How to Install Wiki.js on Rocky Linux 9

Wiki.js is an open-source, lightweight wiki software. It is built on the Node.js JavaScript framework. It can be used to write documentation, wiki, and web content using a Markdown editor for developers and a WYSIWYG editor for non-technical people. It supports multiple content types including UML diagrams, Math expressions using Tex or MathML syntax, and code. It includes multiple modules for various functions including analytics, authentication, logging, third-party search engines, and multiple storage services to sync your content to.

In this tutorial, you will learn to install Wiki.js on a Rocky Linux 9 server using the PostgreSQL database and Nginx server for proxying.

Prerequisites

  • A server running Rocky Linux 9.

  • A non-root user with sudo privileges.

  • A fully qualified domain name (FQDN) pointing to your server. For our purposes, we will use wiki.example.com as the domain name.

  • Make sure everything is updated.

    $ sudo dnf update

  • Install basic utility packages. Some of them may already be installed.

    $ sudo dnf install wget curl nano unzip yum-utils -y

Step 1 - Configure Firewall

The first step is to configure the firewall. Rocky Linux uses Firewalld Firewall. Check the firewall's status.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --state
running

The firewall works with different zones, and the public zone is the default one that we will use. List all the services and ports active on the firewall.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --list-services

It should show the following output.

cockpit dhcpv6-client ssh

Wiki.js needs HTTP and HTTPS ports to function. Open them.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=https --permanent

Reload the firewall to apply the changes.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 2 - Install PostgreSQL and Utilities

Rocky Linux 9 ships with an older version of PostgreSQL. We will install Postgres 14 for our tutorial.

Install the repository RPM for PostgreSQL.

$ sudo dnf install -y https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/reporpms/EL-9-x86_64/pgdg-redhat-repo-latest.noarch.rpm

Install PostgreSQL 14 server.

$ sudo dnf install -y postgresql14-server postgresql14-contrib

Initialize the database.

$ sudo /usr/pgsql-14/bin/postgresql-14-setup initdb

Enable and start the PostgreSQL service.

$ sudo systemctl enable postgresql-14 --now

Check the status of the service.

$ sudo systemctl status postgresql-14
? postgresql-14.service - PostgreSQL 14 database server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-14.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sat 2022-10-22 09:52:41 UTC; 2s ago
       Docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/14/static/
    Process: 103857 ExecStartPre=/usr/pgsql-14/bin/postgresql-14-check-db-dir ${PGDATA} (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 103862 (postmaster)
      Tasks: 8 (limit: 5915)
     Memory: 16.6M
        CPU: 61ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/postgresql-14.service
             ??103862 /usr/pgsql-14/bin/postmaster -D /var/lib/pgsql/14/data/
             ??103863 "postgres: logger "
             ??103865 "postgres: checkpointer "
             ??103866 "postgres: background writer "
             ??103867 "postgres: walwriter "
             ??103868 "postgres: autovacuum launcher "
             ??103869 "postgres: stats collector "
             ??103870 "postgres: logical replication launcher "

Oct 22 09:52:41 wiki.example.com systemd[1]: Starting PostgreSQL 14 database server...

Step 3 - Configure PostgreSQL

Log in to the PostgreSQL shell.

$ sudo -i -u postgres psql

Create a new database for Wiki.js.

postgres=# CREATE DATABASE wikidb;

Create a new database user with a strong password.

postgres=# CREATE USER wikiuser WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'wikipassword';

Grant the rights to the user to use the database.

postgres=# GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE wikidb TO wikiuser;

Exit the Postgres Shell.

postgres=# \q

Step 4 - Install Node.js

Wiki.js supports Node v16 at the moment of writing this tutorial.

Install the Node repository using the following command.

$ curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | sudo bash -

Install Node.

$ sudo dnf install nodejs -y

Verify Node installation.

$ node --version
v16.18.0

Step 5 - Download Wiki.js

Create a folder to install Wiki.js.

$ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/wikijs

Set the currently logged-in user as the owner of the folder.

$ sudo chown $USER:$USER /var/www/wikijs

Switch to the directory and download the Wiki.js code archive.

$ cd /var/www/wikijs && wget https://github.com/Requarks/wiki/releases/latest/download/wiki-js.tar.gz

Extract the downloaded archive.

