+++
date = 2024-02-21
title = "Self-Hosting an Otter Wiki"
description = ""
draft = false
+++

# An Otter Wiki

[An Otter Wiki](https://otterwiki.com/) is an easy to use wiki software
that takes almost no effort to set up and maintain.

# Installation

To install An Otter Wiki, I\'m going to use Docker Compose to create the
container and then use Nginx as a reverse proxy to allow external access
via a subdomain I own.

## Docker Compose

Start by creating a directory for the container\'s files.

```sh
mkdir ~/otterwiki
```

Next, create the `docker-compose.yml` file to define the
container\'s parameters.

```sh
nano ~/otterwiki/docker-compose.yml
```

Within the file, paste the following content. You can read the
project\'s documentation if you want to further override or customize
the container.

``` conf
version: '3'
services:
  otterwiki:
    image: redimp/otterwiki:2
    restart: unless-stopped
    # Internal port must be assigned to port 80
    # External port can be customized
    ports:
      - 8337:80
    volumes:
      - ./app-data:/app-data
```

Once the file is saved and closed, you can launch the container.

```sh
cd ~/otterwiki
sudo docker-compose up -d
```

The container is now available at `localhost:8337`. Next, we
will use Nginx to serve this app externally.

## Nginx

To access the app externally, let\'s set up a reverse proxy. I\'ll start
by creating the Nginx configuration file for my wiki.

```sh
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/wiki
```

Within the file, I have saved the following content. This assumes you
already have a TLS/SSL cert to use with this subdomain. If not, simply
remove the `ssl_*` variables, remove the `80`
server block, and change the `443` server block to
`80` to serve the app without SSL.

``` conf
server {
    if ($host ~ ^[^.]+\.example\.com$) {
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    }

    listen [::]:80;
    listen 80;
    server_name wiki.example.com;
    return 404;
}

server {
    listen [::]:443 ssl http2;
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name wiki.example.com;
    access_log  /var/log/nginx/wiki.access.log;
    error_log   /var/log/nginx/wiki.error.log;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/example.com/privkey.pem;
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;

    location / {
            set $upstream_wiki http://127.0.0.1:8337;
            proxy_pass $upstream_wiki;

        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $http_host;
    }
}
```

Save and close the configuration file. On Nginx, we need to symlink the
file to enable it.

```sh
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/wiki /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/wiki
```

Once enabled, restart the Nginx server to start serving the app
externally.

```sh
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
```

# Screenshots

In the screenshot below, you can see the initial launch screen for An
Otter Wiki. Start by creating your admin account and configure the app
as necessary.

![An Otter Wiki - Initial
Screen](https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240221-otterwiki/otterwiki.png)

You can also see the default editing screen for creating and editing
pages. It\'s as easy as typing Markdown and hitting the save button.

![An Otter Wiki - Editing
Screen](https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20240221-otterwiki/otterwiki-edit.png)

Overall, I like An Otter Wiki and will be looking forward to seeing how
much use I get out of it going forward.