Wiki
Building a District Wiki with Bookstack on a Repurposed Mac Mini
Every school district has a “tribal knowledge” problem. The processes, settings, and quick fixes that keep everything running are often stored in the heads of a few I.T. staff members — or worse, scattered across sticky notes, emails, and half-finished documents.
To solve this, we set out to create a centralized district wiki. Our goal was to give staff a single, reliable reference for I.T. documentation, while also keeping internal troubleshooting steps organized for our staff and teachers. The solution? Bookstack, an open-source wiki platform.
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💻 The Hardware: A Retired Mac Mini
Instead of buying new hardware, we repurposed an older Intel-based Mac Mini that was no longer needed in classrooms. With Ubuntu Server installed, the Mini became a surprisingly capable host for our internal wiki.
Running Bookstack on local hardware gave us:
• ✅ Cost savings — no monthly SaaS bill
• ✅ Full control over backups and updates
• ✅ Room to grow without performance issues
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📚 Why Bookstack?
Bookstack stood out because it’s:
• User-friendly — clean interface, easy for staff to navigate
• Organized — information stored as “Shelves,” “Books,” “Chapters,” and “Pages”
• Open-source — free to use, with an active community
Our staff can log in and find step-by-step guides for everything from resetting a projector to connecting to Wi-Fi.
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🔧 Setup Notes
• OS: Ubuntu Server
• Install method: Standard LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP)
• Access: Restricted to internal network
• Backups: External SSD via cron jobs
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🧠 Lessons Learned
1. Start small — focus on a few high-value guides first.
2. Train teachers/admins where to look before submitting tickets.
3. Keep pages short and skimmable; nobody wants a wall of text.
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💬 Final Thoughts
The district wiki has become an invaluable time-saver. Teachers no longer wait on ticket replies for simple fixes, and our I.T. team doesn’t have to answer the same “How do I connect my MacBook to Wi-Fi?” question ten times a month.
If you’ve got old hardware lying around, Bookstack might be the best second life you can give it.