Note:  On my most recent Debian install, that is
/etc/apache/httpd.conf   not  
/etc/httpd/httpd.conf    ! ! !

The exact section I added was: 

<Directory /home/httpd/twiki/bin>
    Options  ExecCGI
</Directory>

Debian Note:  Not /home/httpd/html
           instead /var/www/httpd/html

perl -pi~ -e 's/adamsinfo:/www-data:/' /,v

perl -pi~ -e 's/nobody:/www-data:/' /,v

Installation instructions for the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 production release. Update notes for the new RCS configuration are marked Dataframework.

Installation instructions for the TWiki 01-Feb-2003 production release. Update notes for the new RCS configuration are marked Dataframework.

Request and download the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. Please review the AdminSkillsAssumptions before you install TWiki.

Request and download the TWiki 01-Feb-2003 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. Please review the AdminSkillsAssumptions before you install TWiki.

Adding a New Web

To create a new web:

1. Create a new web data directory under twiki/data and check the file permission of the directory.
   • Use a name consisting of characters A..Z , a..z but not in WikiNotation. (The name should start with one (or more) uppercase letters, but have no uppercase letters after the first group -- if it starts with a lowercase letter or is a WikiWord, some features of TWiki will not work as expected.)
2. Copy all files from the twiki/data/_default 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- (666) and then edit the topic using your browser; RCS will restore the file permissions correctly when saving the topic.
3. Add the new web to the web list (visible in the upper right corner of each topic) by editing the site-level preferences, TWikiPreferences:
   • Add the new web to the %WIKIWEBLIST% variable.
4. Update the web settings by editing the WebPreferences topic of the new web:
   • Customize the %WEBTOPICLIST% variable to contain the web-specific links you prefer.
   • Set the WEBBGCOLOR variable to a color. The number represents the unique color for the web.
   • Set Plugins, access privileges, custom variables, other web-level options (ex: %WEBCOPYRIGHT% can be set for an individual web).
5. Test the new web: view pages, create a new page.

These installation steps are based on the Apache web server on Linux. TWiki runs on other web servers and Unix systems, and should be fine with any web server and OS that meet the system requirements?. Documentation for other platforms is somewhat limited:

These installation steps are based on the Apache web server on Linux. TWiki runs on other web servers and Unix systems, and should be fine with any web server and OS that meet the system requirements. Documentation for other platforms is somewhat limited:

• To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnSourceForge

Request and download the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. (To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo .)

Request and download the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. Please review the AdminSkillsAssumptions before you install TWiki.

These installation steps are based on the Apache Web server on Linux. TWiki runs on other Web servers and Unix systems, and should be fine with any OS and server that meet the system requirements?. Documentation for other platforms is currently limited. For Windows, check TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnWindows. Search the TWiki:Codev web for other intallation notes.

These installation steps are based on the Apache web server on Linux. TWiki runs on other web servers and Unix systems, and should be fine with any web server and OS that meet the system requirements?. Documentation for other platforms is somewhat limited:

• For Unix or Linux, check TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnUnix and TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnLinux.
• For Windows, check the WindowsInstallCookbook.
• For MacOS X, check TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnMacOSX.
• For other platforms, see TWiki:Codev/TWikiOn, and search the TWiki:Codev and TWiki:Support webs for other installation notes.

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account, or you don't have administrator privileges on your intranet server - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

To install TWiki on a system where you don't have server administrator privileges, for example, on a hosted Web account:

To install TWiki on a system where you don't have Unix/Linux root (administrator) privileges, for example, on a hosted Web account or an intranet server administered by someone else:

If you are not able to create the twiki/lib directory at the same level as the twiki/bin directory (e.g. because CGI bin directories can't be under your home directory and you don't have root access), you can create this directory elsewhere and edit the setlib.cfg file in the bin directory:

    # -------------- Change these settings if required

    $twikiLibPath = '/some/other/path/lib';   # Path to lib directory containing TWiki.pm

You can also edit $localPerlLibPath in the setlib.cfg file if you are not root and need to install additional CPAN modules, but can't update the main Perl installation files on the server. Just set this variable to the full pathname to your local lib directory, typically under your home directory.

