Wiki.js on GKE Autopilot

Wiki.js is a powerful open-source wiki platform designed for teams that need modern, fast knowledge management with Git-backed version control and a clean writing experience. This module deploys Wiki.js on GKE Autopilot on top of the App_GKE foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud and Kubernetes infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Wiki.js uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics that are common to every GKE application — Workload Identity, ingress, autoscaling, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_GKE foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

Wiki.js runs as a Node.js web workload. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	GKE Autopilot	Node.js pods, 1 vCPU / 2 GiB by default, horizontally autoscaled
Database	Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15	Required — Wiki.js uses PostgreSQL with the pg_trgm extension for full-text search
Shared files	Filestore (NFS)	Uploaded assets shared across all replicas
Object storage	Cloud Storage	A dedicated wikijs-storage bucket, mountable via GCS Fuse at /wiki-storage
Cache (optional)	Redis	Disabled by default; enable for session caching in multi-replica deployments
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated database password
Ingress	Cloud Load Balancing	External LoadBalancer, optional custom domain + managed certificate

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• PostgreSQL 15 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed; using MySQL or NONE breaks startup. The pg_trgm extension is installed automatically and is required for Wiki.js full-text search.
• NFS is enabled by default. With more than one replica, a shared NFS volume is required so all pods see the same uploaded files.
• Port 3000. Wiki.js binds to port 3000, not the conventional 80 or 8080.
• Session affinity is ClientIP. Wiki.js maintains in-memory session context; sticky routing keeps requests from one user on the same pod.
• The database is bootstrapped on first deploy by a db-init job that creates the PostgreSQL user, database, and schema. The startup probe uses /healthz with a 60-second initial delay to allow this.
• Asset storage path matters. HA_STORAGE_PATH=/wiki-storage tells Wiki.js where to write uploads. The NFS or GCS Fuse volume must be mounted at the same path.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume you have run gcloud container clusters get-credentials <cluster> --region <region> --project <project> and that PROJECT, REGION, and NAMESPACE are set. The namespace and other identifiers are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. GKE Autopilot — the Wiki.js workload

Wiki.js pods are scheduled on Autopilot, which bills for the CPU/memory the pods actually request. Horizontal Pod Autoscaling sizes the deployment between the minimum and maximum replica counts.

• Console: Kubernetes Engine → Workloads → select the Wiki.js workload to see pods, revisions, and events. Kubernetes Engine → Services & Ingress shows the external IP.
• CLI:

  kubectl get pods,svc,hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"
  kubectl logs -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> --tail=100
  kubectl describe hpa -n "$NAMESPACE"          # current vs target utilisation

See App_GKE for how Autopilot, scaling, and the workload type (Deployment vs StatefulSet) are managed.

B. Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15

Wiki.js stores all application data (pages, users, navigation, search index) in a managed Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL 15 instance. The pg_trgm extension is installed at provisioning time and powers Wiki.js's native full-text search. Pods reach the database privately through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar over a Unix socket, so no public IP is exposed. On first deploy an initialization Job creates the application database and user.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  # Open an interactive shell to inspect schema/data:
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=<db-user> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database name, user, and the Secret Manager secret holding the password are all surfaced in the Outputs. For the connection model, automated backups, and password rotation, see App_GKE.

C. Filestore (NFS) and Cloud Storage

Uploaded assets are written to a Filestore (NFS) share mounted into every pod so all replicas see the same files. A dedicated Cloud Storage bucket (wikijs-storage) is also provisioned for persistent asset storage; it can be mounted at /wiki-storage via the GCS Fuse CSI driver.

• Console: Filestore → Instances for the NFS share; Cloud Storage → Buckets for the storage bucket.
• CLI:

  gcloud filestore instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage buckets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud storage ls gs://<storage-bucket>/       # bucket name is in the Outputs
  # Confirm the NFS share is mounted inside a pod:
  kubectl exec -n "$NAMESPACE" deploy/<service-name> -- df -h | grep -i nfs

See App_GKE for NFS provisioning, GCS Fuse, and CMEK options.

