Installing MediaWiki on Ubuntu

This guide installs MediaWiki with Apache, PHP and MariaDB on Ubuntu 24.04 (PHP 8.3). It covers the firewall, PHP limits for uploads, the database, a Let’s Encrypt certificate, and common extensions (MsUpload, VisualEditor, SyntaxHighlight, WikiEditor, PdfHandler).

Overview

The examples use /var/www/html/wiki, so the wiki ends up at https://<your-domain>/wiki.

1. Install Packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server php php-mysql libapache2-mod-php php-xml php-mbstring php-apcu php-intl imagemagick inkscape php-gd php-cli php-curl php-bcmath git poppler-utils ghostscript

2. Verify the Status

systemctl is-enabled apache2
systemctl status apache2

systemctl is-enabled mariadb
systemctl status mariadb

php -v
php -m | grep -Ei 'intl|mbstring|xml|apcu|mysqli|gd'

php -v shows the version you need for the php.ini path in step 4. MediaWiki 1.43 requires PHP 8.1 or newer.

3. Set Up the UFW Firewall

Allow SSH before enabling UFW, or you’ll lock yourself out of a remote server.

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow "Apache Full"       # ports 80 and 443
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

The Apache Full profile is installed by the apache2 package (sudo ufw app info "Apache Full" shows ports 80,443/tcp).

4. Edit the PHP Configuration

Raise the limits so larger files can be uploaded. The path contains the PHP version from php -v (8.3 on Ubuntu 24.04, 8.1 on 22.04):

sudo vi /etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini

Set these values (no quotes in php.ini):

upload_max_filesize = 50M
post_max_size = 50M
memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 360

Or apply them without an editor:

PHPINI=/etc/php/8.3/apache2/php.ini
sudo sed -i -E \
  -e 's/^;?upload_max_filesize = .*/upload_max_filesize = 50M/' \
  -e 's/^;?post_max_size = .*/post_max_size = 50M/' \
  -e 's/^;?memory_limit = .*/memory_limit = 512M/' \
  -e 's/^;?max_execution_time = .*/max_execution_time = 360/' \
  "$PHPINI"
grep -E '^(upload_max_filesize|post_max_size|memory_limit|max_execution_time)' "$PHPINI"

sudo systemctl restart apache2

post_max_size must be at least as large as upload_max_filesize, otherwise big uploads fail without a clear error.

5. Configure the MariaDB Server

sudo mariadb-secure-installation

Answer the prompts: set a root password (or keep socket authentication), remove anonymous users, disallow remote root login, remove the test database.

On Ubuntu, root logs in through the Unix socket, so sudo is enough (add -u root -p only if you switched root to password authentication):

sudo mariadb

CREATE DATABASE mediawikidb;
CREATE USER 'mediawiki'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '<secure-password>';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mediawikidb.* TO 'mediawiki'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

The wiki user only needs rights on its own database; it doesn’t need WITH GRANT OPTION. (FLUSH PRIVILEGES isn’t required after CREATE USER/GRANT, but it does no harm.)

6. Download MediaWiki

Use the current LTS release unless you need a newer feature. Check mediawiki.org/wiki/Download  for the latest version; 1.43 is the LTS series (supported until December 2027).

MW_SERIES=1.43
MW_VERSION=1.43.11

cd /var/www/html
sudo curl -O https://releases.wikimedia.org/mediawiki/${MW_SERIES}/mediawiki-${MW_VERSION}.tar.gz
sudo tar zxf mediawiki-${MW_VERSION}.tar.gz && sudo mv mediawiki-${MW_VERSION} wiki
sudo rm mediawiki-${MW_VERSION}.tar.gz
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data wiki

7. Apache Virtual Host

Certbot needs a virtual host with a ServerName that matches your domain. Point the domain’s DNS A record at the server first.

sudo tee /etc/apache2/sites-available/wiki.conf << 'EOF'
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName domain.ro
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html

    <Directory /var/www/html/wiki>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/wiki_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/wiki_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>
EOF

sudo a2ensite wiki.conf
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo apache2ctl configtest && sudo systemctl reload apache2

Replace domain.ro with your domain.