perl -pi -e 's/adamsinfo:/www-data:/' /,v

perl -pi~ -e 's/adamsinfo:/www-data:/' /,v

• • RCS - revision control system to store revsion of topics and attachments. You can use RCS executables or a version of RCS written in Perl, note that as the time of writing (Apr 2002) the Perl version has not been widely tested, so if you want to put up a live site the RCS executables are recommended. (Dateframework - prior version of TWiki only support the RCS executables and do not have the config setting $storeTopicImpl)

• • RCS - revision control system to store revision of topics and attachments. You can use RCS executables or a version of RCS written in Perl, note that as the time of writing (Apr 2002) the Perl version has not been widely tested, so if you want to put up a live site the RCS executables are recommended.
    • Set $storeTopicImpl = "RcsWrap"; for the RCS executables and make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to match the location of your RCS binaries. You can check this by issuing the command rcs at the prompt, it should result in something like "rcs: no input file".
      • Check that you have GNU diff, by typing diff -v - an error indicates you have a non-GNU diff, so install the GNU diffutils package and make sure that diff is on the PATH used by TWiki (see $safeEnvPath in the TWiki.cfg file).

• • • Set $storeTopicImpl = "RcsWrap"; for the RCS execuatbles and make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to mach the location of your RCS binaries. You can check this by issuing the comand rcs at the prompt, it should result in something like "rcs: no input file".
• 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 directories to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg accordingly)

• Security issue: Directories twiki/data , twiki/templates and all their subdirectories should be set so that they are not visible through URLs. (Alternatively, move the directories to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg accordingly)

Step 4: Finish Up from Your Browser

Step 4: Configure Site-Wide Email Preferences

• From your web browser, edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, and other email settings required for registration and WebChangesAlert to work:
  • WIKIWEBMASTER should be set to the email address of the TWiki administrator
  • SMTPMAILHOST is typically set on Windows or other non-Unix/Linux systems, where sendmail or similar is not available. When this is set and the Perl module Net::SMTP is installed, TWiki will connect to this SMTP server (e.g. mail.yourdomain.com) to send email for user registration and WebChangesAlerts. If you do have a sendmail-type program, leave SMTPMAILHOST unset so that the external sendmail program is used instead (defined by $mailProgram in TWiki.cfg).
  • SMTPSENDERHOST is optional, and set to the domain name sending the email (e.g. twiki.yourdomain.com). For use where the SMTP server requires that you identify the TWiki server sending mail. If not set, Net::SMTP will guess it for you.
• You may want to set up other TWikiPreferences later on.

Step 5: Finish Up from Your Browser

• Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, and other preferences.

• • • HINT: You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are processed correctly.

• Customization:
  • You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are carried over into the user home page correctly.
  • You can customize the default user home page in NewUserTemplate.

See Appendix A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 distribution.

See Appendix A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution.

-- PeterThoeny - 13 Sep 2001

-- PeterThoeny - 28 Dec 2002

• Create directory /home/httpd/twiki and unzip the TWiki distribution into this directory.

• Create directory /home/httpd/twiki and unzip the TWiki distribution into this directory.

• The twiki/data/*/*.txt,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after saving a topic). In this case, you need to unlock all repository files (check the RCS man pages) and lock them with a different user, ex www-data, or delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using sed:

• The twiki/data/*/*.txt,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after saving a topic). In this case, you need to unlock all repository files (check the RCS man pages) and lock them with a different user, ex www-data, or delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using perl:

for f in /,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv -f x $f; done

perl -pi -e 's/adamsinfo:/www-data:/' /,v

Note that this is not required if you use the Perl based RCS implementation - see Dataframework.

1. 1. Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub topic to TWikiRegistration. Do that by either editing the topics in theTWiki web, or by renaming the .txt and .txt,v files in the twiki/data/TWiki directory.

1. 1. Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub topic to TWikiRegistration, overwriting old version of TWikiRegistration. Do that by either editing the topics in theTWiki web, or by renaming the .txt and .txt,v files in the twiki/data/TWiki directory.

Installation instructions for the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 production release

Installation instructions for the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 production release. Update notes for the new RCS configuration are marked Dataframework.

Request and download the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. (To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo .)

Request and download the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. (To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo .)

Note that this is not required if you use the Perl based RCS implementation - see Dataframework.

• • Make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to mach the location of your RCS binaries. You can check this by issuing the comand rcs at the prompt, it should result in something like "rcs: no input file".

