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You can run DokuWiki on an Ubuntu VPS with Nginx and PHP-FPM without MySQL or PostgreSQL. DokuWiki stores wiki pages, media, search indexes, revisions, and configuration in files, so the deployment consists of a web server, PHP runtime, a writable DokuWiki directory, and sensible backups.
The reliable sequence is: prepare DNS and Ubuntu, install Nginx and the PHP extensions required by your DokuWiki release, unpack the stable archive, set least-privilege ownership, configure Nginx and PHP-FPM, complete install.php, enable ACLs, obtain a TLS certificate, then block the installer and verify that private directories cannot be downloaded.
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A browser requests your wiki hostname. Nginx serves CSS, JavaScript, images, and other static files directly. Requests that need PHP are passed to PHP-FPM through its Unix socket. DokuWiki reads and writes ordinary files below its installation directory; no database server is required for a basic installation.
- DNS: a hostname such as
wiki.example.compoints to the VPS address. - Nginx: terminates HTTP or HTTPS, serves static files, applies access rules, and forwards approved PHP requests.
- PHP-FPM: runs DokuWiki under a service account such as
www-data. - DokuWiki: resides at a web root such as
/var/www/dokuwiki. - Storage: the complete DokuWiki directory, especially
data/,conf/, and uploaded media, is included in off-server backups.
There is no authoritative capacity figure that applies to every wiki. Choose VPS CPU, memory, and disk capacity according to page count, media volume, concurrent editors, search activity, and backup retention, then monitor the real workload.
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Prerequisites and decisions
Hostname and network access
Create an A or AAAA record for the wiki hostname and wait for it to resolve to the VPS. Keep SSH access available from your administration network. The public service normally needs TCP ports 80 and 443; do not expose PHP-FPM’s Unix socket or any database port because this deployment does not use one.
Ubuntu and package versions
Package names and PHP-version requirements change as Ubuntu and DokuWiki releases change. Before installing, check the requirements for the specific current DokuWiki release and select the PHP-FPM package and extensions it supports. The commands below use Ubuntu package names that are commonly available; if your release uses versioned packages, install the matching versions instead.
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Administrative access
Use an account with sudo privileges. Confirm that your VPS provider’s firewall and Ubuntu’s firewall allow SSH before enabling firewall rules, so you do not lock yourself out.
1. Update Ubuntu, install Nginx and PHP-FPM
-
Update the operating system:
sudo apt update sudo apt full-upgrade -
Install Nginx, PHP-FPM, the command-line PHP interpreter, and extensions required by the current DokuWiki requirements. This broad set covers common releases; remove or add modules according to the release documentation:
sudo apt install nginx php-fpm php-cli php-xml php-gd php-curl php-zip php-mbstring tar gzip ca-certificates -
Find the PHP-FPM service and socket actually installed on your VPS:
systemctl list-units --type=service 'php*-fpm.service' ls -l /run/php/php*-fpm.sockRecord the socket path, for example
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Enable the services:
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx sudo systemctl enable --now php8.3-fpmReplace
php8.3-fpmwith the service name returned by the previous command. -
If Ubuntu’s uncomplicated firewall is enabled, allow SSH and web traffic:
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sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full' sudo ufw enable sudo ufw status verbose
2. Download and unpack DokuWiki
Obtain the stable DokuWiki tarball from the project’s official download channel. Save it locally as /tmp/dokuwiki-stable.tgz in the following example, or adjust the archive path to the filename you downloaded.
-
Create an empty document root:
sudo install -d -m 0750 /var/www/dokuwiki -
Extract the archive without creating an extra nested directory:
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Check that the expected files exist:
sudo test -f /var/www/dokuwiki/doku.php sudo test -d /var/www/dokuwiki/data -
Remove the archive after verifying the extraction:
sudo rm /tmp/dokuwiki-stable.tgz
Do not unpack the application into a directory that contains unrelated sites. Keeping a dedicated document root makes permissions, backups, and later restores easier to reason about.
3. Set ownership and writable directories
The PHP-FPM account must be able to create and modify wiki data. The installer also needs to write configuration. Avoid making the entire VPS or unrelated directories writable.
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The following approach keeps the root account as owner and grants the web/PHP group access:
sudo chown -R root:www-data /var/www/dokuwiki
sudo find /var/www/dokuwiki -type d -exec chmod 0750 {} +
sudo find /var/www/dokuwiki -type f -exec chmod 0640 {} +
sudo chmod -R g+rwX /var/www/dokuwiki/data /var/www/dokuwiki/confConfirm the service account before applying this: some custom PHP-FPM pools run as a dedicated user rather than www-data. Replace the group with the account or group configured by your pool.
