What is required to run a Tiki?

First of all, congratulations and thanks for your interest in Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware. We hope Tiki will meet your needs for a highly configurable web platform. If there is anything we can do to help, be sure to let us know.

The requirements page is quite explicit about what you need in order to run a Tiki instance https://doc.tiki.org/Requirements?highlight=requirements . So we hope that any sysadmin will be able to find a proper environment to run Tiki. It really isn't much to it, at its core Tiki is essentially a website, so it will happily run where you run your other web applications. But if you are a beginner in this field, you should:

• take the time to learn a bit about the different web hosting technologies;
• try to mimic certain recipes available online, though you should in time always make your own decisions;
• have patience but also be somehow courageous and have a inner desire to perfect your skills and to try new things;
• be ready to become a very tough individual, ready to deal with the 24/7 stress of running a service others depend upon, more so with all the bad stuff happening online. This is no joke, you should expect problems: either from your own software/hardware stack, by your own hand or your users, and also from the armies of crackers (not hackers, please learn the difference) just waiting for you to have something, anything online;
• get in shape to build trust around you. A sysadmin that doesn't have a good moral compass is a danger to himself and others.

Shared hosting and cloud VPS

So where to host? The popular option is to either use a shared environment as the go to "pay and play" or rent a VPS, from a provider. In the first case you will not have to deal with the intricacies of having to set up a whole server, and everything is ready to go for you for the smallest price compared to the other options. Usually, just don't pick the cheapest offer out there, because it will have hidden costs in the terms of functionality, resources and availability. Simply research your provider, get the most for your money, and just try it out as there is not much administration involved. And it is standard to be able to scale your resources.
Only in the second case, you will elevate yourself to a true sysadmin as it will be required of you to set a server for your services in a virtual machine provided by a third party. This is a good option if you or your organization, don't have the resources, you aren't interested in running servers, or you just need to test your hand. Keep in mind this option is feasible only in the basic to mid tiers - prices will climb up quickly if you need more resources.

Roll your own. Containerized, virtualized or bare metal?

Always use a control panel

First things first

Backups. Yes, please start with backups.

Permissions

Resources allocated

Monitor as much as you can

Tiki Manager and the WikiSuite projects

Secure everything to the point of false positives.

Where to get help

Tiki is a bit complex, with many features and preference options, and some things may be done differently than in other similar software, so familiarization may take some time. Please visit the documentation site for details on feature use, etc. Also make use of the sources of help listed on Get Help, in particular:

• Ask questions in the forums or in the Matrix chat.
• Get involved in the Tiki community.
• Please feel free to participate in our monthly roundtable meetings.