• • RCS - revision control system to store revsion of topics and attachments. You can use RCS executables or a version of RCS written in Perl, note that as the time of writing (Apr 2002) the Perl version has not been widely tested, so if you want to put up a live site the RCS executables are recommended. (Dateframework - prior version of TWiki only support the RCS executables and do not have the config setting $storeTopicImpl)
    • Set $storeTopicImpl = "RcsLite"; for the Perl based RCS
    • Set $storeTopicImpl = "RcsWrap"; for the RCS execuatbles and make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to mach the location of your RCS binaries. You can check this by issuing the comand rcs at the prompt, it should result in something like "rcs: no input file".

• • • NOTE: In the TWiki distribution package, tje twiki/data/.htpasswd.txt file contains several TWiki core team user accounts and a guest user account. You probably want to remove those accounts by deleting the entries in .htpasswd. Do not remove the guest user if you want to allow guest logins.

• • • NOTE: In the TWiki distribution package, the twiki/data/.htpasswd.txt file contains several TWiki core team user accounts and a guest user account. You probably want to remove those accounts by deleting the entries in .htpasswd. Do not remove the guest user if you want to allow guest logins.

See Appendix A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution.

See Appendix A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Dec-2001 distribution.

-- MikeMannix - 27 Jan 2002

-- MikeMannix - 16 May 2002

1. Add the new web to the color-coded web directory table by editing the TWikiWebsTable topic.

Overview

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

NOTE: The ScriptAlias must come before the Alias, otherwise, Apache will fail to correctly set up /twiki/bin/, by treating it as just another subdirectory of the /twiki/ alias.

NOTE: The ScriptAlias must come before the Alias, otherwise, Apache will fail to correctly set up /twiki/bin/, by treating it as just another subdirectory of the /twiki/ alias.

• The twiki/data and twiki/templates directories should be set so that they are not visible as URLs. Add them to httpd.conf with deny from all.

AllowOverride? all

</Directory> <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/data"> deny from all </Directory> <Directory "/home/httpd/twiki/templates"> deny from all

• NOTE: This Guide assumes user nobody ownership for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. You can:

• This Guide assumes user nobody ownership for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. You can:

• • • HINT: Run the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. It will show you the user name of the CGI scripts, a table listing all CGI environment variables, and a test of your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file (you'll configure that in a minute).

• • • HINT: Run the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. It will show you the user name of the CGI scripts, a table listing all CGI environment variables, and a test of your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file (you'll configure that in a minute).

• NOTE: The twiki/data/*/*.txt,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after saving a topic). In this case, you need to unlock all repository files (check the RCS man pages) and lock them with a different user, ex www-data, or delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done

• The twiki/data/*/*.txt,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after saving a topic). In this case, you need to unlock all repository files (check the RCS man pages) and lock them with a different user, ex www-data, or delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using sed:

cd twiki/data
for f in */*,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv -f x $f; done

• • Make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to mach the location of your RCS binaries.

• • Make sure RCS is installed. Set $rcsDir in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg to mach the location of your RCS binaries. You can check this by issuing the comand rcs at the prompt, it should result in something like "rcs: no input file".

• • Or, point to http://yourdomain.com/twiki/ to get the pre-TWiki index.html page, with a link to the view script. Customize this page if you want a public intro screen with a login link, instead of immediately calling up the .htaccess login dialog by going directly to view.

1. 1. 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]). In particular, the following red part needs to be configured correctly:
      Redirect /urlpath/to/TWiki/index.html http://your.domain.com/urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/view
AuthUserFile /filepath/to/TWiki/data/.htpasswd
ErrorDocument 401 /urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/oops/TWiki/TWikiRegistration?template=oopsauth
      • NOTE: In case you renamed the CGI script files to have a file extension you need to reflect that in the edit, view, preview, etc entries in .htaccess.
      • NOTE: The browser should ask for login name and password when you click on the Edit link. In case .htaccess does not have the desired effect you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
      • NOTE: The distribution package has a twiki/data/.htpasswd file which contains some TWiki core team user accounts and a guest user account. You probably want to remove those accounts by deleting the entries in .htpasswd. Do not remove the guest user in case you want to allow guest logins.