Directories that need writes
data/stores pages, media, indexes, revisions, cache, and related runtime state.conf/receives the installer-generated configuration and later local settings.lib/plugins/andlib/tpl/need write access only if you install or update extensions and templates through a web-based manager. If you update them from the shell, keep them non-writable by PHP.
After installation, inspect permissions with namei -l /var/www/dokuwiki/data. A successful page edit and media upload are better tests than simply seeing a green installer screen.
4. Create the Nginx server block
Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/dokuwiki. The example below uses wiki.example.com; substitute the hostname in your DNS record. Replace the PHP-FPM socket with the path found earlier.
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server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name wiki.example.com;
root /var/www/dokuwiki;
index doku.php;
# Keep this available if an ACME client uses HTTP validation.
location ^~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
allow all;
}
# Never expose DokuWiki's private and executable support directories.
location ~ ^/(?:data|conf|bin|inc)(?:/|$) {
deny all;
return 404;
}
# Deny hidden files, except the ACME location above.
location ~ /.(?!well-known) {
deny all;
return 404;
}
# Friendly URLs and ordinary static files.
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /doku.php?$args;
}
# Execute only files that physically exist; do not pass arbitrary paths to PHP.
location ~ .php$ {
try_files $uri =404;
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
}
}The try_files fallback sends unknown paths to DokuWiki’s front controller. The PHP block’s existence check prevents Nginx from handing invented filenames to PHP-FPM. DokuWiki’s own Nginx guidance may use additional rewrite rules for media and detail URLs; use those rules if your chosen URL mode requires them.
Enable the site and validate the configuration:
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/dokuwiki /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/dokuwiki
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginxIf nginx -t reports a duplicate server name, remove or edit the other enabled site that claims the same hostname.
5. Obtain a certificate and enforce HTTPS
Use an ACME-compatible certificate client supported by your distribution or hosting workflow. Complete HTTP validation while port 80 is reachable, then configure Nginx with the certificate and private-key paths issued for your hostname.
Use two server blocks after the certificate is available:
- The port-80 block should redirect every ordinary request to the equivalent HTTPS URL, while retaining the ACME challenge exception if your renewal method needs it.
- The port-443 block should contain the DokuWiki root, PHP handler, private-directory rules, and certificate directives.
A typical redirect is:
return 301 https://$host$request_uri;Only add a long-lived HSTS header after HTTPS is working reliably for every page and subdomain you intend to serve. A suitable HTTPS server should also send headers such as X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff and a restrictive referrer policy. Test renewal before relying on it for production access.
6. Run DokuWiki’s browser installer
- Visit
https://wiki.example.com/install.php. - Choose the wiki name and default license.
- Create the first administrator account with a unique, long password.
- Enable ACLs. ACL setup provides administrator login and the administration menu for users, permissions, plugins, and configuration.
- Submit the form and confirm that the installer can write its configuration under
conf/.
If the installer reports that directories are not writable, fix the PHP-FPM account or group permissions rather than granting world write access. Check the Nginx error log and PHP-FPM journal for the exact path that failed.
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7. Configure ACLs and URL behavior
Design permissions before opening the wiki
Define access by namespace or page rather than granting every authenticated user administrator rights. A common policy is:
- Anonymous visitors: read-only access, or no access for an internal wiki.
- Registered users: read and edit rights only in namespaces they maintain.
- Administrators: full access, user management, plugin management, and configuration rights.
Test each policy with separate anonymous, ordinary-user, and administrator sessions. Browser sessions can retain old permissions, so log out or use a private window when validating changes.
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Enable friendly URLs carefully
DokuWiki’s userewrite and useslash settings change how page paths are generated. Enable them only after confirming that your Nginx fallback and any required DokuWiki rewrite rules are present. Change one setting at a time, clear relevant caches, then test a normal page, a namespace page, a media thumbnail, and a missing URL.
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Once the installer succeeds, prevent it from being run again:
- Block it in Nginx with an exact location:
location = /install.php {
deny all;
return 404;
}- Reload Nginx and verify that
https://wiki.example.com/install.phpreturns 404. - Confirm that requests for
/conf/,/data/,/bin/, and/inc/also return 404 or 403 and never display file contents.
Do not rely on obscurity. Even if a directory listing is disabled, explicitly deny these paths and keep private files outside any separately exposed download location.
9. Verify the deployment before inviting users
- Configuration:
sudo nginx -tpasses and both Nginx and PHP-FPM are active. - HTTPS: HTTP redirects to HTTPS, the certificate matches the hostname, and renewal is scheduled.
- Authentication: the administrator can sign in and reach the admin menu.
- Content: create, edit, rename, and delete a test page.
- Media: upload an image, view it, and verify that the resulting file is stored under
data/. - ACLs: test anonymous, registered, and administrator behavior independently.