$ tar xzf wiki-js.tar.gz

Step 6 - Configure and Run Wiki.js

Create the configuration file from the sample.

$ cp config.sample.yml config.yml

Open the configuration file for editing.

$ nano config.yml

Find the following database settings and update their values with the ones configured in step 3.

# PostgreSQL / MySQL / MariaDB / MS SQL Server only:
host: localhost
port: 5432
user: wikiuser
pass: wikipassword
db: wikidb
ssl: false

Find the line bindIP: 0.0.0.0 and update it as follows.

bindIP: 127.0.0.1

This will make WIki.js listen on the loopback address because we will be using the Nginx proxy to access it from the outside.

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X and entering Y when prompted.

Run Wiki.js by using the following command.

$ node server

You will receive a similar output confirming a successful install.

2022-10-22T10:25:48.187Z [MASTER] info: =======================================
2022-10-22T10:25:48.190Z [MASTER] info: = Wiki.js 2.5.289 =====================
2022-10-22T10:25:48.191Z [MASTER] info: =======================================
2022-10-22T10:25:48.191Z [MASTER] info: Initializing...
2022-10-22T10:25:49.079Z [MASTER] info: Using database driver pg for postgres [ OK ]
2022-10-22T10:25:49.086Z [MASTER] info: Connecting to database...
2022-10-22T10:25:49.117Z [MASTER] info: Database Connection Successful [ OK ]
2022-10-22T10:25:49.467Z [MASTER] warn: DB Configuration is empty or incomplete. Switching to Setup mode...
2022-10-22T10:25:49.468Z [MASTER] info: Starting setup wizard...
2022-10-22T10:25:49.740Z [MASTER] info: Starting HTTP server on port 3000...
2022-10-22T10:25:49.741Z [MASTER] info: HTTP Server on port: [ 3000 ]
2022-10-22T10:25:49.745Z [MASTER] info: HTTP Server: [ RUNNING ]
2022-10-22T10:25:49.745Z [MASTER] info: .......................................
2022-10-22T10:25:49.745Z [MASTER] info:
2022-10-22T10:25:49.746Z [MASTER] info: Browse to http://YOUR-SERVER-IP:3000/ to complete setup!

Press Ctrl + C to stop the process.

Step 7 - Setup a Systemd Service

The above process to keep Wiki.js running is temporary. To make the process permanent, we will need to create a systemd service for Wiki.js to run it as a background service. This will allow Wiki.js to run across system reboots.

Create a systemd service file for Wiki.js and open it for editing.

$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/wikijs.service

Paste the following code in it. Replace the value of the variable User with the name of your system user.

[Unit]
Description=Wiki.js
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node server
Restart=always

User=navjot
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/wikijs

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X and entering Y when prompted.

Reload the system daemon.

$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Enable the Wiki.js service.

$ sudo systemctl enable wikijs

Step 8 - Install Nginx

Rocky Linux ships with an older version of Nginx. You need to download the official Nginx repository to install the latest version.

Create and open the /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx.repo file for creating the official Nginx repository.

$ sudo nano /etc/yum.repos.d/nginx.repo

Paste the following code in it.

[nginx-stable]
name=nginx stable repo
baseurl=http://nginx.org/packages/centos/$releasever/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
gpgkey=https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
module_hotfixes=true

[nginx-mainline]
name=nginx mainline repo
baseurl=http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/centos/$releasever/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=0
gpgkey=https://nginx.org/keys/nginx_signing.key
module_hotfixes=true

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X and entering Y when prompted.

Install the Nginx server.

$ sudo dnf install nginx -y

Verify the installation.

$ nginx -v
nginx version: nginx/1.22.1

Enable and start the Nginx server.

$ sudo systemctl enable nginx --now

Check the status of the server.

$ sudo systemctl status nginx
? nginx.service - nginx - high performance web server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Sat 2022-10-22 11:15:39 UTC; 49min ago
       Docs: http://nginx.org/en/docs/
    Process: 116236 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 116237 (nginx)
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 5915)
     Memory: 5.0M
        CPU: 245ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
             ??116237 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf"
             ??116238 "nginx: worker process"

Oct 22 11:15:39 wiki.example.com systemd[1]: Starting nginx - high performance web server...

Step 9 - Install SSL

We will use the Certbot tool using the Snapd tool to issue SSL certificates. It requires the EPEL repository to work.