1. 1. 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]). In particular, the following red part needs to be configured correctly:
      Redirect /urlpathto/twiki/index.html http://yourdomain.com/urlpathto/twiki/bin/view
AuthUserFile /filepathto/twiki/data/.htpasswd
ErrorDocument 401 /urlpathto/twiki/bin/oops/TWiki/TWikiRegistration?template=oopsauth
      • NOTE: If you had to add a .cgi or .pl file extension to the bin scripts, make sure to do the same for edit, view, preview, and all the other script names in .htaccess.
      • The browser should ask for login name and password when you click on the Edit link. In case .htaccess does not have the desired effect, you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory [3] section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
        • This applies only if you have root access: on hosted accounts, you shouldn't have this problem - otherwise, email tech support.
      • NOTE: In the TWiki distribution package, tje twiki/data/.htpasswd.txt file contains several TWiki core team user accounts and a guest user account. You probably want to remove those accounts by deleting the entries in .htpasswd. Do not remove the guest user if you want to allow guest logins.

• • • HINT: You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are processed correctly.

• • • HINT: You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are processed correctly.

• • NOTE: When a user registers, a new line with the username and encrypted password is added to the data/.htpasswd file. The .htpasswd file that comes with the TWiki installation includes user accounts for TWiki core team members that are used for testing on TWiki.org. You can edit the file and delete those lines.

• • NOTE: When a user registers, a new line with the username and encrypted password is added to the data/.htpasswd file. The .htpasswd file that comes with the TWiki installation includes user accounts for TWiki core team members that are used for testing on TWiki.org. You can edit the file and delete those lines.

• • Use a name starting with characters A..Z, followed by a..z and/or 0..9 characters, but not a WikiWord.

• • Use a name consisting of characters A..Z , a..z but not in WikiNotation. (The name should start with one (or more) uppercase letters, but have no uppercase letters after the first group -- if it starts with a lowercase letter or is a WikiWord, some features of TWiki will not work as expected.)

• • HINT: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- (666) and then edit the topic using your browser; RCS will restore the file permissions correctly when saving the topic.

• • HINT: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- (666) and then edit the topic using your browser; RCS will restore the file permissions correctly when saving the topic.

NOTE: User home topics are located in the TWiki.Main web - don't try to move them or create them in other webs. From any other web, user signatures have to point to TWiki.Main web, using a Main.UserName or %MAINWEB%.UserName format. (The %MAINWEB% variable is an advantage if you ever change the Main web name, but the standard Main.UserName is easier for users to enter, which is the bottom line!

NOTE: User home topics are located in the TWiki.Main web - don't try to move them or create them in other webs. From any other web, user signatures have to point to TWiki.Main web, using a Main.UserName or %MAINWEB%.UserName format. (The %MAINWEB% variable is an advantage if you ever change the Main web name, but the standard Main.UserName is easier for users to enter, which is the bottom line!

-- MikeMannix - 03 Dec 2001

-- MikeMannix - 27 Jan 2002

• • • NOTE: The distribution package has a twiki/data/.htpasswd file which contains some TWiki core team user accounts and a guest user account. You probably want to remove those accounts by deleting the entries in .htpasswd. Do not remove the guest user in case you want to allow guest logins.

AllowOverride? all

• Enable email notification of topic changes, MonitoringSiteActivity? has more.

• Enable email notification of topic changes, TWikiSiteTools has more.

-- MikeMannix - 14 Sep 2001

-- MikeMannix - 03 Dec 2001

• Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).

• Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).

• • Use a name consisting of characters A..Z , a..z but not in WikiNotation.

• • Use a name starting with characters A..Z, followed by a..z and/or 0..9 characters, but not a WikiWord.

• • • HINT: Run the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. It will show you the user name of the CGI scripts, a table listing all CGI environment variables, and a test of your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file (you'll configure that in a minute).

• The CGI scripts execute as nobody. Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).
• Test your settings by running the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. You should get a table listing all CGI environment variables, and a test of your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file (you'll configure that in a minute).

• Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).

• NOTE: The twiki/data/*/*.txt,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after saving a topic). In this case, you need to unlock all repository files (check the RCS man pages) and lock them with a different user, ex www-data, or delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done

• NOTE: The *,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after 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 delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done

• Enable email notification of topic changes, MonitoringSiteActivity? has more.
• Add the TWiki:Main/PoweredByTWikiLogo to your WebHome topic.

