TWiki on Nginx

Instructions to install TWiki on high performance Nginx webserver (pronounced "Engine-X")

Download and install TWiki

See TWikiInstallationGuide.

Nginx-specific configuration

Access restriction

You should restrict access to the configuration script and all twiki directories except the bin and pub directories.

The following code is a concrete example.

location ~ ^/twiki/ {
    deny all;

    location ~ ^/twiki/pub/ { allow all; }

    location ~ ^/twiki/bin/configure {
        #allow          *.*.*.*; # When you configure your TWiki, remove "#" and set your IP address.
        fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:8999;
        include        fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

    location ~ ^/twiki/bin/ {
        allow all;
        fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:8999;
        fastcgi_split_path_info  ^(/twiki/bin/[^/]+)(/.*)$;
        include        fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param  PATH_INFO        $fastcgi_path_info;
        fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
}

Enable PATH_INFO

Use fastcgi_split_path_info directive and fastcgi_param directive in order to enable the PATH_INFO environment variable. Refer to above code.

URL shortening

If you edit your LocalSite.cfg and add the following:

$TWiki::cfg{ScriptUrlPaths}{view} = '/twiki';
$TWiki::cfg{ScriptUrlPaths}{edit} = '/twiki/edit';

you should add the following to your nginx.conf:

rewrite ^/twiki/([A-Z].*)  /twiki/bin/view/$1;
rewrite ^/twiki/edit/(.*)  /twiki/bin/edit/$1;

The entire code is as follows:

location ~ ^/twiki/ {

    rewrite ^/twiki/([A-Z].*)  /twiki/bin/view/$1;
    rewrite ^/twiki/edit/(.*)  /twiki/bin/edit/$1;

    deny all;

    location ~ ^/twiki/pub/ { allow all; }

    location ~ ^/twiki/bin/configure {
        #allow          *.*.*.*; # When you configure your TWiki, remove "#" and set your IP address.
        fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:8999;
        include        fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

    location ~ ^/twiki/bin/ {
        allow all;
        fastcgi_pass   127.0.0.1:8999;
        fastcgi_split_path_info  ^(/twiki/bin/[^/]+)(/.*)$;
        include        fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param  PATH_INFO        $fastcgi_path_info;
        fastcgi_param  SCRIPT_FILENAME  $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }
}

This will change your TWiki URLs from:

www.example.com/twiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome to www.example.com/twiki/Main/WebHome

www.example.com/twiki/bin/edit/Main/WebHome to www.example.com/twiki/edit/Main/WebHome

References

• TWikiInstallationGuide
• ShorterUrlCookbook

-- Contributors: KoheiYoshioka - 2012-09-25

Discussion

Thank you very much Kohei-san for documenting the Nginx installation! Yet another useful enhancement for the TWiki community.

I added links in appropriate places to this topic.

-- PeterThoeny - 2012-09-25

Feedback in KampalaReleaseMeeting2013x10x24 on TWiki on Nginx installation:

1. configure nginx.conf with proper server{} section pointing to your http dir;
2. move the twiki dir into it;
3. installed these modules: local::lib, CGI-Session-4.48, FreezeThaw-0.5001, Time-modules-2013, GD-2.50, Rcs-1.05;
4. install fcgi-wrapper and spawn-fcgi.
5. create script with case--switch statements to manage launch/reset;
6. and login to nginx

BTW, I do not recommend to expose the whole twiki dir as http enabled, this can be a security risk. Only the twiki/pub needs to be http enabled, and the twiki/pub CGI enabled.

-- Peter Thoeny - 2013-10-25

Here is another installation instruction: http://www.bdunk.com/twiki-nginx

-- Peter Thoeny - 2014-01-23

Another sample configuration is at Support.SID-00831, contributed by FangXing.

-- Peter Thoeny - 2015-11-09