These installation steps use the Apache web server on Linux as an example. TWiki should run on other web servers and Unix systems as well.

Note: These installation notes assume user nobody for all files manupulated by the cgi scripts (executed by the web server), and user twiki for all other files. You need to replace user nobody with an other user in case the web server executes the script with a different user ( default for Debian is www-data ). Also, you can substitute user twiki with your own user name.

  • Request the TWiki distribution (in Unix ZIP format) from http://TWiki.SourceForge.net/download.html .
  • Create directory /home/httpd/twiki and unzip the TWiki distribution to this directory.
  • The twiki/bin directory of TWiki must be set as a cgi-bin directory. Add /home/httpd/twiki/bin to /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf with only ExecCGI option.
  • The twiki/pub directory of TWiki must be set so that it is visible as a URL. Add /home/httpd/twiki to /etc/httpd/conf/access.conf with normal access options (copy from /home/httpd/html).
  • Now add ScriptAlias for /twiki/bin and Alias for /twiki to /etc/httpd/conf/srm-conf . Example:
    ScriptAlias /twiki/bin/ /home/httpd/twiki/bin/
    Alias /twiki/ /home/httpd/twiki/
    Note: The ScriptAlias must come before the Alias in Apache, otherwise it will fail to correctly set up /twiki/bin/ , due to the fact that it sees that as being just another subdirectory of the /twiki/ alias.
  • Restart Apache by /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S85httpd restart .
  • Test if the twiki/bin directory is cgi-enabled:
    • Enter the URL of that directory into your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin ). It is not set correctly as cgi-bin in case you get something like "Index of /twiki/bin" . It is OK if you get a message like "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access /twiki/bin/ on this server."
    • Execute the testenv script from your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/testenv ). It should show a table of all CGI environment variables.
  • Make sure PERL and the PERL CGI library is installed on your system. Default location of PERL executable is /usr/bin/perl . In case PERL is installed in a different location, the first line of all perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory need to be changed (alternatively you can create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl ).
  • To be able to edit the perl scripts and .tmpl files it is necessary to chown and chgrp -R twiki so all the files have the owner you want.
  • The scripts execute as nobody . Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rw-r-xr-x .
  • Set the file permission of all files below twiki/data to 666 ( -rw-rw-rw- ).
  • Set the file permission of the twiki/data directory and all its subdirectories to 777 ( drwxrwxrwx ).
  • Set the file permission of the twiki/pub directory to 777 ( drwxrwxrwx ).
  • Edit the file twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm and set the variables at the beginning of the file to your needs.
  • Make sure RCS is installed. In case RCS is not in the path environment variable, add it to path . Alternatively, add the full path name to the rcs, ci, co, rlog, rcsdiff commands in the variables of twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm .
  • Point your browser at http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/view and start wiki-ing away!
  • Note in case cgi user is not nobody : The *,v RCS repository files delivered with the installation package are locked by user nobody . In case the user is different (e.g. www-data ), it is not possible to check in files, this has the effect that the topic version number does not increase when saving a topic. In this case you need to unlock all repository files and lock them as user www-data (check the rcs man pages), or simply delete all the repository files.
  • Security issue: Directories twiki/data , twiki/templates and all its subdirectories should be set so that they are not visible as a URL. (Alternatively, move the directries to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm accordingly)
  • Enable email notification of topic changes, (3) has more.
  • Add the PoweredByTWikiLogo if TWiki is installed on a public web server.

  • Optional: You can add new rendering rules or new %variables%. To insure an easy upgrade of TWiki it is recommended to do this customization in twiki/bin/wikicfg.pm , not twiki/bin/wiki.pm .

  • Optional: If you are on a public server and you would like to authenticate users:
    • Rename file .htaccess.txt in the twiki/bin directory to .htaccess and change it to your needs. For details consult the HTTP server documentation (for Apache server: [1], [2], [3]). Note: In case .htaccess does not have any effect you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
    • Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub topic to TWikiRegistration. You can customize the topic if needed. Note: You can delete or add new input variables to the registration form. The name="" parameter of the input tags must start with: "Twk0..." (if this is an optional entry), or "Twk1..." (if this is a required entry). This will ensure that the fields are processed correctly.

  • Optional: You can automatically generate usage statistics for all webs. To enable this:
    • Make sure variable $doLogTopicView, $doLogTopicSave and $doLogTopicUpload in wikicfg.pm are set. This will generate log entries in file twiki/data/log<date>.txt .
    • Topic WebStatistics must be present in all webs where you want to have statistics. You can use the topic in the Main web as a template.
    • Call the twiki/bin/statistics script from a cron job, once a day is recommended. This will update the WebStatistics topics in all webs.
    • Attention: The script must run as the same user as the CGI scripts are running, which is user nobody on most systems. Example crontab entry:
      0 0 * * * (cd /path/to/TWiki/bin; ./statistics >/dev/null 2>&1)
    • There is a workaround in case you can't run the script as user nobody : Run the utility twiki/bin/geturl in your cron job and specify the URL of the twiki/bin/statistics script as a parameter. Example:
      0 0 * * * (cd /path/to/TWiki/bin; ./geturl mydomain.com /urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/statistics >/dev/null 2>&1)
    • The twiki/bin/statistics script can also be executed as a CGI script, just enter the URL in your browser. Examples:
      • Update current month for all webs:
        http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics
      • Update current month for Main web only:
        http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics/Main
      • Update January 2000 for Main web:
        http://mydomain.com/twiki/bin/statistics/Main?logdate=200001

