UpgradeGuide.html
included in the root of your Foswiki distribution.
Upgrading from a TWiki 4 release is much simpler. Follow the steps described in Foswiki:Support.UpgradingFromOlderTWikiReleases to ensure a safe upgrade without accidently overwriting customizations.
One of the more difficult tasks is installation of addition CPAN libraries. See Foswiki:Support.HowToInstallCpanModules for detailed information on how to install CPAN libraries.
If you need help, ask a question in the Foswiki:Support web or on Foswiki:Community.InternetRelayChat (irc.freenode.net, channel #foswiki)
foswiki
. chmod -R 770 foswiki
. The access rules have different meaning for files and directories. This is the most common mistake installers make.
chown -R user:group /path/to/foswiki
. The webserver username varies from Distributions. Examples for some major distributions: chown -R apache:apache /path/to/foswiki
chown -R www-data:www-data /path/to/foswiki
chown -R wwwrun:www /path/to/foswiki
/usr/bin/perl
. If it's somewhere else, change the path to Perl in the first line of each script in the bin
directory.
.cgi
or .pl
). This is normally only needed under Windows and only where perl scripts are only recognized by file extension. Linux and Unix users should normally never need to do this. If necessary, rename all files in bin
(i.e. rename view
to view.pl
etc). If you do this, make sure you set the ScriptSuffix
option in configure
(Step 6).
bin/LocalLib.cfg
bin/LocalLib.cfg.txt
. Simply copy LocalLib?.cfg.txt to LocalLib?.cfg. Make sure the ownership and access rights of the copy are the same as LocalLib?.cfg.txt
bin/LocalLib.cfg
must contain a setting for $foswikiLibPath
, which must point to the absolute file path of your lib
e.g. /var/www/foswiki/lib
.$CPANBASE
to point to your personal CPAN install. Don't forget that the webserver user has to be able to read those files as well.
foswiki.conf
). Performance is much better with a config file, and one file gives the best overview and ensures that you get a safe installation . However using a config file requires that you can restart Apache which again means that you need root or sudo access to stop and start Apache. The Foswiki apache config file is included from the main Apache config file http.conf. Most distributions have a directory from which any file that ends with .conf
gets included when you restart Apache (Example RedHat/Fedora/Centos: /etc/httpd/conf.d). If you use a virtual host setup in Apache you should include the foswiki.conf file from inside the desired virtual host config in your Apache configuration.
foswiki_httpd_conf.txt
bin
directory you find example .htaccess
files you can copy and modify. The files contains help text explaining how to set them up. In foswiki/bin
you find .htaccess.txt
which can be copied to .htaccess
and defined access to the CGI scripts. In the root of Foswiki you find pub-htaccess.txt
which you can copy to pub/.htaccess
, subdir-htaccess.txt
which you can copy to all directories as .htaccess
except bin and pub, and you find root-htaccess.txt
which you can copy to .htaccess
in the foswiki root directory. But again only use .htaccess files if you do not have root priviledges.
configure
script open to the public. Limit access to the bin/configure
script to either localhost, an IP address or a specific user using basic Apache authentication. The Foswiki:Support.ApacheConfigGenerator lets you setup who has access to the configure script. Also the example foswiki-httpd-conf.txt and bin/.htaccess.txt files includes the needed setting to protect the configure script.
data/.htpasswd
but this file does not exist until you have Foswiki running and have registered the first user. You therefore have two options. Either limit the access to localhost or an IP address, or make a .htpasswd file. To make a .htpasswd file change directory to foswiki/data
and issue the command htpasswd -c .htpasswd username
and enter your password when asked. The username must match the Require user username
directive in the Apache config file or .htaccess file. Do not use a username you will later use to register in Foswiki because Foswiki will then claim that you are already registered.
configure
script from your browser (enter http://yourdomain/foswiki/bin/configure
into your browser address bar) configure
for the first time, you can only edit the section General Path Settings
. Save these settings, and then return to configure
to continue configuration.
{PermittedRedirectHostUrls}
{WebMasterEmail}
, and {SMTP}{MAILHOST}
must be defined to enable Foswiki to send registration emails. Many ISPs have introduced authentication when sending emails to fight spam so you may also have to set {SMTP}{Username}
and {SMTP}{Password}
. If you do not want to enable mailing or want to enable it later you can uncheck {EnableEmail}
.
http://yourdomain.com/foswiki/bin/view
and start Foswiki-ing away!
pub
directory. Foswiki has some built-in protection which renames files with dangerous filenames by appending .txt to the filename. But this is a secondary security measure. The essential action that you must take is to turn off any possible execution of any of the attached files.bin
and pub
directories. When you have access to the Apache config files the foswiki_httpd_conf.txt
file mentioned above also contains protection of these directories.subdir-htaccess.txt
file can be copied as .htaccess
to the data, lib, locale, templates, tools and working directories.
foswiki_httpd_conf.txt
and example htaccess.txt
files include the needed settings that protect against all 3 security elements.