D. Redis cache (optional)

Redis is disabled by default. When enabled, it provides session caching across replicas. Set enable_redis = true and supply redis_host to activate.

• Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
• CLI:

  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping
  redis-cli -h <redis-host> info keyspace

E. Secret Manager

The database password is stored as a Secret Manager secret and injected into pods at runtime; plaintext never appears in configuration.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The database password secret name is in the Outputs. See App_GKE for the Secret Store CSI integration and rotation.

F. Networking & ingress

By default the workload is exposed through an external Cloud Load Balancing IP. A custom domain with a Google-managed certificate can be enabled, and a static IP can be reserved so the address survives redeploys.

• Console: Network services → Load balancing; VPC network → IP addresses.
• CLI:

  kubectl get ingress,svc -n "$NAMESPACE"
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_GKE for custom domains, Cloud CDN, and static IP details.

G. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Pod stdout/stderr flow to Cloud Logging; GKE and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring. Optional uptime checks and alert policies are available.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud logging read 'resource.type="k8s_container" AND resource.labels.namespace_name="'"$NAMESPACE"'"' \
    --project "$PROJECT" --limit 50

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3. Wiki.js Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job (db-init) uses the postgres:15-alpine image to connect through the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy, idempotently create the wikijs database and user, and grant the required privileges. The pg_trgm PostgreSQL extension is then installed by the foundation as part of the enable_postgres_extensions = true / postgres_extensions = ["pg_trgm"] configuration supplied by Wikijs_Common. The job is safe to re-run.
• Schema migration on first start. Wiki.js connects to PostgreSQL on startup and runs its own internal schema migration. This is why the startup probe carries a 60-second initial delay — allow time for the database schema to be fully initialised before health checks begin.
• Asset storage path. Wiki.js writes uploaded files to the path set by HA_STORAGE_PATH (default /wiki-storage). The NFS mount path and this variable must point to the same physical location. With enable_nfs = true, mount the NFS share at /wiki-storage or change nfs_mount_path and HA_STORAGE_PATH together.
• Health endpoint. Both the startup and liveness probes use /healthz, which returns HTTP 200 only once Wiki.js is running and connected to PostgreSQL. Do not replace this with / — the UI path is slow to render and may return errors during startup.
• Session affinity. session_affinity = "ClientIP" is the default. Wiki.js maintains in-memory session context; sticky routing keeps a browser session on the same pod.
• Redis is optional. Wiki.js does not require Redis for core operation. Enable it when you want application-level session caching in multi-replica deployments.

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Wiki.js are listed; every other input is inherited from App_GKE with its standard behaviour and defaults.

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the workload and regional resources.

Group 2 — Deployment Environment

Variable	Default	Description
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources for cost/ownership tracking.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	wikijs	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
application_display_name	Wiki.js	Friendly name shown in the Console.
application_description	(set)	Workload description annotation.
application_version	2.5.311	Wiki.js image version tag; increment to roll out a new version.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
container_image_source	custom	custom builds via Cloud Build; prebuilt uses an existing image URI.
container_image	requarks/wiki:2	Upstream Docker Hub image used as the Cloud Build base.
container_resources	{ cpu_limit = "1000m", memory_limit = "2Gi" }	Resource requests/limits per pod.
container_port	3000	Wiki.js Node.js server port — do not change.
min_instance_count	1	Minimum replicas (keep ≥ 1 to avoid cold starts).
max_instance_count	3	Maximum replicas (autoscaler ceiling).
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar for Unix socket connections.
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror requarks/wiki:2 from Docker Hub into Artifact Registry.
enable_vertical_pod_autoscaling	false	Let Autopilot tune resource requests automatically.

Group 5 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	{ DB_TYPE="postgres", DB_PORT="5432", DB_USER="wikijs", DB_NAME="wikijs", DB_SSL="false", HA_STORAGE_PATH="/wiki-storage" }	Pre-populated with Wiki.js DB connectivity settings. Core values — do not remove.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name. DB_PASS is wired automatically.

