Kiwix

Overview

Kiwix is free software for browsing websites offline. It works by reading compressed data files in the standard .zim format. Kiwix includes its own lightweight HTTP server (kiwix-serve) to serve content over a local network without any Internet access.

In RecoveryBox, Kiwix is deployed as a Docker container managed by a systemd service. It provides a web interface for browsing Wikipedia (and other content) from any device connected to the hotspot.

For more details about the project, consult the official Kiwix documentation and the GitHub repository.

Properties

Property	Value
Type	Docker container (systemd service)
Image	ghcr.io/kiwix/kiwix-serve
Port	8080
Volume	/data/kiwix (host) → /data (container)
Activation variable	recoverybox_enable_kiwix

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Service Access

The Kiwix browsing interface is accessible to all users connected to the RecoveryBox hotspot.

URL	Description
http://kiwix.recovery.box	Direct access to Kiwix
http://recovery.box	RecoveryBox homepage (link to Kiwix)

Network access

The service is only accessible from the RecoveryBox hotspot local network. DNS resolution for kiwix.recovery.box is handled by the local DNS server (dnsmasq) via the wildcard entry *.recovery.box.

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Default Content

RecoveryBox ships by default with a copy of Wikipedia in French and English in .zim format. Three size variants are available for each language:

Variant	Description
all_mini	Most compact version (reduced quality)
all_no_pic	Text without images (default variant)
all_maxi	Full version with images

Disk space

Complete Wikipedia ZIM files can weigh several gigabytes. The all_no_pic variant (text without images) is used by default to minimize disk usage.

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Advanced Configuration

A. Configuration Files

Item	Description
/etc/systemd/system/kiwix.service	Systemd unit for the Docker container
/data/kiwix/	Directory containing .zim files

B. Customization

Adding ZIM files manually

You can add new .zim files to enrich the available content (other Wikipedia languages, Wiktionary, Wikimed, Vikidia, etc.).

Procedure:

1. Download the .zim file of your choice from the official Kiwix library.
2. Transfer the file to the RecoveryBox (via SCP, USB, etc.) and place it in the /data/kiwix/ directory: bash scp my-file.zim root@<recoverybox-ip>:/data/kiwix/
3. Restart the Kiwix service to pick up the new file via the service-manager

Restart required

Kiwix does not automatically detect newly added ZIM files. A service restart is mandatory for the content to be served.

Adding ZIM files via custom_config.yml

During installation/update via RecoveryBox_install.sh, by editing /etc/recoverybox/custom_config.yml directly, you can configure automatic downloading of ZIM files from the official Kiwix website.

recoverybox_kiwix_files variable structure:

recoverybox_kiwix_files:
  - category: wikipedia      # Category (wikipedia, maps, etc.)
    language: french          # Content language
    enable: true              # Enable download
    arg: "all_no_pic"         # Variant: all_mini, all_no_pic, all_maxi
  - category: wikipedia
    language: english
    enable: true
    arg: "all_no_pic"

Example with maps:

recoverybox_kiwix_files:
  - category: wikipedia
    language: french
    enable: true
    arg: "all_no_pic"
  - category: wikipedia
    language: english
    enable: true
    arg: "all_no_pic"
  - category: maps
    language: english
    enable: true
    arg: "croatia"

Download source

Files are downloaded from https://lb.download.kiwix.org/zim/. The Ansible script automatically fetches the latest monthly release matching the configured pattern.

To apply the configuration after modification, relaunch the RecoveryBox_install.sh script.

C. Debugging

Logs

# View service logs
journalctl -u kiwix.service

# View logs in real time
journalctl -u kiwix.service -f

Service verification

# Check global services status
rbstatus

# Test HTTP access
curl -I http://localhost:8080/