  • To create a new web:
    • Use a name for the web consisting of characters A..Z , a..z but not in WikiNotation.
    • Create a new template directory under twiki/templates .
    • Create a new data directory under twiki/data and check the file permission of the directory.
    • Copy the files WebHome.txt , WebPreferences.txt , WebNotify.txt , WebSearch.txt and WebStatistics.txt from the twiki/data/Main directory to the new data directory, preserving the original files' owner, group and permissions ( on Unix use cp -p ). The data files must be writable by the owner the CGI scripts are running on ( usually nobody ). Hint: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- and then edit the topic using your browser, RCS will restore the file permission correctly when saving the topic.
    • Add the new web to the web list (on top of each topic) by editing the site-level preferences TWikiPreferences:
      • Add the new web to the WIKIWEBLIST variable.
    • Add the new web to the web table (at the bottom of each WebHome topic) by editing the TWikiWebsTable? topic.
    • Change the web preferences by editing the WebPreferences topic of the new web:
      • Set the WEBBGCOLOR variable to a color of your taste. The number represents the unique color for the web (consult an HTML book for colors.)
      • Customize the WEBTOPICLIST variable to contain the web specific links you prefer.
      • Optional: Set the WEBCOPYRIGHT variable to have a web-specific copyright text (at the bottom of each topic).
    • If needed, create customized templates in the new templates directory. (Non existing templates are inherited from twiki/templates )
    • If you want to use a category table, copy the three files twikicatitems.tmpl , twikicatedit.tmpl and twikicatview.tmpl from the twiki/templates/Know directory to the new templates directory, and customize it. The TWiki Category Table section has more.
    • In case you want usage statistics for this web: Copy file WebStatistics.txt from the twiki/data/Main directory to the new data directory. Edit topic WebStatistics in the new web and delete old usage entries.

Here are contents of directories with file permissions. Please note that this is for debugging reasons only and does not exactly reflect the distribution:

directory twiki/bin : 

drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 18 18:31 .
drwxr-xr-x   8 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki        770 Feb 10 12:10 .htaccess
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       3968 Feb 18 00:26 attach
-rwxr-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       3033 Feb 17 23:57 changes
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       1377 Feb  8 18:18 delete
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       8785 Feb 17 23:58 edit
-rwxr--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1811 Feb  4 14:31 geturl
-rwxr-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       5047 Feb  8 20:33 mailnotify
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       1825 Feb  8 18:29 oops
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       6932 Feb 11 02:06 preview
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       7804 Feb 17 23:59 rdiff
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       7010 Feb 18 00:03 register
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       2501 Jan 25 19:39 save
-rwxr-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       1778 Feb 18 00:04 search
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       9810 Feb  8 18:43 statistics
-rwxr-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki        509 Feb  7 18:55 testenv
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       6856 Feb 18 00:11 upload
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       4922 Feb 17 23:54 view
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       1606 May 21  1999 viewfile
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki      27794 Feb 26 06:03 wiki.pm
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki      10143 Feb 27 04:03 wikicfg.pm
-rw-r-xr-x   1 twiki   twiki       5440 Feb  7 04:36 wikisearch.pm

directory twiki/templates/ : 

drwxr-xr-x   7 twiki   twiki       1024 Jan 16 19:39 .
drwxr-xr-x   8 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Jun  8  1999 Know
drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Dec  9  1998 Main
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       2286 Feb 24 21:50 attach.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1272 Feb  8 16:07 attachtable.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1884 Feb 24 21:54 changes.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       2242 Feb 24 21:33 edit.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        965 Feb  8 16:07 mailnotify.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki         30 Jan 14  1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        934 Feb  8 16:07 notext.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        899 Feb  8 16:07 notwiki.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        299 Feb 24 21:58 noweb.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        957 Feb 24 22:17 oops.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        871 Feb 24 22:17 oopsdel.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1330 Feb 24 22:17 oopslocked.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregexist.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        912 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregpasswd.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        923 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregrequ.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1125 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregthanks.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        942 Feb 24 22:17 oopsregwiki.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1564 Feb 24 22:17 oopsrev.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        906 Feb 24 22:17 oopsupload.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1535 Feb 24 22:02 preview.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1661 Feb 24 22:04 rdiff.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        263 Aug  3  1999 register.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        936 Feb  8 16:08 registernotify.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1779 Feb 24 22:06 search.tmpl
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1533 Feb 24 21:43 view.tmpl

directory twiki/templates/Main : 

drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Dec  9  1998 .
drwxr-xr-x   7 twiki   twiki       1024 Jan 16 19:39 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       2732 Feb 24 21:34 edit.tmpl

directory twiki/templates/Know (has a TWiki Category Table) : 

drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Jun  8  1999 .
drwxr-xr-x   7 twiki   twiki       1024 Jan 16 19:39 ..
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki        446 Jun  8  1999 notedited.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki        206 Jun  8  1999 twikicatedit.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki       1060 Jul 16  1999 twikicatitems.tmpl
-rw-rw-r--   1 twiki   twiki        231 Jun  8  1999 twikicatview.tmpl

directory twiki/data/ : 

drwxrwxrwx   8 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 26 04:17 .
drwxr-xr-x   8 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      2241 Feb 25 20:18 .htpasswd
drwxrwxrwx   2 twiki   twiki       3072 Feb 27 01:15 Know
drwxrwxrwx   2 twiki   twiki       9216 Feb 27 18:16 Main
-rw-rw-rw-   1 twiki   twiki          1 Feb 26 06:01 debug.txt
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   1263064 Jan 31 23:13 log200001.txt
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody   1063398 Feb 27 18:33 log200002.txt

part of directory twiki/data/Main : 

drwxrwxrwx   2 twiki   twiki       9216 Feb 27 18:16 .
drwxrwxrwx   8 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 26 04:17 ..
-rw-rw-rw-   1 twiki   twiki       5722 Feb 27 18:13 .changes
-rw-rw-rw-   1 twiki   twiki          9 Feb 27 18:15 .mailnotify
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     26163 Feb 24 12:22 TWikiDocumentation.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     44133 Feb 24 12:22 TWikiDocumentation.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     11661 Feb 27 18:13 TWikiHistory.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     18877 Feb 27 18:13 TWikiHistory.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      3029 Feb 26 04:46 TWikiPreferences.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      3219 Feb 26 04:46 TWikiPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      7188 Feb 11 21:39 TWikiRegistration.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      7375 Feb 11 21:39 TWikiRegistration.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      3180 Feb 25 20:19 TWikiUsers.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     16537 Feb 25 20:19 TWikiUsers.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      2613 Feb  7 04:47 TWikiVariables.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      3125 Feb  7 04:47 TWikiVariables.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      2068 Feb 10 11:34 TWikiWeb.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      3610 Feb 10 11:34 TWikiWeb.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      1677 Feb 26 05:11 TWikiWebsTable.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      1866 Feb 26 05:11 TWikiWebsTable.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      2294 Feb 27 17:54 WebHome.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      5282 Feb 27 17:54 WebHome.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody       586 Jan 17 01:05 WebNotify.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      1629 Jan 17 01:05 WebNotify.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      1834 Feb 25 14:13 WebPreferences.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      2023 Feb 25 14:13 WebPreferences.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      4407 Feb 11 21:08 WebSearch.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     10822 Feb 11 21:08 WebSearch.txt,v
-rw-r--r--   1 nobody  nobody      4416 Feb 27 00:00 WebStatistics.txt
-r--r--r--   1 nobody  nobody     27759 Feb 27 00:00 WebStatistics.txt,v

directory twiki/pub/ : 

drwxrwxrwx  11 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb  8 18:10 .
drwxr-xr-x   8 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb 26 04:20 ..
drwxrwxrwx   4 nobody  nobody      1024 Aug 28  1999 Know
drwxrwxrwx  19 nobody  nobody      1024 Feb 27 09:56 Main
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       1078 Jan 14 20:24 favicon.ico
drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Mar 27  1999 icn
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       3016 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       5320 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo1.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       6125 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo2.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       7218 Sep 10 04:27 twikilogo3.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       6710 Sep 11 02:21 twikilogo4.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki       2877 Jun 15  1999 wikiHome.gif

directory twiki/pub/icn/ : 

drwxr-xr-x   2 twiki   twiki       1024 Mar 27  1999 .
drwxrwxrwx  11 twiki   twiki       1024 Feb  8 18:10 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        801 Mar 27  1999 _filetypes.txt
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        143 Mar 27  1999 bat.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        926 Mar 27  1999 bmp.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        141 Mar 27  1999 c.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        144 Mar 27  1999 dll.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        152 Mar 27  1999 doc.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        130 Mar 27  1999 else.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        876 Mar 27  1999 exe.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        147 Mar 27  1999 fon.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        142 Mar 27  1999 h.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        156 Mar 27  1999 hlp.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        186 Mar 27  1999 html.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        144 Mar 27  1999 java.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        148 Mar 27  1999 mov.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        150 Mar 27  1999 pdf.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        146 Mar 27  1999 pl.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        150 Mar 27  1999 ppt.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        148 Mar 27  1999 ps.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        148 Mar 27  1999 py.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        130 Mar 27  1999 ram.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        154 Mar 27  1999 reg.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        147 Mar 27  1999 sh.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        155 Mar 27  1999 sniff.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        149 Mar 27  1999 ttf.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        134 Mar 27  1999 txt.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        154 Mar 27  1999 wav.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        152 Mar 27  1999 wri.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        152 Mar 27  1999 xls.gif
-rw-r--r--   1 twiki   twiki        144 Mar 27  1999 zip.gif

-- PeterThoeny - 24 May 2000

Revision: r1.4 - 30 Jun 2000 - 18:16 - PeterThoeny
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