Setting up MediaWiki using Docker Compose and Mariadb

PREFACE - I am going to assume that you already have a server/PC with Linux installed. You will also need Docker and Docker-Compose installed

I found it a little hard to setup MediaWiki for the first time using Docker and getting all the database working correctly. I have now run a few instances of it and decided to write a short post on getting it working

1: Setting up directory and docker-compose.yml file

1 - First we need to create our directory. For this test we will be using

/home/john/docker/testwiki

2 - Inside this folder we need to create a file named docker-compse.yml and copy the following into it

# MediaWiki with MariaDB docker-compose file
#
# Access via "http://localhost:4820"
# or "http://serveripaddress:4820" if using docker-machine or accessing from another PC
#
# MariaDB accessed via "http://localhost:4840"
# or "http://serveripaddress:4840" if using docker-machine or accessing from another PC

version: '3'
services:
  mediawiki:
    image: mediawiki
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 4820:80
    links:
      - database
    volumes:
      - /home/john/docker/testwiki/images:/var/www/html/images
      # After initial setup, download LocalSettings.php to the same directory as
      # this yaml and uncomment the following line and use compose to restart
      # the mediawiki service
      #- /home/john/docker/testwiki/LocalSettings.php:/var/www/html/LocalSettings.php
  # This key also defines the name of the database host used during setup instead of the default "localhost"
  database:
    image: mariadb
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 4840:3306
    environment:
      # @see https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/source/mediawiki/browse/master/includes/DefaultSettings.php
      MYSQL_DATABASE: testwikidb
      MYSQL_USER: testwikiuser
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: testwikipassword
      MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: 'yes'
    volumes:
      - /home/john/docker/testwikidb/db:/var/lib/mysql

volumes:
  images:
  db:

2: Running the compose file

1 - Navigate to where your docker-compose.yml file is and type the following

docker-compose up -d

2 - Once docker has download the required images it will setup mediawiki and mariadb as required

john@server:~/docker/testwiki$ docker-compose up -d
Creating network "testwiki_default" with the default driver
Creating volume "testwiki_images" with default driver
Creating volume "testwiki_db" with default driver
Creating testwiki_database_1 ... done
Creating testwiki_mediawiki_1 ... done
john@server:~/docker/testwiki$

3 - The compose file will create a new directory for mariadb

/home/john/docker/testwikidb

3: Setting up mediawiki installation

1 - Navigate to http://serveripaddress:4820 and click on Please set up the wiki first.

2 - Continue through the first few pages until you get to the DB setup page. This is where you fill out your Db details from your docker-compose file. In our instance the server we are using is located at 192.168.0.58 and the maria Db is on port 4840

3 - Now setup your wiki name, username and password

4 - Setup your wiki privacy options for your requirements

5 - The final stage is to confirm that everything has been set up and click continue

6 - The last page provides you with a download link for LocalSettings.php

4: Final setup of LocalSetting.php

1 - Copy the newly created LocalSettings.php to your root folder

john@server:~/docker/testwiki$ ls
docker-compose.yml  images  LocalSettings.php
john@server:~/docker/testwiki$

2 - Edit your docker-compose.yml file and remove the # from the start of this line

      - /home/john/docker/testwiki/LocalSettings.php:/var/www/html/LocalSettings.php

3 - Change the permissions on the LocalSettings.php file using chmod

john@server:~/docker/testwiki$ chmod 777 LocalSettings.php

4 - Recreate the mediawiki container by using docker-compose

john@server:~/docker/testwiki$ docker-compose up -d
testwiki_database_1 is up-to-date
Recreating testwiki_mediawiki_1 ... done
john@server:~/docker/testwiki$

5: Accessing mediawiki

1 - Navigate to http://serveripaddress:4820 to access your wiki