Assist Upgrade Actions

Purpose

Reasons

• Assist server (online-help) will be sunsetted.
• Some Assist wikis are 16 years out of date and versions are not supported by MediaWiki for any further bug fixes.
• Version of XAMPP (including Apache and PHP) have security vulnerabilities that cannot be resolved without upgrading.
• QoL improvements.

What do we get:

• Technical
  • Latest security patched Apache, MariaDB and PHP installations.
  • Latest security patched MediaWiki installations.
  • New server with supported Windows, hosted on new farm, security enhanced.
  • Enhanced security of edits through CAPTCHA.
• Maintenance
  • Easier upgrade path in the future to maintained LTS MediaWiki releases.
  • Batch Editing/Replacement - through Extension:Nuke/Extension:ReplaceText
  • Code syntax and error highlighting - through Extension:CodeEditor/Extension:SyntaxHighlight
  • Email/2FA account registration
  • Easier page/document creation - through Extension:InputBox
  • Batch upload of images, easing creation of new pages - through Extension:SimpleBatchUpload.
• QoL
  • Improved editor
    • On-line preview - through Extension:WikiEditor
    • Template inserting - through Extension:TemplateWizard and Extension:TemplateData
    • Visual Editor - through Extension:VisualEditor and Extension:Gadgets
  • Easier category navigation - through Extension:CategoryTree
  • Cleaner modern layout, compatible with Mobile - through Timeless/Vector skin
  • Searching of tables - through bespoke code
  • Better exporting to PDF in Aptean format- through Extension:PdfBook
  • Online translation of pages to multiple languages - through Extension:GoogleTranslator

Local Upgrades

See existing system locally hosted

http://localhost:8080/EPOD/index.php/Main_Page

U/P: anw/Liverpool123

Database password is blank!

Installs

Requires upgrade to PHP to 7.4.3 - current version of the XAMPP that I have s 7.4.2

• Start with a XAMPP version that is compatible (see below) or start with the requirements from 1.34 and upgrade PHP
• Upgrading PHP
  • Download the version of XAMPP with the version you're after (in this case xampp-portable-windows-x64-7.4.4-2-VC15.7z) - use latest v7.X installer
  • Rename xampp/php folder to keep it safe.
  • Extract php folder into xampp
  • Stop and start Apache.
  • Note: 7.4.4 works fine with 1.34 - tested locally
• Enable Intl package for 1.39:
  • On XAMPP (Windows) open the php.ini by opening the control panel, selecting config on apache section and selecting PHP
  • Then add extension=php_intl and restart Apache
• Add MySQL WorkBench - download latest version.

Configuration

• Move 80/443 IIS hosting to a new port to avoid conflicts on Apache.
• php: (php.ini)
  • intl and openssl.
    • php.ini - memory_limit = 128M, all the way up to 512 depending on the size of PDF documents. For example, CTMS User Guide PDF size when produced is nearly 60Mb, so needs checking
• Restart Apache (or Apache and PHP changes will not be obeyed)

Creating a brand new MediaWiki installation

• Just extract the MW zip file into a new folder under calidus-assist, rename to what you want
• Run configuration (navigate to the site)
  • database name
  • table prefix (including underscore e.g. "oh_", "epod_")
  • Enter your DB password
  • Regenerate localSettings.php
  • Enter owner u/p
• Enter the same username/password for the site for the admin user.
• Default skin: Timeless (mobile-friendly)

Then follow MediaWiki Configuration and following sections

Upgrading existing MediaWiki

Copying

• Pull HTDOC for wiki systems into server from existing implementation.
• Also favicons and index.html (gateway).
  • Update the favicon to Aptean - use the one in my MTS wiki - C:\xampp\htdocs\favicon.ico
• Copy all the images from the ROOT images folder (not the subfolders) e.g. C:\xampp\htdocs\MTS\images
  • ApteanPageBk.png
  • ApteanPageBk800.png
  • ApteanPageBk1000.png
  • Clear_Icon.png
  • ApteanHF.png
  • ApteanHF1.png
  • ApteanHF2.png
  • pdf.png
• Also images from $wgResourceBasePath/resources/assets/
  • Aptean.png
• Pull databases into MariaDB.

