Docker Mediawiki Local Install

Setting Up a Plain MediaWiki Instance with Docker on Ubuntu 24.04

This guide provides a simple, step-by-step process to set up a basic MediaWiki instance locally using Docker and Docker Compose on Ubuntu 24.04.

It is designed for beginners and assumes you have Docker and Docker Compose installed (see Docker_Install_Guide for setup details).

The setup includes MediaWiki with a MariaDB database, running in Docker containers.

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 24.04
• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Basic familiarity with terminal commands
• Internet connection for pulling Docker images

Step 1: Create a Project Directory

Create a dedicated directory to organize your MediaWiki setup files.
mkdir mediawiki-docker
cd mediawiki-docker

Step 2: Create a Docker Compose File

Create a docker-compose.yml file to define the MediaWiki and MariaDB services.

nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the following configuration into docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.8'
services:
  mediawiki:
    image: mediawiki:1.41
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    depends_on:
      database:
        condition: service_healthy
    volumes:  #  will uncomment line below after init setup of wiki
#      - ./LocalSettings.php:/var/www/html/LocalSettings.php:ro    
    environment:
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_HOST=database
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_USER=wikiuser
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_PASSWORD=securepassword
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_NAME=mediawiki
  database:
    image: mariadb:10.11
    environment:
      - MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD=securepassword
      - MARIADB_DATABASE=mediawiki
      - MARIADB_USER=wikiuser
      - MARIADB_PASSWORD=securepassword
      - MARIADB_AUTO_UPGRADE=1
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    mem_limit: 512m
volumes:
  db_data:

Save and exit (`Ctrl+O`, `Enter`, `Ctrl+X`).

Explanation:

• The mediawiki service uses MediaWiki 1.41 for stability.
• `database` service uses the MariaDB image for the database.
• Port `8080` maps to MediaWiki's web server port `80`.
• Environment variables set up the database connection.
• A volume persists MariaDB data.
• `LocalSettings.php` will be mounted later after setup.

Step 3: Start the Containers

Run the following command to start the MediaWiki and MariaDB containers:

docker-compose up -d

• `-d` runs containers in the background.
• This pulls the MediaWiki and MariaDB images and starts the services.

Step 4: Verify Containers Are Running

Check that both containers are running:

docker ps

You should see two containers: one for `mediawiki` and one for `mariadb`.

Step 5: Access the MediaWiki Setup Page

Open a web browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:8080

You should see the MediaWiki setup page. If not, ensure containers are running and port `8080` is not blocked.

Step 6: Complete the MediaWiki Web Installer

Follow the on-screen instructions in the browser:

• Select your language and click "Continue."
• Accept the defaults for database settings, these details can be found in your docker-compose.yml file.
  • host: database - change from default localhost
  • user: wikiuser - change from default root
  • password: securepassword
  • database name: mediawiki - change from default my_wiki
• Set up an admin user and password for your wiki.
• Complete the installation. At the end, MediaWiki generates a LocalSettings.php file.

Step 7: Download and Place LocalSettings.php

The installer prompts you to download `LocalSettings.php`. Save it to your `mediawiki-docker` directory:

mv ~/Downloads/LocalSettings.php ~/mediawiki-docker/

Ensure the file is named exactly LocalSettings.php.
The Docker Compose configuration mounts this file into the MediaWiki container.

Step 8: Restart Containers

Restart the containers to apply LocalSettings.php:

• Turn off container

docker-compose down

• Edit docker-compose.yml and uncomment the lines

#    volumes:  #  will uncomment these 2 lines after init setup of wiki
#      - ./LocalSettings.php:/var/www/html/LocalSettings.php:ro

version: '3.8'
services:
  mediawiki:
    image: mediawiki:1.41
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    depends_on:
      database:
        condition: service_healthy
    volumes:  #  will uncomment these 2 lines after init setup of wiki
      - ./LocalSettings.php:/var/www/html/LocalSettings.php:ro    
    environment:
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_HOST=database
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_USER=wikiuser
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_PASSWORD=securepassword
      - MEDIAWIKI_DB_NAME=mediawiki
  database:
    image: mariadb:10.11
    environment:
      - MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD=securepassword
      - MARIADB_DATABASE=mediawiki
      - MARIADB_USER=wikiuser
      - MARIADB_PASSWORD=securepassword
      - MARIADB_AUTO_UPGRADE=1
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "mysqladmin", "ping", "-h", "localhost"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    mem_limit: 512m
volumes:
  db_data:

