Ubuntu Lucid Installation - HowTo

This page describes how to install MoinMoin with mod_wsgi and apache2 using packages only in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx. It assumes you have root access to the system and want to use Apache Name-Based VirtualHosts to create a wiki at the root of a domain (ie wiki.example.org). The package has farmconfig enabled by default, and therefore its used instead of wikiconfig.py.

You can find the package documentation for MoinMoin here:

• /usr/share/doc/python-moinmoin/README.Debian.gz

To view:

zcat /usr/share/doc/python-moinmoin/README.Debian.gz | less

Create a MoinMoin User

For security the MoinMoin application can be ran as a different user than Apache (www-data). To create a system user and group for this purpose:

sudo adduser moin --system --group

The group flag creates a user group of the same name and places the user within it. The system flag is an instruction to create a non-shell user.

Install the Packages

Type:

sudo apt-get install python-moinmoin apache2 libapache2-mod-wsgi

Additional Configuration

This is an arbitrary convenient folder to store the data for each wiki instance:

sudo mkdir /srv/moin

You could also use the moin user's home directory.

Make the underlay folder available to the MoinMoin user:

chown -R moin:moin /usr/share/moin/underlay

Copy Wiki Instance Files

Substitute 'mywiki' with a different name for each wiki to want to create:

sudo mkdir /srv/moin/mywiki
sudo cp -r /usr/share/moin/data /usr/share/moin/underlay /srv/moin/mywiki

Fix security:

sudo chown -R moin:moin /srv/moin/mywiki #Making Folder Available to MoinMoin
sudo chmod -R ug+rwX /srv/moin/mywiki
sudo chmod -R o-rwx /srv/moin/mywiki

Configure Apache

Configure the MoinMoin WSGI Driver

Place the following in /etc/apache2/conf.d/moin.conf

WSGIDaemonProcess moin user=moin group=moin processes=5 threads=10 maximum-requests=1000 umask=0007
WSGIProcessGroup moin

Create the VirtualHosts

Place the following in /etc/apache2/sites-available/mywiki, substituting your wiki name for 'mywiki'. Repeat for each wiki you're creating:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName wiki.example.org
  DocumentRoot /srv/moin/mywiki/
  WSGIScriptAlias / "/usr/share/moin/server/moin.wsgi"
</VirtualHost>

Note: make sure the line 'sys.path.insert(0, '/etc/moin')' is uncommented in moin.wsgi

Enable site and restart apache:

sudo a2ensite mywiki
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Configure MoinMoin

Configure farmconfig.py

Open /etc/moin/farmconfig.py for editing and add your url information as indicated by the example lines:

("wiki1", r"^http?://wiki1\.example\.org/.*$"),

Uncomment this line and change it too:

superuser = [u"WikiAdmin", ]

Also add this line at the end of the file:

data_underlay_dir = '/usr/share/moin/underlay/'

Configure Instance

Make a backup of the provided config:

cp /etc/moin/mywiki.py /etc/moin/mywiki.py.original

Then open /etc/moin/mywiki.py for editing and save it as the wiki name that you picked after changing these lines:

sitename = u'MyWiki' # [Unicode]
interwikiname = u'MyWiki' # [Unicode]
data_dir = '/srv/moin/mywiki/data/'

Language Setup

Visit your new wiki here; http://wiki.example.org/LanguageSetup follow the instructions and create accounts for the Superuser and yourself.

Optional Configurations

Have Apache Serve Static Files

In /etc/apache2/conf.d/moin.conf add:

Alias /moin_static192 "/usr/share/moin/htdocs/"

Access Control

Private Wiki

in /etc/moin/mywiki.py:

    acl_rights_default = u'WikiAdmin:read,write,delete,revert,admin YourName:read,write,delete,revert All:'

Blocking New Accounts

After creating the Superuser account and any others you need; in /etc/moin/mywiki.py:

actions_excluded = FarmConfig.actions_excluded + ['newaccount']

See /DisableUserCreation

Using a Alternate Document Root

• In the VirtualHost directive for you site add something like;

WSGIScriptAlias /wiki "/usr/share/moin/server/moin.wsgi"

• In /etc/moin/farmconfig.pyadd something like;

("wiki",r"^http://example\.org/wiki.*$"),

References

• Setup information, including details on Apache Virtual Hosts

• Package website for Ubuntu Lucid Lynx

• Community Documentation on MoinMoin from Ubuntu

• See /HowTo/UbuntuFarm

• See /MoinMoinPackages/DebianLinux