Upgrade MediaWiki

• Upgrade MediaWiki
  • Download the version your after (in this case mediawiki-1.39.8.zip from https://releases.wikimedia.org/mediawiki/1.39/)
  • Backup the database with all procedures and users. Note your root password.
  • Backup your XAMPP/htdocs folder that you are upgrading e.g. htdocs/MTS)
  • Backup your localsettings.php to localsettings.v1.34.old (belt and braces - you can use the one in your backup instead if you like)
  • Extract new MW version to a local folder (you'll need it again for all your wikis, and it's faster this way)
  • Copy new MW version over existing MW folder e.g. htdocs/MTS
  • Put the localsettings.php back in place.
  • Go to your URL, plus mw-config e.g. http://localhost:8080/calidus-assist/MTS/mw-config/
  • Follow the instructions as before - stages as below:
    • Language - select language.
      • Existing Wiki - copy the $wgUpgradeKey value from localsettings.php into the screen
    • Welcome to MediaWiki! - does checks - resolve any issues, but should be OK to continue
    • Connect to database - not required when upgrading an existing wiki
    • Upgrade existing installation - click Continue - that should be it. Any error, you can probably just continue again
    • Database settings
    • Name
    • Options
    • Install
    • Complete!

Notes from previous upgrades:

• (May need to recreate users, specifically the owner from the previous site, as well as all other users.)
  • Create user, assign all privs for all databases to the admin user, other users don't need as much privilege - check an existing wiki for details
• Reset passwords (must now be 10 mixed characters). Use either of the following:
  • Special:PasswordReset - enter username and email address.
  • "C:\xampp\php\php.exe" changePassword.php --user=example --password=example
• Place wiki.png from skins/common/images into resources/common

MediaWiki Configuration

• Enable all extensions, but be aware that some may need to be upgraded/have been upgraded by the wiki.
  • #wfLoadExtension( 'Variables' ); - doesn't work - not needed - comment out in the LocalSettings.php file
  • #wfLoadExtension( 'PdfBook' ); - doesn't work - needed - you will have to manually upgrade the PDF extension - see notes below.
• Fix the logo and copyright icons again if required:
  • LocalSettings.php
    • $wgRightsIcon = "$wgResourceBasePath/resources/assets/Aptean.png";
    • $wgLogo = "$wgResourceBasePath/resources/assets/Aptean.png";
    • $wgRightsText = "Copyright ".html_entity_decode('©')." 2008-". date("Y")." Aptean ";
    • localsettings.php to override mail, for using gmail, check settings in C:\xampp\htdocs\EPOD\LocalSettings.php. Also have to set up an apppassword against the gmail account.
      • Add under $wgShowExceptionDetails: $wgDeprecationReleaseLimit = '1.0'; # Removes deprecation warnings from the system
• Create the Privacy Policy page if it doesn't exist.
  • All content submitted to this documentation will be available to all customers of Aptean.
• Use new version of PdfBook (see my MTS folder - old compatible versions are in Old Versions folder)
  • New PDF Book requires PHP8+ -
    • Reset the requirement to 7.4 in extension.json
• MediaWiki:Pagetitle-view-mainpage - change this text to define the title of the wiki e.g. Assist - Calidus HUB
• Update the main page - the MTS one in my PC is the one with all the best notes in.
• Update the Did You Know page with the common Assist-based help topics - the MTS one in my PC is the one with all the best notes in, including reference to searchable tables below.
• Create PageTemplate and DocTemplate pages - see local MTS assist for details
• MediaWiki:Common.js - add searchable tables code

	// Javascript/jQuery code for searching tables
	function search_table(tableID, value){  
		$('#'+tableID+' tr').each(function(){  
			 var found = 'false';  
			 if (!$(this).hasClass('non-searchable')) {
				 $(this).each(function(){  
					if ($(this).find('td.non-searchable').length > 0) {
						   found = 'true';  
					} else if (!$(this).find('th').length > 0) {
					  if($(this).text().toLowerCase().indexOf(value.toLowerCase()) >= 0)  
					  {  
						   found = 'true';  
					  }
					} else {
						// Always keep the header row
						found = 'true';
					}
				 });  
				 if(found == 'true')  
				 {  
					  $(this).show();  
				 }  
				 else  
				 {  
					  $(this).hide();  
				 }  
			 }
		});  
	}  
	$(document).ready(function(){
		$("table.apt-searchable").each(function(index, element) {
			if (this.id !== '') {
				$('<input type="text" id="'+this.id+'_'+index+'" onkeyup="search_table(\''+this.id+'\',$(this).val())" placeholder="Search the table..."><input type="button" onclick="$(\'#'+this.id+'_'+index+'\').val(\'\');search_table(\''+this.id+'\',\'\')" title="Clear Entry" class="apt-search-clear">').insertBefore($(this));
			}
		});
	});

• MediaWiki:Group-user.css - add user-show stuff

	.apt-user-show {display: block !important;} // code to hide creation of pages on main page if not logged in.

