History: Requirements

Note on PHP Memory Limits: some ISP's install PHP with a memory_limit = 8m. While Tikiwiki may install, and initially appear to work fine, when faced with even a slight load, this limit will be easily passed and the system will constantly fail: pages will not load properly, odd errors will occur etc. To check this limit, try yourdomain.com/tiki-phpinfo.php . Run that and search for three values on your ISP’s server:

• max_execution_time = 300 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds
• max_input_time = 60 ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data
• memory_limit = 32M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume

This limit is not generally user managable so you must rely on the kindness of your ISP to grant you more resources. On a busy shared server that will also mean that all other PHP users on that shared server will also be granted those resources. ^

Database

Tikiwiki requires an active relational database connection. The database can be installed in the same physical location of the webserver (localhost). Tikiwiki supports the following databases:

• MySQL 4.0.x (or higher)
  • For MySQL 4.1.x, you must use Tiki 1.9.x (full support)
  • For MySQL 5.x, you must use Tiki 1.9.3+. See MySQL5 for details.
• Postgres (partial support)
• SQLite (partial support)
• Oracle (partial support)
• Sybase (partial support)
• MSSQL (partial support)

PHP

Tiki requires PHP 4.1+ (if you want to use LDAP authentication you need 4.3.2+), version 4.2+ is recommended. For PHP 5.0, you must use Tiki 1.9.1 (or higher) with the MySQLi extension.

Libraries
libxml must be enabled	http://us2.php.net/manual/en/ref.xml.php
mbstring is a plus if you work with a language that needs it	http://us2.php.net/manual/en/ref.mbstring.php
ctype must be enabled for tw >=1.10
native PHP DOM XML OR Active-Link DOM XML extension installed	for pdf generation tw>=1.10
GD PHP Image Extension, version 2.0.28 or newer	for pdf generation tw >=1.10
Zlib, Ghostscript, pdflib	highly recommanded for pdf generation tw>=1.10
iconv, ImageMagick	recommended for pdf generation tw>=1.10
.... list to be completed

We recommend using the following configuration in your php.ini file:

PHP.INI setting	Description
memory_limit = 32M	Specify the maximum memory for PHP scripts.
file_uploads = On	Required to allow uploads (files, images, etc.) to your Tiki
upload_max_filesize = XXM	Specify the maxium upload filesize (in MB).
allow_url_fopen = On	Allow trackback pings in your Tiki blogs.
session.save_handler = files session.save_path = /tmp	The path that PHP stores session information. Ensure that the location exists and is writable. In Shared Hosting environments, if you do not have access to /tmp, use temp (no slash) instead.
max_execution_time = 60%%%max_input_time = 60	Specify the idle timeout (in seconds). If you experience timeouts (such as when performing Admin functions) you may need to increase these settings.
magic_quotes_gpc = Off	Turn off PHP's Magic Quotes function.
default_charset = "utf-8"	Specify the default charcter encoding.

Notes if safemode is on
You can need
safe_mode_allowed_env_vars = TZ in php.ini

Note: you may also need the php-devel package being installed (and restarted apache) to get past the "blank screen issue" of tiki-install.php. (See forum article about that). Prior to it please check, that you have enabled the proper database in your php.ini.

The location of the php.ini file may vary, depending on your operating sytem. Some common locations include:

• /etc/php.ini
• /etc/php/php.ini
• /etc/php4/php.ini
• /etc/php/apache1-php4/php.ini (Gentoo)
• /etc/php/cli-php4/php.ini (Gentoo)
• /etc/php4/apache2 (Debian)
• \windows\system\php.ini (Windows)

Notes:

1. PHP 4.1.2 has a known session bug and should not be used.

Optional Software or Libraries

Some TikiWiki feautures require the following additional software or libraries:

Feature	Additional Requirements
Image processing, used for thumbnail generation, dynamic chart generation, and to prevent bot/automatic registration.	Use either GD Library 1.5 (or higher) or ImageMagick. ImageMagick is included, by default with PHP 4.3+
WikiGraph for creating and manipulating graphs.	GraphViz
Webmail	PHP 4.2+
PDF Genration	php-xml
Manage and display maps as a GeoCMS (Geospastial Content Management System).	Mapserver 4.6+
Rewrite Tiki's default URLs	Use the Apache Rewrite Rules to create shorter, or custom, URLs.

Fantastico (and other ISP panels) and Tikiwiki

If your web host uses Fantastico or another web hosting control panel, you'll need to verify that their script will install the current version of Tikiwiki, with all the proper security updates.
Using Fantastico for upgrades is not recommended as it will not preserve any theme changes, image galleries, etc. that have been made.