Manual:Installation guide

Welcome to the MediaWiki installation guide. The first part of this guide gives broad general instructions about how to install and configure MediaWiki on a web server. The last section contains a list of appendices that give more detailed installation notes for specific system configurations and other less common uses of the software.

MediaWiki software appliances
When possible, using a pre-integrated MediaWiki software appliance is one of the easiest ways to deploy MediaWiki, as it allows users to skip installation altogether and run a self-contained, ready-to-use system that requires little to no setup.

Several such software appliances exist, including:


 * TurnKey MediaWiki, which is based on Ubuntu and is built by the TurnKey Linux opensource project.
 * MediaWiki appliance, which is based on rPath Linux.

Quick installation guide
For experienced users only, here is the quick version of the installation instructions. Most users will want to read the more detailed version, below.


 * 1) Check that your system meets the minimum requirements (web server, PHP5, and either MySQL4 or Postgres 8.0).
 * 2) Download MediaWiki  and extract the archive to a web-accessible folder on your server.
 * 3) Point your browser to the   directory.
 * 4) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

These instructions are deliberately brief. There is a lot that could go wrong, so if in any doubt, you are advised to read the full instructions below!!

Main installation guide

 * Before installation
 * Read what MediaWiki is
 * Check the MediaWiki feature list
 * Installation requirements - Check these before going any further!
 * Installing MediaWiki
 * Downloading MediaWiki
 * Installing MediaWiki
 * Configuring MediaWiki:
 * Initial configuration (using the configuration script)
 * Further configuration
 * Common customizations
 * Installing extensions

Advanced uses
The following pages give instructions about how to install/configure MediaWiki for other, less common purposes.
 * Installing from Subversion
 * Installing MediaWiki on a memory stick

Advanced configuration
The following pages cover some of the more advanced configuration options:
 * Advanced configuration
 * Wiki administration

System-specific instructions
The following pages give more detailed installation instructions aimed at specific systems:


 * FreeBSD
 * GNU/Linux
 * Debian
 * Fedora Core
 * Gentoo
 * Mandrake
 * Red Hat Enterprise Linux
 * Slackware
 * SuSE 9.3
 * Ubuntu
 * Damnsmalllinux
 * Mac OS X
 * NetWare
 * Solaris
 * Solaris 10
 * Solaris 9
 * Windows
 * Windows XP
 * Windows Server 2003
 * Newcomers guide
 * Streamlined Guide
 * Simple Windows Apache Installation