Manual:Installing MediaWiki on Windows Server 2008 R2

From mediawiki.org

The goal of this guide is to give some a quick and easy way to install MediaWiki on a Windows Server 2008 R2 environment.

Opening an Account[edit]

The following items will be required:

  • Administrative access to the Windows Server 2008 R2 server
  • PHP installer (The file php-[version]-nts-Win32-VC9-x86.msi should be available here.)
  • MySQL installer (The file mysql-[version]-winx64.msi should be available here.)
  • MediaWiki archive (The file mediawiki-[version].tar.gz should be available here.)
  • 7-Zip or your favorite decompression utility to extract MediaWiki

Step-by-Step Instructions[edit]

Internet Information Services (IIS)[edit]

To install IIS follow the steps below:

  1. Open Server Manager, select Roles.
  2. Add the Web Server role and include the following:
  • Common HTTP Features -> HTTP Redirection
  • Application Development -> CGI.
  1. Open Internet Explorer and access http://localhost, it should bring up the IIS7 splash page.

Set Default Document (Optional)[edit]

Set default document to index.php.

  1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, select the server name from the list.
  2. Select the Default Document, highlight index.php and choose Move Up from the Actions side panel until index.php is at the top.

PHP[edit]

To install PHP follow the steps below:

  1. Use the manual Installation to install PHP or use the Microsoft Web Plattform Installer 5.0.
  2. Open your C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP\php.ini file in Notepad and uncomment the values below by removing the heading pound symbol. The following recommendations are from [php.net].
  3. Open up the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager > Handler Mappings >Add Module Mapping Then fill in the following information and click OK: Request Path:  *.php  Module: FastCgiModule  Executable (optional): [Enter the location of your php installation]\php-cgi.exe  Name: PHP Via FastCGI
  4. Or use the PHP Manager for IIS to register PHP to IIS.
  5. After you click OK you will be prompted: "Do you want to create a FastCGI application for this executable? Click 'Yes' to add the entry to the FastCGI collection and to enable this executable to run as a FastCGI application." to which you should click "Yes".
  6. Edit permissions on the images directory of the MediaWiki installation and add IUSR with modify privileges.
  7. Create a file called C:\inetpub\wwwroot\phpinfo.php, include the lines below.
  8. Open Internet Explorer and access http://localhost/phpinfo.php, it should bring up a PHP information page.

Modifications to PHP.ini

cgi.fix_pathinfo = 1
fastcgi.impersonate = 1

Contents of file PHPInfo.php

<?php date_default_timezone_set('Europe',l;',l'/Berlin'); ?>
Current Identity : <?php echo get_current_user();?>
<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Note Note: For more information on what user is running PHP and the differences between IIS 7 and IIS 7.5, see this [blog].

Enable PHP Caching (Optional)[edit]

Install a PHP caching plugin.

  1. Navigate to WinCache.
  2. Download the file wincache-[version]-[php version]-nts-vc9-x86.exe.
  3. Launch the installer, type in a temporary directory like C:\Temp.
  4. Move the php_wincache.dll file into your PHP extensions directory C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP\ext.
  5. Open the php.ini file, located in the PHP directory C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP.
  6. Add the lines below, then save and close the file.
  7. Stop and Start IIS.
  8. Open Internet Explorer and access http://localhost/phpinfo.php, it should bring up a PHP information page.
  9. Confirm that the wincache section exists.
[PHP_WINCACHE]
extension=php_wincache.dll

MySQL[edit]

To install MySQL follow the steps below:

  1. Launch the installer, select Typical settings.
  2. After installation you will be prompted to run the MySQL Server Instance Configuration Wizard.
    1. Select Detailed Configuration, then click Next.
    2. Select Server Machine, then click Next.
    3. Select Multifunctional Database, then click Next.
    4. Select the database path, then click Next.
    5. Select Decision Support (DSS)/OLAP, then click Next.
    6. Confirm Enable TCP/IP Networking, Add firewall exception for this port and Enable Strict Mode are checked, then click Next.
    7. Select Standard Character Set, then click Next.
    8. Confirm Install as Windows Service is checked, then click Next.
    9. Enter in root password, then click Next.

MediaWiki[edit]

To install MediaWiki follow the steps below:

  1. Extract the media wiki archive into C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mediawiki directory.
  2. If you have just one .tar file, extract that file into the C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mediawiki directory.
  3. If you want MediaWiki to be the default website follow the optional instructions below.
  4. Configure MediaWiki by accessing the configuration URL (http://[server name]/mediawiki/mw-config/index.php).
  5. Follow guide for using the configuration script. Ignore the GNU diff3 not found error.

Create specific IIS website for MediaWiki (Optional)[edit]

Configure MediaWiki as the default website for a host name or an IP address.

  1. Select a name for the web site.
  2. Rename the C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mediawiki folder to C:\inetpub\wwwroot\[web site name].
  3. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, open the server name from the list.
  4. Right click on Sites and choose Add Web Site....
    1. Enter the web site name in the Site Name field.
    2. Change the physical directory to C:\inetpub\wwwroot\[web site name].
    3. Add a host name for your website or select an IP address.
  5. Click OK to create the web site.

GNU diff3 Installation (Optional)[edit]

Install GNU diff3 files.

  1. Create directory GnuWin in C:\Program Files (x86).
  2. Navigate to DiffUtils website.
  3. Download the file diffutils-2.8.7-1-bin.zip.
  4. Extract to the C:\Temp directory.
  5. Copy the bin directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin.
  6. Navigate to File website.
  7. Download the file file-5.03-bin.zip.
  8. Extract to the C:\Temp directory.
  9. Copy the bin directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin.
  10. Update the LocalSettings.php located in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\[media wiki name].

Original LocalSettings.php

# Path to the GNU diff3 utility. Used for conflict resolution.
$wgDiff3 = "";

Updated LocalSettings.php

# Path to the GNU diff3 utility. Used for conflict resolution.
$wgDiff3 = "C:/Program Files (x86)/GnuWin/bin/diff3.exe";
# Use external mime detector
$wgMimeDetectorCommand = "C:/Program Files (x86)/GnuWin/bin/file.exe -bi"; 

Notes[edit]

This installation was tested with versions:

  • IIS 7.5
  • PHP 5.3.21
  • MySQL 5.5.29
  • MediaWiki 1.20.2