Group 6 — GKE Backend & Cluster

Variable	Default	Description
service_type	LoadBalancer	How the Service is exposed.
session_affinity	ClientIP	Sticky routing for in-memory session context.
workload_type	null	Auto-resolves to Deployment; set StatefulSet for per-pod storage.
network_tags	["nfsserver"]	Required for NFS connectivity — do not remove.

Group 7 — StatefulSet Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
stateful_pvc_enabled	null	Enable PVC templates in a StatefulSet.
stateful_pvc_size	10Gi	Storage size per PVC.
stateful_pvc_mount_path	/data	Mount path inside each pod.
stateful_pvc_storage_class	standard-rwo	Kubernetes StorageClass for PVCs.

Group 8 — Resource Quota

Variable	Default	Description
enable_resource_quota	false	Cap namespace CPU/memory/object counts.
quota_memory_requests / quota_memory_limits	""	Must use binary units (4Gi, 8192Mi) — bare integers are read as bytes and block all scheduling.

Group 9 — Reliability Policies

Variable	Default	Description
enable_pod_disruption_budget	true	Protect availability during node upgrades.
pdb_min_available	1	Raise min_instance_count above 1 if you need eviction headroom.
enable_topology_spread	false	Spread pods across zones.

Group 10 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe_config	HTTP /healthz, 60 s initial delay	Startup probe — generous delay for first-boot DB migration.
health_check_config	HTTP /healthz, 60 s initial delay	Liveness probe.
uptime_check_config	disabled, path /	Cloud Monitoring uptime check.
alert_policies	[]	Metric alert policies.

Group 11 — Jobs & Scheduled Tasks

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in db-init job from Wikijs_Common.
cron_jobs	[]	Recurring Kubernetes CronJobs (e.g. scheduled exports or backups).
additional_services	[]	Sidecar or helper Deployments alongside Wiki.js.

Group 12 — CI/CD & GitHub Integration

Standard App_GKE Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy integration — see App_GKE. Key inputs: enable_cicd_trigger, github_repository_url, github_token, enable_cloud_deploy.

Group 13 — Filesystem (NFS)

Variable	Default	Description
enable_nfs	true	Shared Filestore volume for Wiki.js assets (keep enabled for multi-replica).
nfs_mount_path	/mnt/nfs	Mount path inside the container — must align with HA_STORAGE_PATH.

Group 14 — Cloud Storage & Artifact Registry

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Provision the storage bucket.
storage_buckets	[{ name_suffix = "data" }]	Additional GCS buckets beyond the wikijs-storage bucket.
gcs_volumes	[]	Mount the wikijs-storage bucket via GCS Fuse at /wiki-storage.
manage_storage_kms_iam / enable_artifact_registry_cmek	false	CMEK options.

Group 15 — Redis Cache

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Enable Redis for session caching (optional for Wiki.js).
redis_host	""	Redis endpoint — required when enable_redis = true.
redis_port	6379	Redis port.
redis_auth	""	Optional Redis auth password (sensitive).

Group 16 — Database Backend

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Fixed — do not change. Wiki.js requires PostgreSQL.
application_database_name	wikijs	Database name. Immutable after first deploy; must match DB_NAME.
application_database_user	wikijs	Application user. Immutable after first deploy; must match DB_USER.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length (16–64).
enable_postgres_extensions	true	Install extensions — required for pg_trgm.
postgres_extensions	["pg_trgm"]	Required for full-text search. Do not remove.
enable_auto_password_rotation	false	Zero-downtime DB password rotation.

Group 17 — Backup & Maintenance

Variable	Default	Description
backup_schedule	0 2 * * *	Automated backup cron (UTC).
backup_retention_days	7	Retention; raise to 30–90 for production/compliance.
enable_backup_import / backup_source / backup_file / backup_format	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy.

Group 18 — Custom SQL Scripts

enable_custom_sql_scripts, custom_sql_scripts_bucket, custom_sql_scripts_path, custom_sql_scripts_use_root — run SQL from a GCS bucket after provisioning. See App_GKE.

Group 19 — Custom Domain, Static IP & Networking

Variable	Default	Description
enable_custom_domain	true	Provision Ingress for custom hostnames + managed certificate.
application_domains	[]	Hostnames to serve.
reserve_static_ip	true	Stable external IP across redeploys.

