Web Server Configuration
- Web Server Configuration
This article provides a beginner-friendly guide to understanding and configuring web servers, specifically within the context of running a MediaWiki installation. While MediaWiki itself is powerful, its performance and security are heavily reliant on the underlying web server configuration. We will cover common web servers, essential configuration concepts, and best practices. This guide assumes a basic understanding of operating systems (Linux, Windows) and networking.
What is a Web Server?
At its core, a web server is software and the underlying hardware that uses HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to deliver web content to clients (typically web browsers). When you type a URL into your browser, it sends a request to a web server, which then processes the request and sends back the requested content – HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other files.
For MediaWiki, the web server acts as the intermediary between users accessing your wiki and the MediaWiki software itself. It receives requests, passes them to the PHP interpreter (which runs MediaWiki’s code), and then sends the generated HTML back to the user's browser.
Common Web Servers
Several web servers are commonly used to host MediaWiki installations. Here are the most popular:
- Apache HTTP Server: One of the oldest and most widely-used web servers. Known for its flexibility and extensive module support. It's often a good choice for beginners due to its well-documented configuration. Apache Official Website
- Nginx: A more modern web server known for its high performance, scalability, and low resource consumption. Increasingly popular for high-traffic websites and reverse proxy setups. Nginx Official Website
- Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services): A web server integrated with the Windows operating system. While less common for open-source projects like MediaWiki, it can be used effectively in a Windows environment. IIS Official Website
- LiteSpeed Web Server: A high-performance web server often favored for its compatibility with Apache’s .htaccess files and its event-driven architecture. LiteSpeed Official Website
This article will primarily focus on Apache and Nginx, as they are the most frequently used for MediaWiki.
Core Configuration Concepts
Regardless of the web server you choose, several core concepts apply:
- Virtual Hosts: Allow you to host multiple websites (or wikis) on a single server. Each virtual host has its own configuration, domain name, and document root (the directory where the website’s files are stored). This is crucial for running multiple extensions or wikis on the same machine.
- Document Root: The directory on the server where the web server looks for the website’s files. For MediaWiki, this is typically the directory where you installed the MediaWiki software. Understanding file paths is essential here.
- Directives: Configuration settings within the web server's configuration files. These directives control how the web server behaves.
- Modules: Extend the functionality of the web server. For example, `mod_php` (Apache) or `php-fpm` (Nginx) allows the web server to process PHP code.
- .htaccess (Apache): A distributed configuration file that allows you to override the main server configuration for a specific directory. While convenient, it can impact performance. See Manual:Configuration for details.
- Configuration Files: The main files where web server settings are stored. For Apache, these are typically `httpd.conf` or `apache2.conf` and files in the `conf.d` directory. For Nginx, it's `nginx.conf` and files in the `sites-available` and `sites-enabled` directories.
- Permissions: Setting correct file and directory permissions is vital for security. Web server processes need read access to the MediaWiki files, but write access should be limited.
Apache Configuration for MediaWiki
Here's a basic example of an Apache virtual host configuration for MediaWiki. This assumes you’ve installed `mod_php` and have MediaWiki installed in `/var/www/mediawiki`:
```apache <VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName yourwiki.example.com DocumentRoot /var/www/mediawiki
<Directory /var/www/mediawiki> Options +FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All Require all granted </Directory>
ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost> ```
- Explanation:**
- `ServerName`: The domain name or IP address used to access your wiki.
- `DocumentRoot`: The directory where MediaWiki is installed.
- `<Directory>`: Defines access control for the MediaWiki directory.
* `Options +FollowSymLinks`: Allows the web server to follow symbolic links. * `AllowOverride All`: Allows `.htaccess` files to override the configuration. Consider setting this to `None` for better performance if you don’t need `.htaccess` files. * `Require all granted`: Allows access to all users.
- `ErrorLog` and `CustomLog`: Specify the locations for error and access logs, respectively.
- Important Apache Modules:**
- `mod_rewrite`: Enables URL rewriting, useful for creating clean URLs. mod_rewrite Documentation
- `mod_ssl`: Enables HTTPS for secure communication. mod_ssl Documentation
- `mod_headers`: Allows you to add, modify, or remove HTTP headers. Useful for security and caching. mod_headers Documentation
- `mod_expires`: Controls browser caching of static assets. mod_expires Documentation
Nginx Configuration for MediaWiki
Here's a basic example of an Nginx server block configuration for MediaWiki. This assumes you have PHP-FPM installed and running:
```nginx server {
listen 80; server_name yourwiki.example.com; root /var/www/mediawiki;
index index.php index.html index.htm;
location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args; }
location ~ \.php$ { include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf; fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock; # Adjust to your PHP-FPM socket }
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log; access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
} ```
- Explanation:**
- `listen`: Specifies the port to listen on (80 for HTTP).
- `server_name`: The domain name or IP address used to access your wiki.
- `root`: The directory where MediaWiki is installed.
