Using Kiwix and ZIM Files

How RTW serves Wikipedia and other collections with Kiwix.

Kiwix packages websites — Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Stack Exchange, and many more — into single compressed ZIM files that can be read offline. RTW runs Kiwix’s own server, kiwix-serve, and shows every ZIM in the wikipedia/ folder under /wiki/.

Getting ZIM files

Browse the Kiwix library or the download directory. File names describe the content:

wikipedia_ar_all_nopic_2026-08.zim
│         │  │   │     └ release (year-month)
│         │  │   └ variant: maxi (images) · nopic (no images) · mini (intros only)
│         │  └ scope: all, top, or a topic
│         └ language
└ project

Fetching Wikipedia with RTW

rtw fetch wikipedia

Downloads the newest wikipedia_ar_all_nopic file, verifies it against Kiwix’s published SHA-256 checksum, and keeps only the newest copy. For another language or variant, set a pattern:

ZIM_PATTERN=wikipedia_en_all_nopic rtw fetch wikipedia

Adding any ZIM manually

Put the .zim file in the wikipedia/ folder, then reload:

rtw restart

Uploading or deleting a ZIM through /admin/ reloads Wikipedia automatically.

Licenses

ZIM files carry the license of their source. Wikipedia content is CC BY-SA; other collections differ. Kiwix and its tools are free software — see kiwix.org.