Group 20 — Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)

Variable	Default	Description
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in in front of Wiki.js.
iap_authorized_users / iap_authorized_groups	[]	Who may access.
iap_oauth_client_id / iap_oauth_client_secret	""	Required when IAP is enabled (sensitive).
iap_support_email	""	Shown on the OAuth consent screen.

Group 21 — Cloud Armor

Variable	Default	Description
enable_cloud_armor	false	Attach a Cloud Armor (WAF) policy to the Ingress backend.
admin_ip_ranges	[]	CIDRs allowed privileged access.
cloud_armor_policy_name	default-waf-policy	Policy name.

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

Variable	Default	Description
enable_vpc_sc	false	Enforce a VPC-SC perimeter (requires organization_id).
vpc_cidr_ranges / vpc_sc_dry_run	(set)	Access level CIDRs / dry-run mode.
enable_audit_logging	false	Detailed Cloud Audit Logs.

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5. Outputs

These values are returned on a successful deployment and are the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Kubernetes Service name.
namespace	Namespace the workload runs in.
service_cluster_ip	In-cluster ClusterIP.
stage_service_cluster_ips	Map of ClusterIPs for stage-specific services (Cloud Deploy).
service_external_ip	External LoadBalancer IP (when a static IP is reserved).
service_url	URL to reach Wiki.js.
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name	Application database name.
database_user	Application database user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint (127.0.0.1 via the Auth Proxy) / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets.
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, available regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels	Monitoring status and channels.
initialization_jobs / db_import_job	Names of the setup and (optional) import jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details (repo, trigger, registry).
github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name	GitHub repo details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
kubernetes_ready	Whether the cluster/workload is ready.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
database_type	POSTGRES_15	Critical	Wiki.js requires PostgreSQL; MySQL/NONE breaks startup.
application_database_name / DB_NAME	both wikijs	Critical	Mismatch: db-init creates a different database than Wiki.js connects to — crash loop. Immutable after first deploy.
enable_postgres_extensions / postgres_extensions	true / ["pg_trgm"]	Critical	Removing pg_trgm disables all full-text search with a function-not-found error.
quota_memory_requests / _limits	binary units (Gi, Mi)	Critical	Bare integers are bytes — blocks all pod scheduling.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_file fails the import job.
enable_cloudsql_volume	true	Critical	Disabling removes the Auth Proxy sidecar — all PostgreSQL connections fail.
application_database_user / DB_USER	both wikijs	High	Mismatch: grants are created for one user but Wiki.js authenticates as another — auth failure.
enable_nfs	true	High	Without shared storage, uploads written by one pod are invisible to others and lost on restart.
nfs_mount_path + HA_STORAGE_PATH	both /wiki-storage	High	If the NFS mount path and HA_STORAGE_PATH disagree, Wiki.js writes to the pod's ephemeral disk.
container_resources.memory_limit	2Gi	High	Below 1Gi Wiki.js is OOM-killed on startup or under load.
startup_probe_config.initial_delay_seconds	60	High	Too low — Wiki.js is killed before first-boot schema migration completes.
min_instance_count	1	High	Scale-to-zero causes 15–30 s cold starts and in-flight DB reconnection.
session_affinity	ClientIP	High	Without stickiness, multi-replica deployments lose in-memory session context.
application_version	2.5.311	High	Wiki.js 2.x and 3.x have incompatible schemas. Test upgrades in staging.
network_tags	["nfsserver"]	High	Removing the tag breaks the NFS firewall rule — mount fails.
enable_iap / enable_cloud_armor	enable for internal wikis	Medium	The Wiki.js login page is otherwise publicly reachable.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.
pdb_min_available vs min_instance_count	leave headroom	Medium	1/1 can stall node upgrades (single pod cannot be evicted).
enable_redis	false unless needed	Low	Wiki.js does not require Redis for core operation.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — IAM and Workload Identity, autoscaling, ingress and certificates, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_GKE. Wiki.js-specific application configuration shared with the Cloud Run variant is described in Wikijs_Common.