- `index`: Specifies the default files to serve.
- `location /`: Handles all requests. `try_files` attempts to serve the requested file or directory. If not found, it passes the request to `index.php`.
- `location ~ \.php$`: Handles PHP files.
* `include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf`: Includes a common configuration snippet for PHP-FPM. * `fastcgi_pass`: Specifies the address of the PHP-FPM socket.
- `error_log` and `access_log`: Specify the locations for error and access logs.
- Important Nginx Directives:**
- `proxy_pass`: Used for reverse proxying, useful for load balancing and caching. proxy_pass Documentation
- `gzip`: Enables compression of responses, reducing bandwidth usage. gzip Documentation
- `expires`: Controls browser caching of static assets. expires Documentation
- `limit_req`: Limits the rate of requests, protecting against denial-of-service attacks. limit_req Documentation
Security Considerations
- HTTPS: Always use HTTPS to encrypt communication between the client and the server. Obtain an SSL/TLS certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). Let’s Encrypt offers free certificates. Let's Encrypt
- Firewall: Configure a firewall to restrict access to your web server to only necessary ports (typically 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS).
- File Permissions: Set restrictive file and directory permissions. The web server process should only have read access to the MediaWiki files.
- Regular Updates: Keep your web server, PHP, and MediaWiki software up to date to patch security vulnerabilities.
- Disable Directory Listing: Prevent the web server from displaying directory listings if no index file is present.
- Input Validation: MediaWiki itself handles much of this, but ensure your web server configuration doesn't inadvertently bypass these protections.
- Security Headers: Add security-related HTTP headers (e.g., `Strict-Transport-Security`, `X-Frame-Options`, `X-Content-Type-Options`, `Content-Security-Policy`) to protect against common web attacks. Security Headers
Performance Tuning
- Caching: Implement caching mechanisms to reduce server load and improve response times. Browser caching (using `expires` or `Cache-Control` headers), server-side caching (using Varnish or Nginx’s proxy cache), and object caching (using Memcached or Redis) can all significantly improve performance. See Help:Performance
- Compression: Enable gzip compression to reduce the size of transferred files.
- Keep-Alive: Enable Keep-Alive connections to reduce the overhead of establishing new connections.
- PHP-FPM Configuration: Tune PHP-FPM settings (e.g., `pm.max_children`, `pm.start_servers`, `pm.min_spare_servers`, `pm.max_spare_servers`) to optimize PHP processing.
- Database Optimization: Optimize your MediaWiki database (typically MySQL/MariaDB) for performance. This includes indexing, query optimization, and regular maintenance. See Manual:Database
- Load Balancing: For high-traffic wikis, consider using load balancing to distribute traffic across multiple web servers.
Troubleshooting
- Error Logs: Check the web server’s error logs for clues about problems.
- Browser Developer Tools: Use your browser’s developer tools to inspect network requests and identify performance bottlenecks.
- MediaWiki Debugging: Enable MediaWiki’s debugging mode to get more detailed information about errors. Set `$wgDebugToolbar` to `true` in `LocalSettings.php`.
- Configuration Syntax Check: Before restarting your web server, always check the configuration syntax for errors. Apache uses `apachectl configtest`, and Nginx uses `nginx -t`.
Resources & Further Learning
- Apache Documentation: Apache Documentation
- Nginx Documentation: Nginx Documentation
- PHP Documentation: PHP Documentation
- Let's Encrypt: Let's Encrypt
- SecurityHeaders.io: SecurityHeaders.io
- Web Performance Optimization: Google Web Fundamentals
- HTTP/2: HTTP/2
- HTTP/3: HTTP/3
- Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): CDN Providers
- Load Balancing Strategies: Nginx Load Balancing Strategies
- Reverse Proxy Configuration: DigitalOcean Reverse Proxy Tutorial
- Database Indexing Techniques: Percona Database Indexing
- Caching Strategies for Web Applications: KeyCDN Caching Strategies
- PHP-FPM Tuning Guide: PHP-FPM Configuration
- Web Server Security Best Practices: OWASP Top Ten
- Understanding HTTP Status Codes: HTTP Status Codes
- Analyzing Web Server Logs: Loggly Web Server Log Analysis
- Monitoring Web Server Performance: New Relic Web Server Monitoring
- Network Performance Monitoring Tools: SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
- Web Application Firewall (WAF): Cloudflare WAF
- Denial-of-Service (DoS) Mitigation Techniques: Akamai DoS Attacks Explained
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Prevention: Portswigger XSS Prevention
- SQL Injection Prevention: Portswigger SQL Injection Prevention
- SSL/TLS Certificate Authorities: Digicert
- HTTP Header Manipulation Tools: WebPageTest
- Resource Monitoring Tools (top, htop): Resource Monitoring Tools
- Traffic Analysis Tools (tcpdump, Wireshark): Wireshark
- Database Query Analyzers: Percona Toolkit
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