DokuWiki Installation and Configuration

DokuWiki is one of the most popular wiki implementations. I'm using it right now to write this tutorial. DokuWiki is a lightweight implementation possessing a of features which I find very useful and convenient:

• it is file-based (no database required);
• installation and configuration is a breeze, especially for a manual installation (grabbing the source code, unzip and configure);
• it uses a namespace-based structure, allowing for easy organization of information;
• its community develops a lot of useful plugins;
• it is, in my opinion, very usable: the interface, the editing features, information organization, overall view are intuitive and allow for rapid editing with little loss of time.

That being said, let's move on to the requirements and installation steps.

DokuWiki is highly configurable and customizable and I'm going to define the features that are to be used by a wiki installation. These are the features I'm usually going for when doing a DokuWiki installation, such as this one:

• The wiki is to be installed by a non-priviliged users using their own “user directory” (such as public_html}).
• The wiki is public: everyone can read its contents and only certain users may edit it, after logging in (through the use of ACLs).
• Create index pages for easy access to information. This is achieved with the help of the indexmenu plugin. My wiki's start page or index page are index pages deployed with the help the indexmenu plugin.
• The wiki will use “pretty” slash-separated URL. It will use dokuwiki} instead of doku.php}.
• The wiki will enable Creole markup, through the use of the creole plugin.
• The wiki will define a contrib} namespace that is world-writable.
• The wiki will define an internal} namespace that is readable/writable only by authenticated users.
• The wiki enables HTTPS-access to login/logout and admin pages (but HTTP access for normal ones).
• The wiki enables LDAP authentication (optional - one must have access to a LDAP service).

• Mircea Bardac and me have created a set of scripts for installation, configuration and upgrade of DokuWiki. These scripts provide solutions to most of the above user_requirements. The scripts are part of the admin Git repository storing a variety of administrative scripts.
• Issue the following command to get a copy of the repository

  git clone http://koala.cs.pub.ro/git/admin-public.git

• Browse to the dokuwiki} subfolder. Please go through the readme} file for a description of each file.
• Instructions below are also present in the readme} file in the dokuwiki} folder in the repository.

1. Find the desired DokuWiki version for download. Use this download URL.
2. Run the install dw-install} script. It requires three arguments:
   1. the installation folder for dokuwiki}; it must exist; (dokuwiki2} in the sample run)
   2. the DokuWiki tarball download URL; (dokuwiki-2009-12-25.tgz} - the latest stable version - in the sample run)
   3. the future DokuWiki URL. (wiki2} in the sample run)
3. * Sample run:

   razvan@swarm:~/scripts/dw$ ./dw-install ~/public_html/dw-test/ http://www.splitbrain.org/_media/projects/dokuwiki/dokuwiki-2011-05-25a.tgz http://swarm.cs.pub.ro/~razvan/dw-test
   
     *  Logging information to /tmp/tmp.JYCdHg2w5P.
     *  Using download link http://www.splitbrain.org/_media/projects/dokuwiki/dokuwiki-2011-05-25a.tgz
     * Downloading DokuWiki ... done.
     *  Preparing installation folder /home/razvan/public_html/dw-test/ ... done.
     *  Installing plugins
     * Installing plugin: Creole ... done.
     * Installing plugin: Google Analytics ... done.
     * Installing plugin: Include ... done.
     * Installing plugin: Index-Menu ... done.
     * Installing plugin: Display-Wiki-Page ...done.
     * Installing ggauth backend ...done.
   