• Test your settings by running the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. Check if your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file settings are correct.

• Edit the TWikiAdminGroup topic to include users with system administrator status.
• Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, the WEBCOPYRIGHT message, access privileges, and other preferences.
• Edit the WebPreferences topic in each web, if necessary: set access priviliges, individual WEBCOPYRIGHT messages, other preferences.

• Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, and other preferences.
• Edit the WebPreferences topic in each web, if necessary: set individual WEBCOPYRIGHT messages, and other preferences.
• Enable email notification of topic changes, MonitoringSiteActivity? has more.

• Add the TWiki:Main/PoweredByTWikiLogo to your WebHome topic.

Enabling Authentication of Users

• If TWiki is installed on a non-authenticated server - not using SSL - and you'd like to authenticate users:
  1. 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]). In particular, the following red part needs to be configured correctly:
     Redirect /urlpath/to/TWiki/index.html http://your.domain.com/urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/view
AuthUserFile /filepath/to/TWiki/data/.htpasswd
ErrorDocument 401 /urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/oops/TWiki/TWikiRegistration?template=oopsauth
     • NOTE: In case you renamed the CGI script files to have a file extension you need to reflect that in the edit, view, preview, etc entries in .htaccess.
     • NOTE: The browser should ask for login name and password when you click on the Edit link. In case .htaccess does not have the desired effect you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
  2. Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub topic to TWikiRegistration. Do that by either editing the topics in theTWiki web, or by renaming the .txt and .txt,v files in the twiki/data/TWiki directory.
     • HINT: You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are processed correctly.
• Register yourself in the TWikiRegistration topic.
  • NOTE: When a user registers, a new line with the username and encrypted password is added to the data/.htpasswd file. The .htpasswd file that comes with the TWiki installation includes user accounts for TWiki core team members that are used for testing on TWiki.org. You can edit the file and delete those lines.
• Create a new topic to check if authentication works.
• Edit the TWikiAdminGroup topic in the TWiki:Main web to include users with system administrator status.
• Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set access privileges.
• Edit the WebPreferences topic in each web, if necessary: set access priviliges.

Enabling Basic Authentication (.htaccess)

• If TWiki is installed on a non-authenticated server - not using SSL - and you'd like to authenticate users:
  1. 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]). In particular, the following red part needs to be configured correctly:
     Redirect /urlpath/to/TWiki/index.html http://your.domain.com/urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/view
AuthUserFile /filepath/to/TWiki/data/.htpasswd
ErrorDocument 401 /urlpath/to/TWiki/bin/oops/TWiki/TWikiRegistration?template=oopsauth
     • NOTE: In case you renamed the CGI script files to have a file extension you need to reflect that in the edit, view, preview, etc entries in .htaccess.
     • NOTE: The browser should ask for login name and password when you click on the Edit link. In case .htaccess does not have the desired effect you need to enable it: Add "AllowOverride All" to the Directory section of access.conf for your twiki/bin directory.
  2. Copy the TWikiRegistrationPub topic to TWikiRegistration. Do that by either editing the topics in theTWiki web, or by renaming the .txt and .txt,v files in the twiki/data/TWiki directory.
     • You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are processed correctly.

• • NOTE: When a user registers, a new line with the username and encrypted password is added to the data/.htpasswd file. The .htpasswd file that comes with the TWiki installation includes user accounts for TWiki core team members that are used for testing on TWiki.org. You can edit the file and delete those lines.

• NOTE: This Guide assumes user nobody ownership for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. You can:
  • replace nobody with another user if your server executes scripts under a different name (ex: default for Debian is www-data).
  • replace user twiki with your own username

• Restart Apache by /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S85httpd restart .
• Test that the twiki/bin directory is CGI-enabled by trying visiting it in your browser:
  • Enter the URL for the bin directory, http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/.
  • Your settings are OK if you get a message like "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access /twiki/bin/ on this server".
  • Settings are NOT correct if you get something like "Index of /twiki/bin" - recheck your httpd.conf file.

Step 2: Check the Server Directory Settings

Step 2: Set File Permissions

• 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 shows a table with all CGI environment variables. It also tests the settings in your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file, which you will set later on.