8. Configure the Certificate

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
sudo certbot --apache -d domain.ro

Certbot creates an HTTPS virtual host, offers to redirect HTTP to HTTPS, and installs a systemd timer that renews the certificate. Check renewal with:

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

9. Configure MediaWiki

Open the installer in a browser:

https://domain.ro/wiki

1. Click set up the wiki, choose the language.
2. Database: host localhost, name mediawikidb, user mediawiki, and the password from step 5.
3. Create the wiki admin account and pick the options you want (uploads, extensions, private wiki).
4. At the end, download the generated LocalSettings.php and copy it to the server. Run scp on your own computer, the rest on the server:

# on your computer
scp LocalSettings.php <user>@domain.ro:/tmp/

# on the server
sudo mv /tmp/LocalSettings.php /var/www/html/wiki/
sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/wiki/LocalSettings.php
sudo chmod 640 /var/www/html/wiki/LocalSettings.php

Check that $wgServer in LocalSettings.php is https://domain.ro, not http://.

Command-line alternative to the web installer:

cd /var/www/html/wiki
sudo -u www-data php maintenance/run.php install \
  --dbname=mediawikidb --dbuser=mediawiki --dbpass='<secure-password>' \
  --server='https://domain.ro' --scriptpath=/wiki \
  --pass='<admin-password>' 'My Wiki' 'Admin'
sudo chmod 640 LocalSettings.php

The installer connects to MariaDB on localhost by default and writes LocalSettings.php itself (with mode 664, hence the chmod). The admin password must be at least 10 characters.

10. MsUpload Extension

MsUpload adds drag-and-drop uploads of several files at once to the editor. It isn’t bundled, so clone it into the wiki’s extensions/ directory. Use the branch that matches your MediaWiki version (REL1_43 for 1.43): the default branch targets the development version and may not work with a release.

cd /var/www/html/wiki/extensions/
sudo git clone -b REL1_43 https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/extensions/MsUpload
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data MsUpload

Then add to LocalSettings.php (not to the shell). The installer already writes $wgEnableUploads = false; unless you enabled uploads; change that line, or add this block after it, since the last assignment wins:

wfLoadExtension( 'MsUpload' );

# MsUpload needs uploads enabled
$wgEnableUploads = true;
$wgFileExtensions = array_merge( $wgFileExtensions, [ 'pdf', 'docx', 'xlsx', 'svg' ] );

Open Special:Version on your wiki to check that the extension is installed.

• Extension:MsUpload 

11. LocalSettings.php

Useful additions at the end of /var/www/html/wiki/LocalSettings.php. VisualEditor, SyntaxHighlight, WikiEditor and PdfHandler ship with the MediaWiki tarball, so they only need to be loaded.

wfLoadExtension( 'VisualEditor' );

wfLoadExtension( 'SyntaxHighlight_GeSHi' );

wfLoadExtension( 'WikiEditor' );

wfLoadExtension( 'PdfHandler' );

# Largest image (in pixels) that will be scaled for thumbnails
$wgMaxImageArea = 6.4e7;

# Thumbnails with ImageMagick (the installer usually sets these two already)
$wgUseImageMagick = true;
$wgImageMagickConvertCommand = '/usr/bin/convert';

# SVG rendering with Inkscape 1.x: the built-in 'inkscape' command still uses
# the 0.x options (-z -f -e), which Inkscape 1.2 on Ubuntu 24.04 rejects
$wgSVGConverters['inkscape'] = '$path/inkscape -w $width -o $output $input';
$wgSVGConverter = 'inkscape';

# Private wiki: disable reading, editing and sign-up for anonymous users
$wgGroupPermissions['*']['read'] = false;
$wgGroupPermissions['*']['edit'] = false;
$wgGroupPermissions['*']['createaccount'] = false;

Keep the single quotes around the $wgSVGConverters value: $path, $width, $input and $output are placeholders MediaWiki fills in, and double quotes would make PHP expand them. With read disabled, MediaWiki still allows the login page, so users can sign in. Changes to LocalSettings.php take effect on the next page load; no restart is needed.

Troubleshooting

Links

• Manual:Installation guide