Development

Canasta: Using Canasta > Manage wikis

This page documents the Canasta CLI commands for creating, importing, and managing wikis and wiki farms.

Table of contents

canasta create

Create a new Canasta installation.

Usage:

canasta create [flags]

Required flags:

Flag Short Description
--id -i Canasta instance ID (must be alphanumeric with optional hyphens/underscores)
--admin -a Initial wiki admin username

Optional flags:

Flag Short Default Description
--path -p Current directory Directory where the installation will be created
--orchestrator -o compose Orchestrator to use (currently only compose is supported)
--wiki -w ID of the wiki (required if --yamlfile is not provided)
--site-name -t Wiki ID Display name of the wiki
--domain-name -n localhost Domain name for the wiki
--password -s Auto-generated Initial wiki admin password
--yamlfile -f Path to a custom wikis.yaml file
--keep-config -k false Keep config files on installation failure
--override -r File to copy as docker-compose.override.yml
--rootdbpass Auto-generated Root database password
--wikidbuser root Wiki database username
--wikidbpass Auto-generated Wiki database password
--envfile -e Path to .env file with password overrides

Examples:

Create a basic wiki:

sudo canasta create -i mywiki -w main -n example.com -a admin

Create with custom admin password:

sudo canasta create -i mywiki -w main -n example.com -a admin -s "MySecurePassword123"

Create with custom database passwords (using environment variables to avoid shell history):

sudo canasta create -i mywiki -w main -n example.com -a admin \
  --rootdbpass "$ROOT_DB_PASS" --wikidbpass "$WIKI_DB_PASS"

Create with a custom wikis.yaml file:

sudo canasta create -i mywiki -a admin -f ./my-wikis.yaml

Notes:

canasta import

Import an existing MediaWiki installation into Canasta.

Usage:

canasta import [flags]

Required Flags:

Flag Short Description
--id -i Canasta instance ID

Optional Flags:

Flag Short Default Description
--path -p Current directory Directory for the installation
--orchestrator -o compose Orchestrator to use
--domain-name -n localhost Domain name
--database -d Path to database dump (.sql or .sql.gz)
--localsettings -l Path to existing LocalSettings.php
--env -e Path to existing .env file
--override -r File to copy as docker-compose.override.yml
--keep-config -k false Keep config files on failure

Example:

sudo canasta import -i importedwiki -d ./backup.sql.gz -e ./.env -l ./LocalSettings.php

Before importing:

  1. Create a .env file (see .env.example)
  2. Prepare your database dump (.sql or .sql.gz)
  3. Update your LocalSettings.php database configuration:

canasta add

Add a new wiki to an existing Canasta instance (wiki farm).

Usage:

canasta add [flags]

Required Flags:

Flag Short Description
--wiki -w ID of the new wiki
--url -u URL of the new wiki (domain/path format, e.g., 'localhost/wiki2')
--id -i Canasta instance ID
--admin -a Admin username for the new wiki

Optional Flags:

Flag Short Default Description
--path -p Current directory Path to the Canasta installation
--orchestrator -o compose Orchestrator to use
--site-name -t Wiki ID Display name of the wiki
--database -d Path to existing database dump
--password -s Auto-generated Admin password for the new wiki
--wikidbuser root Wiki database username

Examples:

Add a wiki at a subdomain:

sudo canasta add -i mywiki -w soccerwiki -u soccer.example.com -a admin

Add a wiki at a path:

sudo canasta add -i mywiki -w docs -u example.com/docs -t "Documentation Wiki" -a admin

Import an existing wiki database:

sudo canasta add -i mywiki -w imported -u example.com/imported -a admin -d ./backup.sql.gz

URL Format:

canasta remove

Remove a wiki from a Canasta instance (wiki farm).

Usage:

canasta remove [flags]

Flags:

Flag Short Default Description
--wiki -w ID of the wiki to remove (required)
--id -i Canasta instance ID
--path -p Current directory Path to the Canasta installation

Example:

sudo canasta remove -i mywiki -w soccerwiki

Warning: This command will delete the wiki and its corresponding database. You will be prompted for confirmation.

canasta delete

Delete an entire Canasta installation.

Usage:

canasta delete [flags]

Flags:

Flag Short Default Description
--id -i Canasta instance ID
--path -p Current directory Path to the Canasta installation

Example:

sudo canasta delete -i mywiki

Warning: This command stops and removes all containers, volumes, and configuration files for the installation.

canasta list

List all Canasta installations managed by the CLI.

Usage:

canasta list

Example:

sudo canasta list

Example output:

Canasta ID  Wiki ID  Server Name  Server Path  Installation Path              Orchestrator
myfarm      wiki1    example.com  /            /home/user/myfarm              compose
myfarm      wiki2    example.com  /docs        /home/user/myfarm              compose
mywiki      main     localhost    /            /home/user/mywiki              compose

This displays all registered installations and wikis, showing:

Wiki farm example

This example demonstrates creating a wiki farm with multiple wikis using different URL schemes.

1. Create the initial installation with the first wiki:

sudo canasta create -i myfarm -w mainwiki -n example.com -a admin

2. Add a wiki using a path on the same domain:

sudo canasta add -i myfarm -w docs -u example.com/docs -t "Documentation Wiki" -a admin

3. Add a wiki using a subdomain:

sudo canasta add -i myfarm -w community -u community.example.com -a admin

4. View all wikis in the farm:

sudo canasta list

5. Manage extensions for a specific wiki:

sudo canasta extension enable SemanticMediaWiki -i myfarm -w docs

6. Remove a wiki from the farm:

sudo canasta remove -i myfarm -w community
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