Compatibility

Languages:

MediaWiki strives to maintain broad compatibility between versions, and with a range of current and legacy software. At the same time, the constantly-evolving codebase and features of the latest MediaWiki development mean that it is not possible to maintain compatibility with legacy software indefinitely.

If you wish to suggest a change to what MediaWiki supports, you can file a request for comment on Phabricator.

Server software

These sections provide an overview of the software required on the server to run MediaWiki.

PHP

The latest stable branch of MediaWiki (1.39) runs on PHP 7.4.3 and higher.

For upcoming versions, see Support policy for PHP .

HHVM support was dropped in MediaWiki 1.34. You are strongly advised against using it.

MediaWiki is not compatible with PHP 7.4.0 - 7.4.2 due to an upstream bug. Use PHP 7.4.3+ instead. See task T246594 for more information.

MediaWiki support for PHP 8.0 and above started with 1.39.0. Other release branches like MediaWiki 1.35.x may have minor issues and warnings on PHP 8 but generally work. See T248925 for more information.

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																																						8.1.0+
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																5.4.x
												5.3.3+
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Database

MediaWiki is compatible with a variety of database servers. Using MySQL or MariaDB is recommended.

Using any other database software is not recommended for production use. Support differs from MediaWiki version to MediaWiki version and ranges from dubious to stable. MediaWiki provides database abstraction layers for PostgreSQL and SQLite, which are generally well-maintained.

Since Version 1.36, MediaWiki only commits to supporting upgrades from two LTS releases ago (see phab:T259771). Upgrades from older versions of MediaWiki will have to be performed in multiple steps. This means that if you want to upgrade to 1.36 from 1.23 or earlier, you'll first have to upgrade your 1.23 wiki to 1.27 (or 1.35), and, from 1.27 (or 1.35), you'll be able to upgrade to 1.36.

Since MediaWiki 1.34, we no longer support using Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. We strongly advise to no longer use these.

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																																						MariaDB 10.3.0+
																													MariaDB 10.1.0+
																																						MySQL 5.7.0+
																													MySQL 5.5.8+
			MySQL 5.0.3+
MySQL 4.x
MySQL 3.x
																																SQLite 3.8.0+
																		SQLite 3.3.7+
												SQLite 3+
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																																						PostgreSQL 10+
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						PostgreSQL 8.1
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Upgrade

Since Version 1.36, MediaWiki only commits to supporting upgrades from two LTS releases ago (see phab:T259771). Upgrades from older versions of MediaWiki will have to be performed in multiple steps. This means that if you want to upgrade to 1.36 from 1.23 or earlier, you'll first have to upgrade your 1.23 wiki to 1.27 (or 1.35), and, from 1.27 (or 1.35), you'll be able to upgrade to 1.36.

Web server

MediaWiki is broadly compatible with all major web servers that can invoke a compatible version of PHP. Apache is the most used and tested. Nginx is a good choice as well.

MediaWiki extensions

As long as an extension is properly maintained (which you can see at the top of the infobox on its description page), the master branch of the extension should be compatible with the master branch of MediaWiki. For determining compatibility with older MediaWiki versions, there are the following common policies used by extensions:

master (key: master): the master branch of the extension is compatible with both current and older versions of MediaWiki. Back-compatibility hacks are added to the extension source code as needed.
release branches (key: rel): For every MediaWiki release, there is a corresponding branch in the extension. So e.g. if you use MediaWiki 1.39, you should use the REL1_39 branch of the extension.
long-term support release branches (key: ltsrel): For every MediaWiki release that is a Long Term Support release (see Version lifecycle release policy) there is a corresponding branch in the extension. So e.g. if you use MediaWiki 1.39, you should use the REL1_39 branch of the extension. If you use a non-LTS version of MediaWiki, usually you will need to use the extension's branch for the previous LTS version. For instance, MediaWiki 1.34 wikis using a ltsrel extension would usually use the REL1_31 branch of that extension. However, there is no guarantee of compatibility.

The compatibility policy field of the Extension infobox tells which policy is used by a given extension. Use the respective keys indicated above to specify the information.

Some extensions may have more specific compatibility policies, for instance:

MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle#Background

Browsers

General information

There is an ever-growing number of different web browsers in the world.

Too many to actively test and support each one. To guide our practices around browser support, we have three levels of support. Each tier represents a different category of browsers.

Modern (Grade A)

This group represents the highest level of support (also known as Grade A). Features take advantage of capabilities in modern browsers, while allowing a graceful fallback for older browsers. All features provided by the software (whether or not in a degraded form) must work in these browsers.

Browsers in this category are known (listed below) and actively tested against. Problems users perceive in these browsers are addressed with high priority.

Basic (Grade C)

This group is provided the core functionality of the MediaWiki platform (also known as Grade C). Our HTTP responses are compatible with these browsers (e.g. HTTP features we rely on, character encoding, and image formats used by the content; must work in these browsers). In the front-end this means content is presented in a readable manner, and content and account actions can be performed, but these browsers do not receive JavaScript features.

Some browsers in this category are known to be incompatible with modern JavaScript (ES6) and therefore do not get JavaScript features. They are identified via a feature test suite in the startup module.

Unknown (Grade X)

This group represents all other browsers (also known as Grade X). This includes:

Browsers or browser versions that are no longer developed or maintained, and incompatible with modern Internet standards; MediaWiki may choose to drop support.
Browsers not popular enough to justify the added maintenance cost for software development; problems users perceive in these browsers only are given low priority.

