# TWiki System Requirements _Server and client requirements_ Low client and server base requirements are core features that keep TWiki widely deployable, particularly across a range of browser platforms and versions. Many [[Plugins|TWiki:Plugins/PluginPackage]] and [[contrib modules|TWiki:Plugins/ContribPackage]] exist which enhance and expand TWiki's capabilities; they may have additional requirements. ## Server Requirements TWiki is written in Perl 5, uses a number of shell commands, and requires [RCS (Revision Control System)](http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/rcs.html), a GNU Free Software package. TWiki is developed in a basic Linux/Apache environment. It also works with Microsoft Windows, and should have no problem on any other platform that meets the requirements.
Resource Required Server Environment *
Perl 5.005_03 or higher (5.8.4 or higher is recommended)
RCS 5.7 or higher (including GNU diff) %BR% Optional, TWiki includes a pure perl implementation of RCS that can be used instead (although it's slower)
GNU diff GNU diff 2.7 or higher is required when not using the all-Perl RcsLite. %BR% Install on PATH if not included with RCS (check version with diff -v) %BR% Must be the version used by RCS, to avoid problems with binary attachments - RCS may have hard-coded path to diff
GNU patch For upgrades only: GNU patch is required when using the TWiki:Codev.UpgradeTWiki script
Other external programs fgrep, egrep
Cron/scheduler %BULLET% Unix: cron %BB% Windows: cron equivalents
Web server Apache is well supported; see TWiki:TWiki.InstallingTWiki#OtherWebServers for other servers
### Required CPAN Modules The following Perl modules are used by TWiki:
Module Preferred version
Algorithm::Diff (included)  
CGI::Carp >=1.26
Config >=0
Cwd >=3.05
Data::Dumper >=2.121
Error (included)  
File::Copy >=2.06
File::Find >=1.05
File::Spec >=3.05
FileHandle >=2.01
IO::File >=1.10
Text::Diff (included)  
Time::Local >=1.11
### Optional CPAN Modules The following Perl modules may be used by TWiki:
Module Preferred version Description
CGI::Cookie >=1.24 Used for session support
CGI::Session >=3.95 Used for session support
Digest::base    
Digest::SHA1    
Jcode   Used for [[Main/I18N]] support with perl 5.6
Locale::Maketext::Lexicon >=0 Used for [[Main/I18N]] support
Net::SMTP >=2.29 Used for sending mail
Unicode::Map   Used for [[Main/I18N]] support with perl 5.6
Unicode::Map8   Used for [[Main/I18N]] support with perl 5.6
Unicode::MapUTF8   Used for [[Main/I18N]] support with perl 5.6
Unicode::String   Used for [[Main/I18N]] support with perl 5.6
URI   Used for configure
Most of them will probably already be available in your installation. You can check version numbers with the `configure` script, or if you're still trying to get to that point, check from the command line like this: perl -e 'use FileHandle; print $FileHandle::VERSION."\n"' ## Client Requirements The TWiki [[standard installation|Main/TWikiInstallationGuide]] has relatively low browser requirements: - HTML 3.2 compliant - Cookies, if persistent sessions are required CSS and Javascript are used in most skins, although there is a low-fat skin (Classic skin) available that minimises these requirements. Some skins will require more recent releases of browsers. The default skin (Pattern) is tested on IE 6, Safari, and Mozilla 5.0 based browsers (such as Firefox). You can easily select a balance of browser capability versus look and feel. Try the installed skins at [[TWikiSkinBrowser]] and more at TWiki:Plugins.SkinPackage. ## Important note about TWiki Plugins - Plugins can require just about anything - browser-specific functions, stylesheets (CSS), Java applets, cookies, specific Perl modules,... - check the individual Plugin specs. - **_%T% Note:_** Plugins included in the TWiki distribution do not add requirements, except for the [[CommentPlugin]] which requires Perl 5.6.1. **_Related Topics:_** [[AdminDocumentationCategory]]