When running setup.sh for Tiki Wiki 27+, you may encounter a fatal error about memory.
It is critical you try to locate the error and warning message through the continuous flow a logs that are filling your screen and look for "memory".

It may look like this for exemple

FATAL ERROR: Ineffective mark-compacts near heap limit
Allocation failed - JavaScript heap out of memory

This happens during the npm / Vite asset build phase. It is not a Tiki bug. It is a Node.js memory limit issue.

Why This Happens

Tiki Wiki 27 and above use modern build tools and installing the node package and compiling them require a lot more memory than running your Tiki Wiki Software and this error may happen when Node.js runs out of allocated memory on a 2Gb system during the Vite build process that compiles Tiki Wiki's JavaScript assets.

Node.js uses the V8 engine, which has a default heap limit of roughly ~2 GB, even on servers with more RAM.
Modern frontend builds (JS, SCSS, minification, bundling) can exceed this limit, causing the process to abort.

You can verify your current heap limit:

Copy to clipboard
node -p "require('v8').getHeapStatistics().heap_size_limit/1024/1024"

If it shows around -+1900–2100+-, you're hitting the default ceiling.

The quick Solution for Tiki Wiki Installation

Increase Node.js memory allocation before running the Tiki Wiki setup script by setting the NODE_OPTIONS environment variable:

Temporary (current session only)
Copy to clipboard
export NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"
./setup.sh

The value 4096 allocates 4GB of memory and you can adjust based on your system's available RAM.

You can also force it inline (recommended if running via scripts):

Temporary (current session for setup.sh only)
Copy to clipboard
NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=8192" sh setup.sh

After exporting, confirm it’s applied:

Confirming heap size limit
Copy to clipboard
node -p "require('v8').getHeapStatistics().heap_size_limit/1024/1024"

You should now see a value above 4000.

Ensure the Variable Is Exported

Setting a shell variable is not enough. It must be exported to be inherited by npm/Node processes.

Confirming new limit is applied to node
Copy to clipboard
env | grep NODE_OPTIONS

Why This Happens in Tiki Wiki 27+

Tiki Wiki 27 and above migrated to modern JavaScript build tools (Vite) that provide better performance and development experience. However, these tools require more memory during the build process, especially when:

  • Installing from the git repository
  • Running setup.sh for the first time
  • Rebuilding after pulling updates
  • Your server has limited RAM (less than 4GB)

Tiki 27 VCS System Requirements

Before running Tiki Wiki setup, ensure your server has:

  • MySQL installed
  • PHP 8.1+
  • At least 4GB of RAM available (8GB recommended for smoother builds)
  • Node.js installed 9.0.0 <11 (check with node --version)
  • npm installed 18.0.0 <22 (check with npm --version)

Tiki 29 VCS System Requirements

Before running Tiki Wiki setup, ensure your server has:

  • MySQL installed
  • PHP 8.1+
  • At least 4GB of RAM available (8GB recommended for smoother builds)
  • Node.js installed 9.0.0 <11 (check with node --version)
  • npm installed 20.0.0 <23 (check with npm --version)

Check your available memory

Copy to clipboard
free -h

Need Help with Tiki Wiki Installation?

This is just one of many technical challenges that can arise during Tiki Wiki installation and configuration. If you're experiencing other issues with:

  • Tiki Wiki setup and deployment
  • Server configuration and optimization
  • Custom development and integrations
  • Migration from older Tiki versions

We provide professional Tiki Wiki support and consulting services. Our team has extensive experience with Tiki Wiki installations, customizations, and troubleshooting.