$ sudo dnf install epel-release

We will use Snapd to install Certbot. Install Snapd.

$ sudo dnf install snapd

Enable and Start the Snap service.

$ sudo systemctl enable snapd.socket --now

Create necessary links for Snapd to work.

$ sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap
$ echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/snapd/snap/bin' | sudo tee -a /etc/profile.d/snapd.sh

Install the core Snapd repository.

$ sudo snap install core
$ sudo snap refresh core

Install Certbot.

$ sudo snap install --classic certbot
$ sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot

Generate the certificate. The following command will also automatically configure Nginx.

$ sudo certbot certonly --nginx --agree-tos --no-eff-email --staple-ocsp --preferred-challenges http -m [email protected] -d wiki.example.com

The above command will download a certificate to the /etc/letsencrypt/live/wiki.example.com directory on your server.

Generate a Diffie-Hellman group certificate.

$ sudo openssl dhparam -dsaparam -out /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem 4096

Do a dry run of the process to check whether the SSL renewal is working fine.

$ sudo certbot renew --dry-run

If you see no errors, you are all set. Your certificate will renew automatically.

Step 10 - Configure SELinux

Run the following commands to apply the correct SELinux context to the Wiki.js directory.

$ sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t "/var/www/wikijs(/.*)?"
$ sudo restorecon -Rv /var/www/wikijs

Create a port for HTTP and assign it to 3000 to make Wiki.js work with SELinux.

$ sudo semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 3000

Allow Nginx to connect to the network.

$ sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1

Step 11 - Configure Nginx

Create and open the file /etc/nginx/conf.d/wikijs.conf for editing.

$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/wikijs.conf

Paste the following code in it.

# enforce HTTPS
server {
  listen 80;
  listen [::]:80;
  server_name wiki.example.com;
  return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    server_name wiki.example.com;

    root /var/www/wikijs;

    access_log  /var/log/nginx/wiki.access.log;
    error_log   /var/log/nginx/wiki.error.log;

    http2_push_preload on; # Enable HTTP/2 Server Push

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/wiki.example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/wiki.example.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_trusted_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/wiki.example.com/chain.pem;
    ssl_session_timeout 1d;

    # Enable TLS versions (TLSv1.3 is required upcoming HTTP/3 QUIC).
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;

    # Enable TLSv1.3's 0-RTT. Use $ssl_early_data when reverse proxying to
    # prevent replay attacks.
    #
    # @see: https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_ssl_module.html#ssl_early_data
    ssl_early_data on;

    ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384';
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
    ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:50m;

    # OCSP Stapling ---
    # fetch OCSP records from URL in ssl_certificate and cache them
    ssl_stapling on;
    ssl_stapling_verify on;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/ssl/certs/dhparam.pem;

    add_header X-Early-Data $tls1_3_early_data;

    location / {
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
    }
}

# This block is useful for debugging TLS v1.3. Please feel free to remove this
# and use the `$ssl_early_data` variable exposed by NGINX directly should you
# wish to do so.
map $ssl_early_data $tls1_3_early_data {
  "~." $ssl_early_data;
  default "";
}

Replace the root location in the above file with the directory on your server.

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X and entering Y when prompted.

Open the file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf for editing.

$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Add the following line before the line include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;.

server_names_hash_bucket_size  64;

Save the file by pressing Ctrl + X and entering Y when prompted.

Verify your Nginx configuration.

$ sudo nginx -t

If you see no errors, it means you are good to go.

Start the Wiki.js service.

$ sudo systemctl start wikijs

Reload the Nginx server.

$ sudo systemctl reload nginx

Step 12 - Finish the Installation

Visit the URL https://wiki.example.com to finish the installation.

Wiki.js Setup Page

Fill in your administrator account details and the URL. Disable Telemetry by unchecking the Allow Telemetry option. You can disable it from the Administration panel as well. Click the Install button to proceed.

You will be taken to the login page.

Wiki.js Login Page

Enter your account details and click the Log in button to proceed to the administration page.

Wiki.js Administration Page

You can now start using Wiki.js.

Conclusion

This concludes our tutorial where you learned how to install Wiki.js on a Rocky Linux 9 server. If you have any questions, post them in the comments below.

Share this page:

1 Comment(s)