Step 3: Enable Perl File Permissions

• Make sure Perl 5 and the Perl CGI library are installed on your system. The default location of Perl is /usr/bin/perl. If Perl is installed elsewhere, change the first line of all scripts in the twiki/bin directory (or create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl).
  • IMPORTANT: On most ISP virtual domain accounts, Perl CGI scripts require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Change all twiki/bin scripts appropriately if necessary.

• Make sure Perl 5 and the Perl CGI library are installed on your system. The default location of Perl is /usr/bin/perl. If it's elsewhere, change the path to Perl in the first line of each script in the twiki/bin directory, or create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl.
  • IMPORTANT: On ISP-hosted accounts, Perl CGI scripts usually require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Modify all twiki/bin script filenames if necessary.

• NOTE: This Guide assumes user nobody ownership for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. You can:
  • replace nobody with another user if your server executes scripts under a different name (ex: default for Debian is www-data).
  • replace user twiki with your own username

• Test your settings by running the testenv script from your browser: http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/testenv. You should get a table listing all CGI environment variables, and a test of your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file (you'll configure that in a minute).

Step 4: Set the Main Configuration File

Step 3: Set the Main Configuration File

• Edit the file twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg and set the variables to your needs.

• Edit the file twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg, setting the variables to your needs.

• Note in case the CGI scripts are not running as user nobody: The *,v RCS repository files delivered with the installation package are locked by user nobody . In case the user is different (ex: 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. A simple way to switch the locker of the RCS files is to use sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done

• NOTE: The *,v RCS repository files in the installation package are locked by user nobody. If your CGI scripts are not running as user nobody, it's not possible to check in files (you'll see that the revision number won't increase after 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 delete them all - new files will be automatically created the first time each topic is edited. A simple way to change ownership is with a search-and-replace in all files; for example, using sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done

Step 5: Finish Up from Your Browser

Step 4: Finish Up from Your Browser

Installation instructions for the current public release (01-Sep-2001)

Installation instructions for the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 production release

Standard Installation

Request and download the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html. (To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo.)

Standard Installation

Request and download the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution in Unix ZIP format from http://TWiki.org/download.html.

• NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.
• NOTE: To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo.

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

• NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.
• NOTE: To install TWiki on SourceForge, for use on a software development project, read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo.

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.

NOTE: The ScriptAlias must come before the Alias, otherwise, Apache will fail to correctly set up /twiki/bin/, by treating it as just another subdirectory of the /twiki/ alias.

(Read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo in case you want to install TWiki on SourceForge, to use on a software development project.)

Clean install of the current public release (01-Sep-2001)

Installation instructions for the current public release (01-Sep-2001)

These installation steps use the Apache web server on Linux as an example. TWiki runs on other web servers and Unix systems as well. (TWiki on Windows is possible, but has not been well-documented. More on that at TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnWindows.)

These installation steps are based on the Apache Web server on Linux. TWiki runs on other Web servers and Unix systems, and should be fine with any OS and server that meet the system requirements?. Documentation for other platforms is currently limited. For Windows, check TWiki:Codev/TWikiOnWindows. Search the TWiki:Codev web for other intallation notes.

• NOTE: This Installation Guide assumes the following:

• • User nobody is used for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. Replace user nobody with another user if your Web server executes scripts under a different name (default for Debian is www-data). Also, you can substitute user twiki with your own username.

• • You have control over the Web server configuration files. In case you don't - you may be installing on an ISP-hosted server - follow the steps but use these directories instead:

Read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo in case you want to install TWiki on SourceForge.

• NOTE: This Guide assumes user nobody ownership for all files manipulated by the CGI scripts (executed by the Web server), and user twiki for all other files. You can:
  • replace nobody with another user if your server executes scripts under a different name (ex: default for Debian is www-data).
  • replace user twiki with your own username

NOTE: If you don't have access to your Web server configuration files - for example, if you're installing on an ISP-hosted account - use the alternative Step 1 instead.

• Go directly to Step 2...