• start container

docker-compose up -d

Step 9: Access Your Wiki

Visit `http://localhost:8080` again. You should now see your MediaWiki instance. Log in with the admin credentials you set during installation.

Step 10: Basic Usage

• Create and edit pages using the MediaWiki interface.
• Access the wiki at `http://localhost:8080`.
• Manage users and settings via the admin account.

Stopping and Removing Containers

To stop the containers:

docker-compose stop

To stop and remove containers (data persists in the `db_data` volume):

docker-compose down

To remove all data (including the database), also delete the volume:

docker-compose down -v

Network Configuration

By default, your wiki might only be accessible from the host machine where Docker is running, using localhost or 127.0.0.1. However, if you want others on your network to access your wiki, you need to make some adjustments.

Current Setup: The computer running Docker Compose has an IP address of 192.168.0.44.

• You can find the IP address of your computer running Docker using the command:

ip addr

OutPut from ip addr

noob@noob-HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-DM:~$ ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eno1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 8c:dc:d4:3d:93:49 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enp0s25
3: wlxe8de27142be2: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether e8:de:27:14:2b:e2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.0.44/24 brd 192.168.0.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute wlxe8de27142be2
       valid_lft 86357sec preferred_lft 86357sec
    inet6 fe80::afbe:cc73:73a2:fcdf/64 scope link noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

My IP is 192.168.0.44

If someone from another computer on the network tries to visit 192.168.0.44:8080, they might encounter a "cannot connect" error. This happens because MediaWiki, by default, redirects to 127.0.0.1:8080, which is only accessible from the host machine itself.

Solution: To allow access from other devices on the same network, you need to:

• Edit the LocalSettings.php File: This isn't done inside the Docker container but rather in the directory where your docker-compose.yml file is located (~/mediawiki-docker/LocalSettings.php). Here, you need to change the server URL configuration.

• Modify URL Configuration: On lines 34-35 of LocalSettings.php, you'll find the following:

Allowing Access from Other Network Devices

Edit LocalSettings.php in the Docker Compose directory to change the server URL:

• Default - around line 33

## The protocol and server name to use in fully-qualified URLs
$wgServer = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080';

• Changed

## The protocol and server name to use in fully-qualified URLs
$wgServer = 'http://192.168.0.44:8080';

• Restart Docker to apply changes:

docker-compose restart

This allows access to your wiki from other devices on the network using 192.168.0.44:8080. This adjustment tells MediaWiki to use the network IP of the host (192.168.0.44) instead of the local loopback (127.0.0.1), allowing other devices on the network to access the wiki through 192.168.0.44:8080. Even after this change, localhost:8080 or 127.0.0.1:8080 will still work on the host machine, but now the wiki is also accessible via the network IP from other devices.

Troubleshooting

• Cannot access localhost:8080: Check `docker ps` to ensure containers are running. Verify port `8080` is not used by another service (`sudo netstat -tuln | grep 8080`).
• Database connection error: Ensure environment variables in `docker-compose.yml` match the installer settings.
• LocalSettings.php not found: Confirm the file is in the `mediawiki-docker` directory and named correctly.

Notes

• The database data is stored in a Docker volume (`db_data`) and persists between container restarts.
• To customize MediaWiki, edit `LocalSettings.php` and restart containers.
• For production, secure `MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD` and `MEDIAWIKI_DB_PASSWORD` with stronger values.

References

• Docker_Install_Guide
• Official MediaWiki Docker Image
• Official MariaDB Docker Image
• MediaWiki Installation Guide