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September 6, 2011
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ProWikiCenter
System Requirements
 
In theory there are no special requirements for a ProWiki environment, because ProWiki is written in Perl, which is interpreted from system-independent source code. So, although the most natural system is a standard Linux web server (LAMP), any other Unix, Windows or Mac - configured as a web server with Perl - should work as well.

Practically there is an increasing number of sub-systems and external programs that are used and integrated under the ProWiki hood: for example the RCS system for keeping page revisions or TeX for mathematical formulas (just to name two of a dozen), so you will have a lot of additional work and headaches if you want to do this on a non-UNIX, especially Windows machine.

The same is true, if you want to use ProWiki with a lowest-cost or free web space provider. You do not necessarily need more than Perl support, but with everyday problems, you will need command line access and sufficient administrative rights on the server machine. A little later you will want to automate certain tasks using Linux cron and then you are out of luck with the typical WebSpace. Therefore: we do not recommend that you use a simple WebSpace to host a ProWiki system.

The recommended options for a ProWikiServer are:

  • a Linux VirtualServer (this a part of a managed physical server - maybe 10% - at a moderate cost, starting at 10-15$ per month)
  • a Linux RootServer (this is usually a little more expensive than the virtual server and needs advanced Linux know-how to manage the server and its security - best bang for the buck, starting at 30-50$ per month)
  • a Linux ManagedServer (the server and its security is administrated for you, otherwise it's fully available, rather expensive, maybe 150-300$ per month)
If you use something different we will try to give helpful advice but we will not go long ways. It just seems not worth the effort.


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