Installation Procedure for newMW (MediaWiki 1.43 LTS)

This document describes the clean, reproducible installation workflow for deploying a new MediaWiki instance (newMW) on the existing 3‑VM infrastructure. It includes directory preparation, file extraction, permissions, and the preferred ownership model for VS Code access.

1. Preparation

All commands are executed on VM1 (Web Layer).

1.1 Create the target directory

mkdir /var/www/newMW

1.2 Move into the working directory

cd /var/www

2. Download MediaWiki

Download the latest LTS tarball (example: 1.43.8):

wget https://releases.wikimedia.org/mediawiki/1.43/mediawiki-1.43.8.tar.gz

3. Extract MediaWiki

Extract the archive. This creates a directory such as mediawiki-1.43.8/.

tar -xvzf mediawiki-1.43.8.tar.gz

4. Move Extracted Files into newMW

Move normal files:

mv mediawiki-1.43.8/* newMW/

Move hidden files (e.g. .htaccess):

mv mediawiki-1.43.8/.* newMW/ 2>/dev/null

Remove the now‑empty extraction directory:

rmdir mediawiki-1.43.8

Remove the tarball:

rm mediawiki-1.43.8.tar.gz

5. Ownership and Permissions

Use the preferred ownership model to allow editing via VS Code while keeping Apache fully functional.

5.1 Set owner and group

chown -R mngr:apache /var/www/newMW

5.2 Ensure group write permissions

chmod -R g+w /var/www/newMW

5.3 Apply clean directory/file permissions

Directories:

find /var/www/newMW -type d -exec chmod 775 {} \;

Files:

find /var/www/newMW -type f -exec chmod 664 {} \;

5.4 Enable group inheritance (setgid)

Ensures new files created inside inherit the apache group.

chmod g+s /var/www/newMW

6. Apache Virtual Host

Create a vhost on VM1:

<VirtualHost *:8080>
    ServerName newwiki.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/newMW

    <Directory /var/www/newMW>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/newwiki-error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/newwiki-access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Restart Apache:

systemctl restart httpd

7. nginx Reverse‑Proxy (VM3)

Add a server block:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name newwiki.example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://VM1-IP:8080;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Reload nginx:

systemctl reload nginx

8. Run the MediaWiki Installer

Navigate to:

https://newwiki.example.com

Provide:

Database: newwiki
User: newwikiuser
Password: (as created on VM2)
Site name
Admin account

Download LocalSettings.php and place it in:

/var/www/newMW/LocalSettings.php

9. Minimal Post‑Install Configuration

Add or verify:

$wgServer = "https://newwiki.example.com";
$wgScriptPath = "";
$wgArticlePath = "/wiki/$1";
$wgUsePathInfo = true;

Enable uploads (optional):

$wgEnableUploads = true;

Enable SyntaxHighlight:

wfLoadExtension( 'SyntaxHighlight_GeSHi' );

10. Verification Checklist

Site loads correctly
/wiki/Main_Page resolves
Editing works
File uploads work (if enabled)
No rewrite errors in Apache logs
nginx proxies correctly
MariaDB connections succeed

11. Summary

This procedure provides a clean, repeatable installation workflow for MediaWiki 1.43 LTS using the preferred ownership model (mngr:apache) and the existing 3‑VM architecture. It ensures clarity, maintainability, and successor‑friendly operation.