Step 1 for Non-Root Accounts

To install TWiki on a system where you don't have server administrator privileges, for example, on a hosted Web account:

• Download and unzip TWiki on your local PC
• Using the table below, create a directory structure on your host server
• Upload the TWiki files by FTP (transfer as text except for the image files in pub)

TWiki dir:	What it is:	Where to copy:	Example:
twiki/bin	CGI bin	cgi-bin enabled dir	/home/smith/public_html/cgi-bin
twiki/lib	library files	same level like twiki/bin	/home/smith/public_html/lib
twiki/pub	public files	htdoc enabled dir	/home/smith/public_html/pub
twiki/data	topic data	outside of htdoc tree (for security)	/home/smith/twiki/data
twiki/templates	web templates	outside of htdoc tree (for security)	/home/smith/twiki/templates

(Read TWiki:Codev/SourceForgeHowTo in case you want to install TWiki on SourceForge, to use on a software development project.)

• • Execute the testenv script from your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/testenv ). It shows a table with all CGI environment variables. It also tests the settings in your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file, which you will set later on.

• • Execute the testenv script from your browser ( http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/testenv ). It shows a table with all CGI environment variables. It also tests the settings in your twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg configuration file, which you will set later on.

• Make sure Perl 5 and the Perl CGI library are 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 must be changed (alternatively you can create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl ).
  • IMPORTANT: On most ISP virtual domain accounts, Perl CGI scripts require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Change all twiki/bin scripts appropriately if necessary.
• 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 CGI scripts execute as nobody. Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).
• Set the permission of all files below twiki/data so that they are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to -rw-rw-r-- (664) and to chown them to nobody.
• Set the permission of the twiki/data directory and its subdirectories so that files in there are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to drwxrwxr-x (775) and to chown them to nobody.
• Set the permission of the twiki/pub directory and all its subdirectories so that files in there are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to drwxrwxr-x (775) and to chown them to nobody.

• Make sure Perl 5 and the Perl CGI library are installed on your system. The default location of Perl is /usr/bin/perl. If Perl is installed elsewhere, change the first line of all scripts in the twiki/bin directory (or create a symbolic link from /usr/bin/perl).
  • IMPORTANT: On most ISP virtual domain accounts, Perl CGI scripts require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Change all twiki/bin scripts appropriately if necessary.
• 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 CGI scripts execute as nobody. Set the file permission of all Perl scripts in the twiki/bin directory as executable to -rwxr-xr-x (755).
• Set the permission of all files below twiki/data so that they are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to -rw-rw-r-- (664) and to chown them to nobody.
• Set the permission of the twiki/data directory and its subdirectories so that files in there are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to drwxrwxr-x (775) and to chown them to nobody.
• Set the permission of the twiki/pub directory and all its subdirectories so that files in there are writable by user nobody. A simple way is to chmod them to drwxrwxr-x (775) and to chown them to nobody.

• Edit the file twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg and set the variables to your needs.
  • Set the file extension in the $scriptSuffix variable to cgi or pl if required.

• Edit the file twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg and set the variables to your needs.
  • Set the file extension in the $scriptSuffix variable to cgi or pl if required.

• Note in case the CGI scripts are not running as user 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. A simple way to switch the locker of the RCS files is to use sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done
• 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 directories to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg accordingly)

• Note in case the CGI scripts are not running as user nobody: The *,v RCS repository files delivered with the installation package are locked by user nobody . In case the user is different (ex: 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. A simple way to switch the locker of the RCS files is to use sed:
  for f in *,v; do sed 's/nobody\:/www-data\:/' $f > x; mv x $f; done
• 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 directories to a place where they are not visible, and change the variables in twiki/lib/TWiki.cfg accordingly)

• Point your Web browser at http://your.domain.com/twiki/bin/view and start TWiki-ing away!
• Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, the WEBCOPYRIGHT message and other preferences.
• Edit the WebNotify topic in all webs and set the users you want to notify.

• Point your Web browser at http://yourdomain.com/twiki/bin/view and start TWiki-ing away!
• Edit the TWikiAdminGroup topic to include users with system administrator status.
• Edit the TWikiPreferences topic in the TWiki:TWiki web to set the WIKIWEBMASTER email address, the WEBCOPYRIGHT message, access privileges, and other preferences.
• Edit the WebPreferences topic in each web, if necessary: set access priviliges, individual WEBCOPYRIGHT messages, other preferences.
• Edit the WebNotify topic in all webs and add the users you want to notify.
• You can add new %VARIABLES%. Define site-level variables in the TWikiPreferences topic. See also: TWikiVariables.