- Isolation: direct requests to private directories and unsupported PHP paths do not expose files.
- Logs: review
/var/log/nginx/error.log, the access log, and the PHP-FPM journal after these tests.
Backups, updates, and recovery
Back up the file-based state
Because DokuWiki is file-based, a database dump is not a substitute for a filesystem backup. Back up the complete DokuWiki directory and preserve at least data/, conf/, uploaded media, and any locally managed plugins or templates. Keep copies off the VPS and protect them as sensitive data because configuration and wiki content may contain private information.
A simple compressed archive, created while writes are quiet, is a starting point:
sudo tar -czf /var/backups/dokuwiki-$(date +%F).tgz -C /var/www dokuwikiCopy the archive to separate storage, apply retention, and periodically restore it into a non-public test directory. A backup is not proven until a restore can reproduce pages, media, configuration, and administrator access.
Update deliberately
Keep Ubuntu packages, DokuWiki core, and extensions current. Upstream maintainers recommend the latest DokuWiki release for security updates; distribution packages may backport fixes on a different schedule. Read the release notes, take a fresh backup, update during a maintenance window, and test login, editing, media, ACLs, and URL rewriting afterward.
Do not leave conf/ or extension directories permanently writable by PHP merely to simplify updates. Grant temporary write access for a controlled update, or perform the update from the shell, then restore the least-privilege mode.
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Native Nginx versus a container deployment
A native installation gives direct control over Nginx, PHP-FPM, filesystem permissions, and system logs. A container can package the application and PHP runtime, but it still needs persistent storage and a reverse proxy for TLS and authentication.
| Decision area | Native Nginx/PHP-FPM | Containerized DokuWiki |
|---|---|---|
| Updates | You manage Ubuntu, PHP-FPM, Nginx, DokuWiki, and extensions separately. | You replace images and manage host runtime updates; extension data remains in persistent storage. |
| Storage | Back up the DokuWiki directory directly. | Back up the persistent storage volume, including the application’s writable storage path. |
| TLS | Nginx can terminate HTTPS on the host. | A reverse proxy normally handles SSL termination and authentication. |
| Permissions | Unix ownership and PHP-FPM pool settings are visible on the host. | Container user IDs and host-volume ownership must match. |
| Observability | Use systemd, Nginx logs, and PHP-FPM logs. | Combine container logs with reverse-proxy and host logs. |
| Recovery | Restore files and package configuration on a prepared VPS. | Start the known image with the restored persistent volume and proxy configuration. |
For a single Ubuntu VPS where you want transparent operating-system administration, native Nginx/PHP-FPM is usually the easier arrangement. Choose a container when image-based deployment, isolation, or an existing reverse-proxy platform outweighs the extra volume and user-ID coordination.
Troubleshooting common failures
502 Bad Gateway
Nginx cannot reach PHP-FPM. Check that the service is running, compare fastcgi_pass with the actual socket under /run/php/, and verify that the socket ownership permits Nginx to connect:
systemctl status php8.3-fpm
ls -l /run/php/
sudo tail -n 50 /var/log/nginx/error.log403 or 404 for every page
Confirm the root path, hostname, and enabled site. A broad deny rule may be matching the request before the normal location. Run nginx -T to inspect the complete active configuration and check that doku.php exists at the document root.
Installer says files are not writable
Check the PHP-FPM pool’s user and group, then inspect each parent directory with namei -l. Grant group write access only to data/ and the configuration path needed by the installer. Do not solve this with chmod -R 777.
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Verify the DokuWiki URL settings and Nginx fallback rules together. Test the media fetch and detail endpoints, inspect access-log status codes, and temporarily return to the default URL mode until the rewrite behavior is correct.
Users can download private files
Check the deny locations for data, conf, bin, and inc, including requests with a trailing slash or additional path component. Reload Nginx after changes and test with a client that is not authenticated.
Updates break the site
Restore the pre-update archive to a separate test root first, review extension compatibility, and compare Nginx, PHP, and DokuWiki logs. Keep the previous application directory until the new release has passed the verification checklist.
Quick Recap
Final security checklist
- DNS points only to the intended VPS.
- SSH is restricted to your administration method and remains usable after firewall changes.
- Only ports 80 and 443 are publicly required for the wiki.
- HTTPS is enforced with a valid, renewable certificate.
install.phpis blocked after setup.conf/,data/,bin/, andinc/are denied by Nginx.- PHP-FPM runs as a deliberate service account with only the writes DokuWiki needs.
- ACLs reflect anonymous, registered-user, and administrator roles.
- Core, plugins, and templates are updated from trusted release sources.
- Off-server backups are encrypted or otherwise protected and have been restored successfully in a test.
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