MediaWiki handles these browsers the same as Modern (Grade A) browsers and they are thus assumed to be capable. This principle provides various important benefits:

New or unsupported versions of modern browsers may temporarily be considered Unknown if they are not yet tested against by us. Treating Unknown browsers as capable ensures optimal user experience in these browsers.
Users of new and evolving browsers are given a chance to have a modern experience.
Users of less popular browsers based on, or derived from, known modern browsers are not negatively impacted (e.g. Samsung Internet, UC Browser, Vivaldi, and Iceweasel).

In practice the only difference between Unknown and Modern browsers is that we don't actively test against Unknown browsers.

These browsers are given the full feature set, which means HTTP, HTML, CSS and JS feature may or may not be compatible with these browsers, and may or may not be affected by measures (e.g. fallback CSS for newer CSS features) intended for Grade C browsers. In particular, whether JavaScript support is enabled is decided by a feature test suite and a user agent filter (see above).

Browser support matrix

The principles and different grades described above apply to MediaWiki core and extensions alike. The support matrix below applies these grades in the context of MediaWiki core, Wikimedia Foundation infrastructure, and any MediaWiki extensions that decide to follow it. Individual extensions may have their own support matrix distributing browsers among the different levels of support. See also Browser usage breakdown dashboard.

Browser support matrix as of April 2023 v · d · e
Browsers	Chrome	Opera	Edge	Edge Legacy	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Safari	iOS	Android
Modern (Grade A)	Last three years' versions ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾			None	Last three years' versions ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	None	11.3+ ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	11.3+ ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	5+ ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾
Basic (Grade C)	31+ ⁽²⁰¹³⁾	18+ ⁽²⁰¹³⁾	79+ ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	12+ ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	39+ ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾	11 ⁽²⁰¹³⁾	9.1+ ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	9+ ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	5+ ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾^{[note 1]}
Unknown (Grade X)	All other browsers

Practical implications as of May 2023
Platform	Minimum OS or device	Supported modern browser
Android	Moto G (1st generation (2013) Google Nexus 4 (2012)	Android 5.1, Chrome 83+
Android	Samsung Galaxy S5 (2014)	Android 6.0, Chrome 83+
iOS	iPhone 5S (2013)	iOS Mobile Safari 11.3 - 12 (2018-2023)^[1]
Linux	Debian 10 Buster (2019)	firefox-esr 102, chromium 90
Linux	Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (2018)	firefox (current), chromium-browser (current)
macOS	OS X 10.9 Mavericks (2013-2016)	Firefox 78 ESR (2020). The default Safari 7 is unsupported.
	macOS 10.13 High Sierra (2017-2020)	Safari 11.3, current Firefox, Chrome 83+
	macOS 10.15 Catalina (2019-2022)	Safari 13.1, current Firefox, Chrome 83+
Windows	Windows 7 (2009-2020)	Edge 83+, current Firefox, Chrome 83+

List of changes, most recent first:

As of 2023, the support targets have been re-stated; for Chrome and Chrome-based browsers, this is now the last three years' versions (covering three years rather than three months); for Firefox, this is now the current and previous LTS versions (reaching approximately the same time range). T178356
As of MediaWiki 1.41, Modern support is removed for Internet Explorer 11, macOS and iOS Safari 9–10, and Firefox 39–53. T178356
As of MediaWiki 1.39, Basic support is removed for Internet Explorer 9-10, Firefox 27-38, and Android 4.3-4.4 T293298, T297313, T290815
As of MediaWiki 1.36, Basic support is removed for Firefox 3-26, Internet Explorer 8, Safari 3-8, iOS (Safari) 5-8, Android 3.0-4.2, Chrome 1-30, and Opera 15-18. T248061, T262946, T266866
As of MediaWiki 1.36, Modern support is removed for Android 4.1-4.2, iOS 6.1-8, and Safari 5.1-8. T266866
As of MediaWiki 1.35, Basic support is removed for Internet Explorer 6-7 and Android 2. T232563, T249788
As of MediaWiki 1.31, JavaScript for Internet Explorer 10 has been disabled. T187869
As of MediaWiki 1.29, JavaScript for Internet Explorer 9 has been disabled along with other non-ES5 browsers. T128115
As of MediaWiki 1.27, JavaScript for Internet Explorer 8 has been disabled. T118303, Wikitech-ambassadors message
As of MediaWiki 1.24, JavaScript for Internet Explorer 6 and 7 has been disabled. gerrit:152072, gerrit:152128, Wikitech-ambassadors message

Mobile

The Web team at the Wikimedia Foundation applies a narrower support matrix for mobile-specific skins e.g. Minerva and/or extensions designed only to run on mobile devices e.g. MobileFrontend . The support matrix is compiled from the data provided by the analytics user agent breakdown dashboard. Where browser usage is over 5%, a modern experience (Grade A) is supported. Basic support (Grade C) is provided for anything over 0.1% during the previous 12 months. In mobile we strive to provide a Grade B. Users of grade B may or may not get JavaScript and we do not test to the same level as A, thus we prioritize bug fixes lower. Modern support browser list on MobileFrontend is defined in .browserlistsrc file.

Anything absent in the list or older is considered a basic supported browser.

Notes

↑ Note this refers to the stock Android browser. For Chrome for Android, provided that you're running Chrome 31+, it requires Android 4.0+⁽²⁰¹¹⁾.

References

↑ iOS 11 dropped support for iPhone 5 and older devices

[1] Note this refers to the stock Android browser. For Chrome for Android, provided that you're running Chrome 31+, it requires Android 4.0+⁽²⁰¹¹⁾.

[2] OS 11 dropped support for iPhone 5 and older devices

[note 1]

[1]