Create basic instructions for initial use

[darenwelsh]

Assume someone already has a functioning MediaWiki installation with command-line access. Draft an initial set of instructions so someone can clone this repo and perform basic sync from one wiki to another.

[hexmode]

Pre-requisites

1. Install pre-requisites to install MediaWiki::API and the MediaWiki remote for git. These are git, CPAN, LWP::Protocol::https, Encode.pm, JSON.pm, and make. If your system uses yum, apt, or apk as a package installer, you can install these using the approprate command from below:
   • yum: sudo yum -y install git perl-CPAN perl-LWP-Protocol-https perl-Encode perl-JSON make perl-DateTime-Format-ISO8601
   • apt: sudo apt install git perl liblwp-protocol-https-perl libjson-perl libjson-xs-perl make libdatetime-format-iso8601-perl
   • apk: sudo sed -i 's,^#\(.*v[0-9.]*/community\),\1,' /etc/apk/repositories; sudo apk add git git-fast-import perl-utils perl-lwp-protocol-https perl-encode perl-json perl-git perl-datetime-format-builder perl-text-glob perl-number-compare perl-file-find-rule perl-test-pod-coverage make
2. You should now be able to use cpan to install perl's MediaWiki::API and DateTime::Format::ISO8601 (DateTime::Format::ISO8601 is not needed if you used the apt or yum installer above):
   sudo cpan install MediaWiki::API or sudo cpan -T MediaWiki::API if tests fail
   sudo cpan install DateTime::Format::ISO8601 # apk only
3. Install MediaWiki.
   • http://wikidev.localdomain/wiki/
   • http://wikidev.localdomain/wiki2/
   • api.php can be seen at http://.../wiki/api.php
   • anonymous edits allowed on both wikis
   • Wikis only have the "MediaWiki has been installed" default main page

Install the mediawiki remote for git:

  # git clone https://github.com/mwstake/Git-Mediawiki.git

Use the remote:

Before you use the remote, you have to set your environment:

  # cd Git-Mediawiki
  # export GIT_EXEC_PATH=`git --exec-path`:`pwd`
  # export GITPERLLIB=$GITPERLLIB:`pwd`

Once you have set up your enviornment, you can clone small wikis:

# git clone mediawiki::http://wikidev.localdomain/wiki1 wiki-sync

To clone a wiki with a self-signed cert, use git -c http.sslVerify=false clone mediawiki::http://wikidev.localdomain/wiki1 wiki-sync

Add a remote for the other wiki:

# cd wiki-sync
# git remote add copy mediawiki::http://wikidev.localdomain/wiki2

Fetch it and switch branches:

# git fetch copy
# git checkout -b copy-master copy/master

Verify merge fails:

  # git merge origin/master
  fatal: refusing to merge unrelated histories

Tell git it's ok:

# git merge origin/master --allow-unrelated-histories

Update the page

  # (echo '== On copy =='; echo '<pre>';git status; echo '</pre>') >> Main_Page.mw
  # git commit -m "test edit 2" Main_Page.mw

Push the edit to the copy wiki and make sure the branch follows:

# git push -u copy copy-master:master

Verify the change in your browser. Verify only the "copy" wiki has
changed.

Switch back to the first branch, Make a similar edit on the first
branch, and commit the change

  # git checkout master
  # (echo '== On master =='; echo '<pre>';git status; echo '</pre>') >> Main_Page.mw
  # git commit -m "test edit 2" Main_Page.mw

Push the change to the first wiki

# git push -u origin master:master

Verify that the two wikis are different in your browser

Merge copy-master branch into master. (You'll have a conflict)

  # git merge copy-master
  Auto-merging Main\_Page.mw
  CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in Main\_Page.mw
  Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

Edit Main_Page.mw to resolve the conflict and then commit the change
and push to first wiki:

  # git add Main_Page.mw
  # git commit -m "resolved"
  # git push

Verify in your browser that the first wiki has the change

Switch back to the copy in git:

# git checkout copy-master

Merge in the changes:

# git merge origin

Verify in your browser that the copy wiki has not changed

Push the changes

# git push copy copy-master:master

Verify in your browser that the copy wiki changed

[darenwelsh]

Step 3 currently shows two wikis on a single/shared server. But later on it looks like you can specify different domains/servers. Is this set up so you can sync between different domains/IPs? I would hope so, but just want to check.

Also, at some point these instructions should go into a doc within the repo. Should we create a branch docs where we can continue development of the documentation without conflicting with continued code commits?

[darenwelsh]

I'm having trouble finding how to install git-fast-import.

[hexmode]

Step 3 currently shows two wikis on a single/shared server. But later on it looks like you can specify different domains/servers. Is this set up so you can sync between different domains/IPs?

There is no restriction to a single server.

Also, at some point these instructions should go into a doc within the repo.

Agreed. I want to get your input here first. Since these are focused on the git remote portion, we should put it in the git remote's repo and point to it. I'm working on getting that repo under our (MWStake's) management.

[hexmode]

I'm having trouble finding how to install git-fast-import.

On my centos7 box, I installed git2u from the ius repo and it was included:

$ rpm -q --whatprovides /usr/libexec/git-core/git-fast-import 
git2u-core-2.16.5-1.ius.centos7.x86_64

[darenwelsh]

Going to try https://computingforgeeks.com/how-to-install-latest-version-of-git-git-2-x-on-centos-7/

Per Mark (via chat conversation), the following is a way to confirm git-fast-import is installed:

ls -l `git --exec-path`/git-fast-import

[darenwelsh]

is allowing anonymous edits required? That's likely problematic for our work situation.

[darenwelsh]

to configure for anon edits: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Meza/Public_config#preLocalSettings.d

Modify /opt/conf-meza/public/preLocalSettings.d/base.php to include

$mezaAuthType = "anon-edit";

Then run

sudo meza deploy monolith --tags mediawiki --skip-tags latest,update.php,verify-wiki,smw-data,search-index,parsoid,mediawiki-core

Ref: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Meza/Public_config#Modifying_LocalSettings.php

[darenwelsh]

Why is Wikis only have the "MediaWiki has been installed" default main page required?

[darenwelsh]

In order to run sudo cpan install MediaWiki::API on a meza VM, cpan must first be installed.

sudo yum -y install perl-CPAN

Will need to figure out how to configure CPAN automatically in meza scripts ...

[darenwelsh]

Do all these commands need to be performed on both (all) wiki servers?

[hexmode]

is allowing anonymous edits required? That's likely problematic for our work situation.

No, the remote can log in. Adding that makes the instructions less basic (and I want to change how it is done...)

[hexmode]

Why is Wikis only have the "MediaWiki has been installed" default main page required?

I'm just stating what I tested. I am not sure how this would work if both wikis were divergent.

Will need to figure out how to configure CPAN automatically in meza scripts ...

Pretty sure you just need a .cpanrc or the like.

Do all these commands need to be performed on both (all) wiki servers?

The commands can be performed anywhere. You just need access to the api.php of the wiki you are syncing.