MoinMoin

!MoinMoin is a wiki software. Version 1 (current release) runs on Python 2 with vendored dependencies, a complex plugin ecosystem, and no plan for security support. Version 2 (unstable) runs on Python 3 with the Flask ecosystem.

Server Setup

!MoinMoin requires a running web server running Python and uWSGI. The below walkthrough skims over security and configuration details.

NGINX

Create a server location that passes into the !MoinMoin socket. then enable and start the NGINX service.

server {
        listen 80 default_server;

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

        location / {
                include /etc/nginx/uwsgi_params;
                uwsgi_pass unix:///var/www/moin/moin.sock;
                uwsgi_modifier1 30;
        }
}

Often, uWSGI apps recommend adding uwsgi_modifier1 30 to rewrite PATH_INFO and SCRIPT_NAME. This is a deprecated measure, and is unstable for Python 3+. Instead, configure uWSGI.

See here for more details on setting up NGINX.

Let's Encrypt

Use the NGINX plugin for certbot.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d wiki.dominic-ricottone.com

See here for more details on setting up SSL.

uWSGI

sudo apt install uwsgi uwsgi-plugin-python

See here for more details on setting up uWSGI.

MoinMoin Setup

Python Dependencies

To insulate the !MoinMoin instance from the wider web server, it should be installed inside a virtual environment.

sudo apt install python-pip
sudo pip install virtualenv
sudo virtualenv /var/www/moin/pythonenv

!MoinMoin and its dependencies can now be installed safely.

#download
cd /tmp
wget http://static.moinmo.in/files/moin-1.9.10.tar.gz
tar zxvf moin-1.9.10.tar.gz
cd ./moin-1.9.10

#install
source /var/www/moin/pythonenv/bin/activate
python ./setup.py install

Configuration

Unpack key directories and files from the downloaded !MoinMoin package.

cp -r /tmp/wiki /var/www/moin
cp /tmp/config/wikiconfig.py /var/www/moin/wiki/
cp /tmp/server/moin.wsgi /var/www/moin/wiki/

Insert the below into wikiconfig.py, after import os but before from MoinMoin.config import multiconfig, url_prefix_static.

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, '/var/www/moin/pythonenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/')
sys.path.insert(0, '/var/www/moin/wiki/')

Create a new file, uwsgi.ini.

[uwsgi]
uid = moin
gid = www-data
socket = /var/www/moin/moin.sock
chmod-socket = 660
plugin = python

chdir = /var/www/moin/wiki
wsgi-file = /var/www/moin/wiki/moin.wsgi

master
workers = 3
max-requests = 200
harakiri = 60
die-on-term

Permissions

You know you'll have permissions errors eventually. Preempt them.

chown www-data:www-data -R /var/www/moin
chmod g+w,o-rwx -R /var/www/moin

Service File

Create a service file at /etc/systemd/system/moinmoin.service. It should call uWSGI with the configuration we just setup.

[Unit]
Description=Start uwsgi for MoinMoin wiki
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=www-data
ExecStart=/usr/bin/uwsgi --ini /var/www/moin/wiki/uwsgi.ini

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service, and enjoy your wiki!

CategoryRicottone