Skins
refers to the Skins
topic in your Foswiki web. Easy way to jump directly to view the pages is to open your own Foswiki in your browser and write System.Skins
in the Jump test box to the right in the top bar and hit Enter. You can find these topics in the on-line reference copy at the official Foswiki website: System web at Foswiki
System.UserAuthentication
, and Foswiki:Support.UserAuthenticationSupplement.
These are the steps for enabling "Template Login" which asks for a username and password in a web page, and processes them using the Apache 'htpasswd' password manager. Users can log in and log out. Users are listed in a topic System/WikiUsers
Security Settings
pane of configure
: Foswiki::LoginManager::TemplateLogin
for {LoginManager}
.
Foswiki::Users::HtPasswdUser
for {PasswordManager}
.
Foswiki::Users::TopicUserMapping
for {UserMappingManager}
.
configure
settings.
System.UserRegistration
topic.data/.htpasswd
file. If not, you probably got a path wrong, or the permissions may not allow the webserver user to write to that file.
Edit
link at beginning or end of topic) to check if authentication works.
System.UserAuthentication
, Foswiki:Support.UserAuthenticationSupplement for further information about managing users and security of your Foswiki site.
Note! The other LoginManager
option Foswiki::LoginManager::ApacheLogin
uses a basic Apache type authentication where the browser itself prompts you for username and password. Most will find the TemplateLogin looking nicer. But ApacheLogin is required when you use Apache authentication methods like mod_ldap where all authentication is handled by an Apache module and not by the Foswiki perl code. When you use ApacheLogin the apache configuration must be set up to require authentication of the some but not all the scripts in the bin directory. This section in the Apache config (or .htaccess) controls this
<FilesMatch "(attach|edit|manage|rename|save|upload|mail|logon|rest|.*auth).*"> require valid-user </FilesMatch>The Foswiki:Support.ApacheConfigGenerator includes this section when you choose ApacheLogin. In the example
foswiki_httpd_conf.txt
and bin/.htaccess.txt
files this section is commented out with #. Uncomment the section when you use ApacheLogin. It is important that this section is commented out or removed when you use TemplateLogin.
AdminGroup
. It is the WikiName and not the login name you add to the group. Editing the Main.AdminGroup
topic requires that you are an administrator. So to add the first administrator you need to login using the internal Wiki admin user login and the password you defined in configure.
Main.AdminGroup
topic
Main.AdminGroup
of how to become an admin
System.DefaultPreferences
. Read through it and identify any additional settings or changes you think you might need. Do not edit the settings in System.DefaultPreferences
because these will be overwritten when you later upgrade to a newer Foswiki version. Instead copy any settings that you want to customize from System.DefaultPreferences
and paste them into Main.SitePreferences
. When you later upgrade Foswiki simply avoid overwriting the data/System/DefaultPreferences.txt
file and all your settings will be kept. Settings in Main.SitePreferences
overrides settings in both System.DefaultPreferences
and any settings defined in Plugin topics. See notes at top of System.DefaultPreferences
for more information.
tools/mailnotify
script as described in the System.MailerContrib
topic.
System.SiteTools
topic.
configure
for {Sessions}{ExpireAfter} and install let cron run the tools/tick_foswiki.pl
script. Read The topic CommandAndCGIScripts#tick_foswiki_pl
for details how to do this.
Localisation
section of configure
. For more information about these features, see Foswiki:Support.InternationalizationSupplement.
System.NewUserTemplate
topic (and its System.UserForm
). It contains additional resources you can use to: System.UserForm
NewUserTemplate
and UserForm
to the Main web and tailor the Main web copies. Foswiki will look for the NewUserTemplate
in the Main web first and if it does not exist it uses the default from the Foswiki web. By creating a Main.NewUserTemplate
and its Main.UserForm
you will not loose your tailorings next time you upgrade Foswiki.
If you added or removed fields from the user form you may also need to tailor System.UserRegistration
.
configure
. In this section you also find a Find More Extensions button which opens an application which can install additional plugins from the foswiki.org website. If you are behind a firewall or your server has no access to the Internet it is also possible to install plugins manually. Manual installation instructions for the plugins can be found in the plugin topics on foswiki.org. Additional documenation on Foswiki plugins can be found at Foswiki:Support.PluginsSupplement.
Some plugins require that you define their settings in configure
. You fill find these under the Extensions section of configure.
System.PatternSkinCustomization
At the official Foswiki website you can find more resources. A good place to start for exploring what's possible is Foswiki:Support.AdministratorsCookBook which offers tips and tricks for customizing your Foswiki site. Many of these are appropriate to implement immediately after installing Foswiki and before adding content so now's a good time to look at these.
System.ChangePassword
System.ResetPassword
System.ChangeEmailAddress
System.DefaultPreferences
to Main.SitePreferences
and alter the copied text to your need.
WebPreferences
in each web. E.g. adding a confident!ial classification to a very restricted web.