That's it for the standard virgin installation of TWiki. Read on to learn how to customize TWiki.

That's it for the standard virgin installation of TWiki. Read on for server-level customization options.

Complete a Standard Installation and your new TWiki site should be up and running. You can develop and manage most aspects of your site from the browser interface. Core set-up functions require direct access to the server file system, via Telnet or FTP. You can make server-level site changes during installation, or at any time afterwards.

With your new TWiki installation up and running, you can manage most aspects of your site from the browser interface. Only a few functions require access to the server file system, via Telnet or FTP. You can make these server-level changes during installation, and at any time afterwards.

Creating a New Web

Adding a New Web

• To create a new web:

To create a new web:

• • • Hint: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- (666) and then edit the topic using your browser; RCS will restore the file permissions correctly when saving the topic.

• • HINT: You can set permissions of .txt and .txt,v files to -rw-rw-rw- (666) and then edit the topic using your browser; RCS will restore the file permissions correctly when saving the topic.

• That's it for a basic new web set-up. You can also further customize the web:
  • Create customized templates in the new templates directory (otherwise, templates are inherited from twiki/templates).
    • NOTE: For web-specific templates in a templates subdirectory, ex: twiki/templates/someweb.
  • Create TWikiForms to add form-based page input that's stored separately from the main free-form topic text.

• NOTE: User home topics are located in the TWiki.Main web - don't try to move them or create them in other webs. From any web you can refer to users located in the TWiki.Main web with Main.UserName or %MAINWEB%.UserName - using the %MAINWEB% variable is preferable, particularly if you might change the Main web name.

That's it for a basic new web set-up!

Adding Variables & Rendering Rules

Optionally, you can also:

• Create custom web-specific templates in a new twiki/templates/Someweb directory (otherwise, templates are inherited from twiki/templates).
• Add TWikiForms for form-based page input that's stored separately from the main free-form topic text.

• You can add new %VARIABLES%. Define site-level variables in the TWikiPreferences topic. See also TWikiVariables.
• You can add new rendering rules or add new functionality to TWiki. To insure an easy upgrade of TWiki, it is recommended to do this sort of customization with TWikiPlugins and the Plugins API.

NOTE: User home topics are located in the TWiki.Main web - don't try to move them or create them in other webs. From any other web, user signatures have to point to TWiki.Main web, using a Main.UserName or %MAINWEB%.UserName format. (The %MAINWEB% variable is an advantage if you ever change the Main web name, but the standard Main.UserName is easier for users to enter, which is the bottom line!

• If you are on a non-authenticated server - not using SSL - and you would like to authenticate users:

• If TWiki is installed on a non-authenticated server - not using SSL - and you'd like to authenticate users:

• • • NOTE: You can customize the registration form if needed, like deleting or adding input tags. 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.

• • • You can customize the registration form by deleting or adding input tags. 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 ensures that the fields are processed correctly.

• • A new line containing user name and encrypted password gets added to the data/.htpasswd file when a users registers. The file that comes with the TWiki installation contains a few user accounts of TWiki core team members (needed for testing). You can edit the file and delete those lines.

• • NOTE: When a user registers, a new line with the username and encrypted password is added to the data/.htpasswd file. The .htpasswd file that comes with the TWiki installation includes user accounts for TWiki core team members that are used for testing on TWiki.org. You can edit the file and delete those lines.

See A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution.

See Appendix A: TWiki File System for an installed system snapshot and descriptions of all files in the TWiki 01-Sep-2001 distribution.

-- PeterThoeny - 13 Sep 2001

-- PeterThoeny - 13 Sep 2001

• • You have control over the Web server configuraton files. In case you don't - you may be installing on an ISP-hosted server - follow the steps but use these directories instead:

• • You have control over the Web server configuration files. In case you don't - you may be installing on an ISP-hosted server - follow the steps but use these directories instead:

• Test if the twiki/bin directory is cgi-enabled:

• Test if the twiki/bin directory is CGI-enabled:

• • IMPORTANT: On most ISP virtual domain accounts, Perl CGI scripts require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Change all twiki/bin scripts appropriately if necssary.

• • IMPORTANT: On most ISP virtual domain accounts, Perl CGI scripts require a .cgi extension to run. Some systems need .pl, the regular Perl extension. Change all twiki/bin scripts appropriately if necessary.