• MediaWiki:Common.css - add searchable tables code and DocLink styles

	.apt-search-clear {background: url("images/Clear_Icon.png") no-repeat 5px center; padding:5px 5px 5px 30px; border:0; background-size: 1.0em;} // code to style the clear button for searchable tables
	.apt-doclink {box-sizing: border-box;font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, Arial, sans-serif;line-height: normal;background: url(images/pdf.png) no-repeat 5px center;background-size: 1.0em;padding: 0.1em 0.5em 0.1em 1.5em;font-size: smaller;}

• Change Template:DocLink to use class rather than inline style - see version in my MTS.
• "Download as PDF" to "Print as PDF" - e.g. "Print as PDF tab in the tab bar, typically on the top of the screen".
• Change Templates:
  • All templates - add TemplateData - see my wiki for annotated templates.
  • DocLink - new format.
    • Doc_TitleNew - change OBS logo so it has "|Logo|link=" at the end.
    • Doc_Title - change OBS logo so it has "|Logo|link=" at the end.
• MediaWiki:Common.js - remove any editing toolbar js.
• MediaWiki:Vector.js - fix left panel - check the existing code in EPOD
• MediaWiki:Vector.css - h1, h2, h3, h4 {font-family: sans-serif !important;}.
• MediaWiki:Timeless.css - h1,h2,h3,h4, #p-logo-text a {font-family: 'Segoe UI','Segoe UI Emoji','Segoe UI Symbol','Lato','Liberation Sans','Noto Sans','Helvetica Neue','Helvetica',sans-serif !important;} #p-logo-text a { font-variant: normal !important;}.
• Site:About/General Disclaimer/Privacy Policy (from link in footer) - make sure links Aptean, including images. Copy from new MTS site.

Extensions to enable in LocalSettings:

• wfLoadExtension( 'CategoryTree' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'CodeEditor' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'ConfirmEdit' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'InputBox' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'Nuke' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'PageImages' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'ParserFunctions' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'PdfHandler' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'Renameuser' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'ReplaceText' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'TextExtracts' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'WikiEditor' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'PdfBook' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'Variables' );
• require_once "$IP/extensions/NumberFormat/NumberFormat.php";
• require_once "$IP/extensions/GoogleTranslator/GoogleTranslator.php";
• wfLoadExtension( 'TemplateData' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'TemplateWizard' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'VisualEditor' );
• wfLoadExtension( 'Gadgets' );

Including all necessary settings for each - see MTS LocalSettings for details

Extensions to remove if enabled:

• HistoryOfPage - just doesn't work - affects OBSHUB.
• MakeArticle - replaced with InputBox
• CreateArticle - replaced with InputBox
• JSpoiler - partially replaced with Group-user.css
• PasswordReset - doesn't work, archived
• LocalisationUpdate - not used

Clean up the Extensions folder to get rid of unused extensions (above and any other old ones we may have )

Extensions to update if enabled:

• PdfBook
• Variables (will eventually be a problem as is deprecated, but not now)

Extensions to add if not present:

• GoogleTranslator
• TemplateWizard
• VisualEditor
• Gadgets

Consider the following new extensions:

• Extension:InlineComments - could use in OBS HUB
• Extension:SmartComments - could use in OBS HUB
• Extension:SimpleBatchUpload - would make initial document image uploading much easier

Visual Editor Gadgets

See Assist Visual Editor Gadgets for details of how to do this.

Add the following gadgets:

• center

Hack Fixes

These are a number of things that may be required on some or all Assists, but commonly OBSHUB is the one that will require most hacks.

• SectionProfiler. Compare current local MW version to that on the install to see what this needs doing. SectionProfiler.php Location: includes/profiler/
• OBS Hub:
  • Massive issues - Extension: variables might not work now or in the future. Will require a change to all existing specs to replace - a work in progress and can be ignored for now.
    • See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Variables for notes on getting this to work
  • bulk replace (excluding templates):

    • "[[Category:{{#var:Client}} FS]]" with "[[Category:{{#var:Client}} FS]]\r\n[[Category:{{#var:SystemCode}}]]"

    • "{{#vardefine:System|''CALIDUS'' ePOD}}" with "{{#vardefine:System|''CALIDUS'' ePOD}}\r\n{{#vardefine:SystemCode|EPOD}}]]"

    • "{{#vardefine:System|''CALIDUS'' ePOD}}" with "{{#vardefine:System|''CALIDUS'' ePOD}}\r\n{{#vardefine:SystemCode|EPOD}}]]"

    • Force the bulk edits through from commandline. See extension Extension:Replace Text notes for how to do this (you can access this from Special:Version). Essentially, execute RunJobs.php (perhaps multiple times).
    • Update all FS/SDD/REQ with new appendix, or will not produce properly. Note that this may only be required on OBS Hub - others don't use HistoryOfPage.
    • Change Templates:
      • Doc_AppendixNew2 - new version, without HOP and authorisation.
      • Doc_AppendixAuth - new.
      • FS - new Doc_AppendixNew2/Doc_AppendixAuth format.
      • REQ - new Doc_AppendixNew2/Doc_AppendixAuth format.
      • EstmateCostDetails2020 - £ sign.