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Private Wiki as a Tor Hidden Service
Internal knowledge bases and wikis contain sensitive organizational information: technical documentation, security procedures, confidential research notes, client information, and internal processes. Hosting these on clearnet servers - even password-protected - exposes the server to internet scanning, creates a public attack surface, and may inadvertently leak information through search engine indexing of improperly protected pages. A wiki as a Tor hidden service eliminates all of these risks: the server is not discoverable by internet scanners, accessing it requires the .onion address (which can be distributed selectively), and the content is not accessible to search engines. This guide covers deploying DokuWiki, MediaWiki, and BookStack as private .onion knowledge bases.
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Wiki Software Selection for .onion Deployment
DokuWiki is a flat-file wiki requiring no database - minimal dependencies make it ideal for small deployments. It stores pages as plain text files, enabling easy backup. Install via apt install dokuwiki or manual download. Runs with Apache or Nginx. MediaWiki is the software behind Wikipedia, feature-rich with revision history, complex namespaces, and a large extension ecosystem. Requires MySQL or PostgreSQL. Suitable for larger knowledge bases with many contributors. BookStack is a modern knowledge base platform with a book/chapter/page hierarchy rather than flat wiki structure. Built on PHP/Laravel with MySQL. Better for structured documentation than flat wiki pages. TiddlyWiki is a self-contained single-file wiki that can be served as a static file - the simplest possible deployment but limited in collaboration features. For team knowledge management on .onion: DokuWiki (small teams, no database dependency) or BookStack (structured documentation, multiple contributors) are the most practical choices.
DokuWiki .onion Configuration
Install DokuWiki: download from dokuwiki.org and extract to /var/www/dokuwiki. Configure Nginx to serve DokuWiki on 127.0.0.1:80. Configure PHP-FPM for PHP processing. Configure Tor: HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/wiki-service/ and HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:80. Access the DokuWiki installer via Tor Browser at the .onion URL to complete setup. DokuWiki security configuration: enable authentication in DokuWiki settings (default is no authentication - enable login requirement), create administrator and user accounts, configure access control list (ACL) to restrict page editing to authenticated users. DokuWiki's flat file storage makes backup trivial: rsync /var/www/dokuwiki/data to a backup location. For team access: distribute the .onion URL and user credentials via a secure channel. Each team member accesses via Tor Browser.
MediaWiki for Large-Scale .onion Knowledge Bases
MediaWiki deployment for .onion: install LAMP stack (Apache or Nginx, MySQL, PHP). Configure Nginx to listen on 127.0.0.1:80. Run MediaWiki's installer via Tor Browser at the .onion URL. MediaWiki configuration for privacy: configure $wgServer = 'http://youraddress.onion' in LocalSettings.php to ensure all generated URLs use the .onion address. Set $wgShowIPinHeader = false to not display user IP addresses (which will be Tor exit IPs for all users) in edit summaries. Enable user authentication: $wgGroupPermissions['*']['edit'] = false to require login for editing. MediaWiki's extensive revision history (every edit version stored) is valuable for knowledge base management but requires database maintenance. Configure MySQL binary logging and periodic OPTIMIZE TABLE commands to manage database size.
BookStack for Structured Knowledge Management
BookStack provides a hierarchical structure (books > chapters > pages) that suits technical documentation better than flat wikis. Install BookStack via Composer on a LAMP/LEMP stack. Configure .env: APP_URL=http://youraddress.onion. Configure Nginx to listen on 127.0.0.1:8080. Configure Tor: HiddenServicePort 8008 127.0.0.1:8080. BookStack features useful for team knowledge management: WYSIWYG and Markdown editors (contributors do not need to learn wiki syntax), built-in search across all content, book-level access control (different groups can access different books), and API for automated content import/export. BookStack requires PHP 8.0+ and MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB. The recommended VPS for BookStack: Romania VPS Mini ($19.99) handles small teams; Romania VPS I ($39.99) for teams with 20+ contributors.
Search and Navigation Within .onion Wikis
Full-text search in .onion wikis works through the wiki software's built-in search rather than external search engines (search engines do not index .onion content). Ensure the wiki's internal search is configured: DokuWiki uses its own search index (no external dependency), MediaWiki uses either a built-in search or Elasticsearch for large installations, BookStack has built-in MySQL full-text search. Navigation best practices: use a comprehensive table of contents page, implement consistent tagging or categorization, create redirect pages for common alternate search terms. For wikis with sensitive content: configure the wiki's robots.txt to disallow indexing (even though .onion is not indexed, this provides a defense-in-depth signal). Monitor the wiki's access logs to identify which pages are most accessed and optimize navigation accordingly.
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