows Vista SP2 Folder options: Set known file extensions to visible. Applications:
 * 7-Zip 4.65
 * Mozilla Firefox 3.5

Files:
 * mediawiki-1.15.1.tar.gz
 * UniServer3_5.exe

Path: Uniform Server/udrive/www/

Get the Uniform Server up per instrucations and edit the .htaccess file adding the following line. php_flag register_globals off With this done install the MediaWiki software. You should not get a register_globals warning when configuring the wiki. You can contact me at my English Wikipedia user talk page. -- wikipedia:en:User:Allen4names (not logged in/no MediaWiki account) 97.115.141.151 20:05, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Reset and Restart! This article needs to be totally rewritten
It's April 2011, and we're waaaay past all the old versions of Windows (95, 98, NT), tiny disk drives and USB memory less than 256MB. In addition, ALL the servers and support programs have been massively changed. The current version of MediaWiki is 1.16.2, The Uniform Server is 7.0.1, and that's likely to change soon. The earliest version of UniServer I would want to use is 5.7.5.

Putting UniServer and MediaWiki on a Windows machine is now dramatically simpler. Having done many installs of UniServer and MediaWiki over the last few years, I believe I can do the rewrite. Let's not keep around so much of this old garbage! GuiderBob 18:53, 7 April 2011 (UTC)