System.WebPreferences
covers the documentation that comes with Foswiki and is covered by the original Foswiki Copyright and GPL License. You will normally leave this unchanged.
configure
script and make sure you have resolved all errors, and are satisfied that you understand any warnings.
Failing that consult the resources you can find in Foswiki:Support.SupplementalDocuments and Foswiki:Support.AskedQuestions.
If you need help, ask a question in the Foswiki:Support web or on Foswiki:Community.InternetRelayChat (irc.freenode.net, channel #foswiki)
Resource | Required Server Environment |
---|---|
Perl | 5.8.4 or higher is recommended. Foswiki will run in perl 5.6.1 but only with Wysiwyg editor disabled. Wysiwyg requires unicode support which is provided by perl 5.8.1 and forward. |
RCS | 5.7 or higher (including GNU diff ) Optional, Foswiki includes a pure perl implementation of RCS that can be used instead (although it's slower) |
GNU diff |
GNU diff 2.7 or higher is required when not using the all-Perl RcsLite?. Install on PATH if not included with RCS (check version with diff -v ) Must be the version used by RCS, to avoid problems with binary attachments - RCS may have hard-coded path to diff |
Other external programs | fgrep, egrep |
Cron/scheduler | • Unix: cron • Windows: cron equivalents |
Web server | Apache is well supported; for information on other servers, See Foswiki:Support.InstallingOnSpecificPlatforms. |
Module | Preferred version |
---|---|
Algorithm::Diff (included) | |
CGI | Versions 2.89 and 3.37 must be avoided. Most version from 3.15 and onwards should work. |
CGI::Carp | >=1.26 |
Config | >=0 |
Cwd | >=3.05 |
Data::Dumper | >=2.121 |
Error (included) | |
File::Copy | >=2.06 |
File::Find | >=1.05 |
File::Spec | >=3.05 |
FileHandle | >=2.01 |
IO::File | >=1.10 |
Text::Diff (included) | |
Time::Local | >=1.11 |
Module | Preferred version | Description |
---|---|---|
Archive::Tar | May be required by the Extensions Installer in configure if command line tar or unzip is not available | |
CGI::Cookie | >=1.24 | Used for session support |
CGI::Session | >=3.95 | Highly recommended! Used for session support |
Digest::base | ||
Digest::SHA1 | ||
Jcode | Used for I18N support with perl 5.6 | |
Locale::Maketext::Lexicon | >=0 | Used for I18N support |
Net::SMTP | >=2.29 | Used for sending mail |
Unicode::Map | Used for I18N support with perl 5.6 | |
Unicode::Map8 | Used for I18N support with perl 5.6 | |
Unicode::MapUTF8 | Used for I18N support with perl 5.6 | |
Unicode::String | Used for I18N support with perl 5.6 | |
URI | Used for configure |
configure
script, or if you're still trying to get to that point, check from the command line like this:
perl -e 'use FileHandle; print $FileHandle::VERSION."\n"'
pub
directory.)
lib
directory at the same level as the 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 configure the bin/setlib.cfg
file (done in Step 2).
Foswiki dir: What it is: Where to copy: Example: foswiki
start-up pages root Foswiki dir /home/smith/foswiki/
foswiki/bin
CGI bin CGI-enabled dir /home/smith/foswiki/bin
foswiki/lib
library files same level as bin
/home/smith/foswiki/lib
foswiki/locale
language files dir secure from public access /home/smith/foswiki/locale
foswiki/pub
public files htdoc enabled dir /home/smith/foswiki/pub
foswiki/data
topic data dir secure from public access /home/smith/foswiki/data
foswiki/templates
web templates dir secure from public access /home/smith/foswiki/templates
foswiki/tools
Foswiki utlilities dir secure from public access /home/smith/foswiki/tools
foswiki/working
Temporary and internal files dir secure from public access /home/smith/foswiki/working
755
(or 775
) and file permissions should be set to 644
(or 664
). If you can run a chmod
command, you can accomplish this in two quick steps by running these commands from the root direct: chmod -R 755 pub
chmod 644 `find pub -type f -print`
.htaccess
file in the pub directory, using the template included in the root level of the distribution entitled pub-htaccess.txt
.
.htaccess
in the bin directory that includes the following single line: SetHandler cgi-script
. This informs the server to treat all the perl scripts in the bin directory as scripts.
lib/Foswiki.spec
to lib/LocalSite.cfg
$Foswiki::cfg{DefaultUrlHost}
, $Foswiki::cfg{ScriptUrlPath}
, $Foswiki::cfg{PubUrlPath}
, $Foswiki::cfg{PubDir}
, $Foswiki::cfg{TemplateDir}
, $Foswiki::cfg{DataDir}
, $Foswiki::cfg{LocalesDir}
, and $Foswiki::cfg{OS}
and make sure these settings have the correct values.
$Foswiki::cfg{LoginManager}
, $Foswiki::cfg{WebMasterEmail}
, $Foswiki::cfg{SMTP}{MAILHOST}
, $Foswiki::cfg{SMTP}{SENDERHOST}
.