This article provides a detailed, step-by-step guide for How to Install and Run Wiki.js on Ubuntu VPS.

Table of Contents

What is Wiki.js?

Wiki.js is an open-source, modern wiki software built on Node.js that lets individuals, teams, or organizations create and manage knowledge bases, documentation, and internal wikis in a fast, collaborative way.

🔹 Key Features

Real-time collaboration – Multiple people can edit at the same time.
Markdown & rich-text editing – Supports Markdown, WYSIWYG, and code highlighting.
Multi-language support – Built-in interface translations and multilingual content.
Role-based access control – Granular permissions for users and groups.
Multiple authentication providers – Supports local logins, LDAP, SAML, OAuth (Google, GitHub, Microsoft, etc.).
Version history – Tracks every change so you can roll back to previous versions.
Media management – Upload and organize images, documents, and other assets.
Integrated search – Full-text search across the entire wiki.
Theme customization – Control branding, colors, and layout.
Extensible – Supports modules for diagrams, math formulas, charts, and more.

🔹 Typical Use Cases

Company internal documentation
Public product or API documentation
Project knowledge bases
Educational resource hubs
Personal wikis or research repositories

This guide walks you through installing Wiki.js on an Ubuntu VPS from scratch.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

An Ubuntu 20.04/Ubuntu 22.04 VPS with sudo access
A domain name (optional but recommended)
A non-root user with administrative privileges
PostgreSQL database credentials (we’ll set this up below)

Update your system first:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

📚 How to Install and Run Wiki.js on Ubuntu VPS

To install and run Wiki.js on Ubuntu VPS, follow the steps below:

Install Required Packages

Wiki.js requires Node.js, PostgreSQL, and some utilities.

# Install dependencies sudo apt install -y curl gnupg2 software-properties-common apt-transport-https

Install Node.js (LTS Version)

Wiki.js recommends Node.js 18 LTS.

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt install -y nodejs

Check the installation:

node -v npm -v

Install and Configure PostgreSQL

Wiki.js uses PostgreSQL for data storage.

sudo apt install -y postgresql postgresql-contrib

Create a database and user for Wiki.js:

sudo -u postgres psql

Inside the PostgreSQL shell:

CREATE DATABASE wikijs; CREATE USER wikiuser WITH PASSWORD 'StrongPasswordHere'; ALTER ROLE wikiuser SET client_encoding TO 'UTF8'; ALTER ROLE wikiuser SET default_transaction_isolation TO 'read committed'; ALTER ROLE wikiuser SET timezone TO 'UTC'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE wikijs TO wikiuser; \q

Download Wiki.js

Create a directory and download the latest Wiki.js build:

mkdir -p /var/www/wikijs cd /var/www/wikijs curl -sSo- https://wiki.js.org/install.sh | bash

Configure Wiki.js

Edit the configuration file to connect to your PostgreSQL database:
```
nano /var/www/wikijs/config.yml
```
Find and modify the database section:
```
db: type: postgres host: localhost port: 5432 user: wikiuser pass: StrongPasswordHere db: wikijs
```
Save and exit (CTRL+O, CTRL+X).

Create a Systemd Service

This ensures Wiki.js runs automatically on boot.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/wikijs.service

Paste:

[Unit] Description=Wiki.js After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=www-data WorkingDirectory=/var/www/wikijs ExecStart=/usr/bin/node server Restart=always Environment=NODE_ENV=production [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and exit.

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable wikijs sudo systemctl start wikijs

Check status:

sudo systemctl status wikijs

Configure Nginx Reverse Proxy (Optional but Recommended)

Install Nginx:

sudo apt install -y nginx

Create a server block:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/wikijs

Example config:

server { listen 80; server_name wiki.example.com; location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:3000; proxy_http_version 1.1; proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade; proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade'; proxy_set_header Host $host; proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade; } }

Enable the config:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/wikijs /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ sudo nginx -t sudo systemctl restart nginx

Secure with Let’s Encrypt SSL

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx sudo certbot --nginx -d wiki.example.com

Access Wiki.js

Open your browser and visit:
```
https://wiki.example.com
```
(or your VPS IP if no domain is set) and complete the initial setup wizard.