# TWiki System Requirements _Server and client requirements for TWiki 01-Feb-2003_ Low client and server requirements are core features that keep TWiki widely deployable, particularly across a range of browser platforms and versions. ## 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.
Required Server Environment
Resource Unix Windows*
Perl 5.005_03 or higher (5.6.1 recommended,
5.8.0 not recommended yet, see TWiki:Codev.UsingPerl58OnRedHat8)
Non-standard Perl modules Net::SMTP (or sendmail) Net::SMTP, MIME::Base64, Digest::SHA1
RCS 5.7 or higher (including GNU diff) %BR% Optional, but the all-Perl RCS replacement is not currently recommended for live sites - see TWiki:Codev.RcsLite.
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)
Other external programs ls, fgrep, egrep
Cron/scheduler cron cron equivalents
Web server Apache 1.3 is well supported; Apache 2.0 is not recommended yet (see TWiki:Support.FailedAuthenticationWithApache2OnWinNT). %BR% For other servers, CGI support, authentication, extended path required
%X% **\*** _Current documentation mainly covers Linux and Apache installations. See [[WindowsInstallCookbook]] for a Windows installation guide. See TWiki:Codev.TWikiOn for help with installation on various platforms including Unix, MacOS X, Apache `mod_perl`, web hosts, etc._ ## Client Requirements The TWiki [[standard installation|Main/TWikiInstallationGuide]] has extremely low browser requirements: - HTML 3.2 compliant - generates XHTML 1.0 pages that are compatible with HTML 3.2 - minimal use of JavaScript in the user interface (degrades gracefully) - no cookies - no CSS You can easily add functionality, by customizing [[TWikiTemplates]], for one, while tailoring the browser requirements to your situation. ## Known Issues - The [[TWikiPlugins]] feature currently does not have compatibility guidelines for developers. Plugins can require just about anything - browser-specific functions, stylesheets (CSS), Java applets, cookies, specific Perl modules,... - check the individual Plugin specs. - %H% Plugins included in the TWiki distribution do not add requirements. -- [[MikeMannix]] - 12 Jan 2002