   Installation complete.
   1. Open in web browser: http://swarm.cs.pub.ro/~razvan/dw-test/install.php
   2. Fill required information to complete the basic installation.
   3. Remove /home/razvan/public_html/dw-test//install.php.bak file.
   4. Run:
      ./dw-post-install /home/razvan/public_html/dw-test/ /~razvan/dw-test/

4. Open install URL (as mentioned in step 1 of the post-install message) and configure DokuWiki instance.
5. * The web configuration interface is quite intuitive.
6. * You will probably go for a public wiki (read access for everyone, and write access for registered users).
7. Run the dw-post-install} script, as mentioned in step 4 of the end message.
8. * The `dw-post-install' script is actually responsible for two things:
9. *# Updating the local.php} file. That means wiki and plugin configuration. The configuration is what we commonly use. Go through file and update it according to your needs/preferences.
10. *# Creating the htaccess} file. This file is responsible with the configuration of pretty (hierarchical) URLs and HTTPS support.
11. * Sample run:

    razvan@swarm:~/scripts/dw$ ./dw-post-install /home/razvan/public_html/dw-test/ /~razvan/dw-test/
     * Updating conf/local.php ... done.
     * Updating .htaccess ... done.

12. Congratulations! You've got a basic DokuWiki installation with pretty slash based URLs, HTTPS support login and Creole markup.

The indexmenu plugin is installed but the index pages are not yet created. As written in the local.php} file, we will use index} as the index page:

$conf['plugin']['indexmenu']['page_index'] = 'home:index';

At the same time we will create and index menu on the start/home page.

You'll need to go through the following steps (mentioned in the readme} file):

1. Type index} in DokuWiki's search bar and create the page. For index display I usually add the following syntax:

   {{indexmenu>..#2|js navbar nocookie id#random}}

2. * Each time you will use the index} button in the bottom right corner the index menu in the index} page is displayed.
3. Add an index menu to the first page in the wiki (home). Just type home} in DokuWiki's search bar and create/edit the page. I usually fill it with something like:

   ====== Wiki Name ======
   
   {{indexmenu>..#1|js navbar nocookie id#random}}

4. * wiki_name} is the name of the wiki. It gets displayed as a heading 1 title.
5. You can add indexes to namespaces (edit the home} page):

   = Namespace Name ==
   
   {{indexmenu>.#2|js}}

• The official LDAP Authentication page contains important information regarding the configuration of LDAP authentication.
• The dokuwiki/samples/dokuwiki-ldap-auth-swarm.conf contains a configuration sample for LDAP authentication using the LDAP service installed on the swarm.cs.pub.ro} server:

  $conf['disableactions'] = 'register,profile,resendpwd';
  
  $conf['authtype']    = 'ldap';
  
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['port']        = 636;
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['server']      = 'ldaps://swarm.cs.pub.ro';
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['usertree']    = 'ou=People,dc=swarm,dc=cs,dc=pub,dc=ro';
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['grouptree']   = 'ou=Group,dc=swarm,dc=cs,dc=pub,dc=ro';
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['userfilter']  = '(&(uid=%{user})(objectClass=posixAccount))';
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['groupfilter'] = '(&(objectClass=posixGroup)(|(gidNumber=%{gid})(memberUID=%{user})))';
   
    -  This is optional but may be required for your server:
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['version']    = 3;
  
    -  Mapping can be used to specify where the internal data is coming from. 
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['mapping']['name']  = 'cn'; # Name of attribute Active Directory stores it's pretty print user name.
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['mapping']['grps']  = array('memberof' => '/CN=(.+?),/i');
  
    -  Optional debugging
  $conf['auth']['ldap']['debug']      = 1;

• The conf_authtype_ldap} line enables LDAP authentication.
• The conf_auth_ldap_debug_1} line should be commented out after the configuration is working.
• IMPORTANT: You may not have write access to the local.php} configuration file. The solution is:
• # Make a copy of the local.php} file (be it local.php.bak}).
• # Delete the file rm_local.php}; it asks for confirmation – confirm it. This works as the file is in your home folder.
• # Copy the backup file (local.php.bak}) to local.php}.
• # Provide access writes to the group, assuming that to be www-data}, in order to allow web server write access from the web configuration interface: chmod_g_w_local.php}.

In case you choose to use LDAP authentication, you should disable the Dokuwiki's register}, send_password} and profile} options. This can be accomplished by two means:

1. use the conf_disableactions_register_resendpw_profile} line in local.php};
2. use the DokuWiki's administrative configuration_manager} link (search for disableactions}).

The LDAP service often offers little support for group authorization inside DokuWiki. A better approach would be authenticating through LDAP and using another engine for authentication. This can be accomplished through the use of split authentication. I'm using it to authenticate through LDAP and use the basic user.auth.php} file in DokuWiki's conf} folder.

The experimental authentication backends, providing “split authentication” is deployed in the install script.

In order to configure split authentication, do the following:

1. Update the local.php} file with configuration lines such as these:

   $conf['authtype'] = 'split';
   
   $conf['auth']['split']['login_auth'] = 'ldap';  # the auth backend for authentication
   $conf['auth']['split']['groups_auth'] = 'plain'; # the auth backend that supplies groups
   $conf['auth']['split']['merge_groups'] = false; # should groups from login auth also be included
   $conf['auth']['split']['use_login_auth_for_users'] = true; # Should login auth be used for supplying the list of users for usermanager
   $conf['auth']['split']['use_login_auth_for_name'] = true; # Should login auth supply user name, or only used if groups auth provides an empty name
   $conf['auth']['split']['use_login_auth_for_mail'] = true; # Should login auth supply email address, or only used if groups auth provides empty email.

2. * I assumed the configuration lines for LDAP are already there.
3. * In the above configuration, we are using LDAP for authentication and the plain} engine for groups and authorization.
4. Authorization configuration is done by editing the users.auth.php} file. Some sample lines are shown below:

     -  user:MD5password:Real Name:email:groups,comma,separated
   
   razvan:x:x:x:admin,so
   oana:x:x:x:so
   ddvlad:x:x:x:so
   dbaluta:x:x:x:so
   apitis:x:x:x:so
   bdrutu:x:x:x:so
   catalinme:x:x:x:so
   [...]

5. * The md5password}, real_name} and email} fields are provided by the LDAP authentication engine and aren't filled.
6. You can now use the access_control_list_management} link in the “Administration” menu for authorization: configuring access rights for users and groups.

DokuWiki has a smart notification system that lets you know whether a new version of DokuWiki is available. A DokuWiki upgrade is fairly easy to accomplish. The upgrade steps are described on the official page.

The are two scripts you may use. One is to be run by root (the dw-upgrade} script), while the other (the dw-upgrade-no-root} script) may be run by a non-priviliged user. Each script creates a backup copy of the current wiki installation before upgrading.

The dw-upgrade} script (run by root}) is to be used when your backup needs to be web accessible. The backup uses the precises ownership information and access rights (may be owned by www-data}) such that it would be an exact copy of the original DokuWiki installation. In order for the backup copy to be completely accesible, its htaccess} filesh ould probably be updated.

The backup directory passed to the scripts should exist. This is where the actual backup is created using a name starting with dokuwiki-bak} (such as dokuwiki-bak-2011-09-12}).

A sample run is shown below:

razvan@swarm:~/scripts/dw$ ./dw-upgrade-no-root ~razvan/public_html/dw-test/ http://www.splitbrain.org/_media/projects/dokuwiki/dokuwiki-2011-05-25a.tgz ~razvan/public_html/backup/

  *  Logging information to /tmp/tmp.xQuZwTyfgu.
  * Downloading DokuWiki ... done.
 * Backing up Dokuwiki instance to /home/razvan/public_html/backup//dokuwiki-bak-2011-09-12 ... done
 * Upgrading Dokuwiki installation in /home/razvan/public_html/dw-test/ ... done
  *  Installing plugins
  * Installing plugin: Creole ... done.
  * Installing plugin: Google Analytics ... done.
  * Installing plugin: Include ... done.
  * Installing plugin: Index-Menu ... done.
  * Installing plugin: Display-Wiki-Page ...done.
  * Installing ggauth backend ...done.

Enjoy!

• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:include
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:spoiler
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:note
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:comment
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:togglewrap
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:wrap
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:fontsize2
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:indexmenu
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:icons
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:authchained
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:authsplit
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:creole
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:dw2pdf
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:color
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:mathjax
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:move
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:googleanalytics
• https://www.dokuwiki.org/plugin:include