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Moodle Administration
Moodle Administration

Moodle Administration:

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Moodle Administration

Chapter 2. Moodle Installation

Now that you have gathered some background knowledge about Moodle, let's get started by installing the virtual learning environment. After providing an overview that describes what setup is most suitable, software as well as hardware requirements are outlined. We will then cover the following installations:

  • Installation of Moodle in a LAMP / Unix environment

  • Installation of Moodle in a Windows environment

  • Installation of Moodle in a Mac OS X environment

  • Upgrading Moodle manually and via CVS

You will only need to study the section(s) of the operating system(s) you are planning to use. As mentioned in the Introduction, Moodle can be scaled from a single instructor to an entire institution. We will only be able to cover the most popular installations and present solutions to some common problems. We also have to assume that you are familiar with the basic system administration of the operating system on which you will be installing Moodle.

Moodle Installation: An Overview


Before we start installing Moodle, you have to decide which setup is right for your organization. Once you have come to a conclusion, there are a number of prerequisites that you have to provide before we can get started.

What is the Best Setup for Me?

There are quite a few different environments in which you can set up Moodle. The three main criteria that should dictate the choice of the correct setup are:

  • Flexibility

    If you want to have full control over your system, be able to tweak system settings, and make frequent changes to the setup, you are best hosting your own server. However, if your preferred choice is to administer only your system while somebody else is looking after the operating system, the web server, and backups, you are better off with a professionally hosted setup.

  • Scalability

    This is entirely driven by the number of concurrent users, that is, the number of learners and teachers logged in to Moodle at the same time. A Moodle on a USB memory...

Installation in a LAMP Environment


Moodle is developed in Linux using Apache, MySQL, and PHP (also known as the LAMP platform). If you have a choice, this is the preferred environment to be used.

Downloading Moodle

Go to http://download.moodle.org to download Moodle. As you can see, there are quite a number of distributions to choose from:

For the current version of Moodle, there are two releases: the latest stable build and the latest official release. The latest stable version is created weekly (every Wednesday) and is the best choice for a new server. The latest official release contains the stable build as well as new fixes, but the version will not have gone through the weekly code review and might contain unresolved issues.

Versions that are older than the current one are maintained by the Moodle development team, and bug fixes are back-ported. Sometimes newly added functionality is back-ported. Currently, the oldest supported version is 1.6, but this will certainly change in the future...

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Publication date : Sep 30, 2008
Length: 376 pages
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781847195623
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Product Details

Publication date : Sep 30, 2008
Length: 376 pages
Edition :
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781847195623
Languages :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

14 Chapters
Introduction Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moodle Installation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Moodle System Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Course Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
User Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Roles and Permissions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moodle: Look and Feel Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moodle Configuration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Monitoring User Activity Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moodle Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moodle Performance and Optimization Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Backup and Restore Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installing Third-Party Add-Ons Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Moodle Networking Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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4 star 33.3%
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Mole Oct 04, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This was bought for a colleague that was leaving to take up a position in an educational IT department. He had not previously worked with Moodel and wanted to learn more about it.He subsequently advised me that he found it of real value in understanding the product; it took him through the various function in a simple and straight forward way. This gave him the confidence to work on the software and he also highlighted that he found several items that were of use in fixing several small issues and get the system running really well.It appears to be very well structured and written in such a way as to be used by anyone; and it certainly provide the right and relevant information.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Tamara M. Powell Nov 09, 2010
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Allow me to situate this review in context. I am a Moodle administrator, but for a college in a university. The university itself has a department of main administrators. I'm more of a babysitter for the Moodle system in the college. I add courses, assist faculty, and just do general Moodle housekeeping. What I first noticed about this book is that it is pleasant to read. I am not one to sit home devouring tech manuals, but this one I picked up on a Saturday afternoon and really enjoyed reading. Second, while the first three chapters are really aimed at people downloading and installing Moodle, I was able to follow them and get some important insights about how Moodle runs and why it does some things it does. By chapter four, the book addressed many of the aspects of Moodle that I deal with, and I found myself noting various pages that I would return to when I encountered different problems or forgot different processes. I also found information that had been omitted from my training. For example, for centers running for-profit courses, Moodle can be adjusted to accept PayPal. The book features a thorough explanation of roles, including definitions of roles, how to assign roles, best practices regarding roles, and how to create new roles. In my position, this feature of Moodle is the one most fraught with problems. Another topic the book treats thoroughly is security. There is a common idea that open source software is less secure than closed source software, but this book goes to great lengths to explain not only what Moodle brings to the table to enhance security, but what the reader needs to do and be aware of, as well. One of the virtues of Moodle is that one can add any "add ins" he or she likes. While closed source virtual learning environments often require wrestling to integrate components--if the components can be integrated at all--Moodle is built to accept add ins. But how does one tell the quality add ins from the poor ones, or the troublesome or dangerous ones? Again, the book steps in with best practices, helpful advice, and websites to consult. The book concludes with instructions on how to merge Moodle with Mahara to create Mahoodle--a blend of the virtual learning environment and an electronic portfolio system. Overall I found this book very helpful, both as an introduction to Moodle and as a reference tool as I work with Moodle.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Timothy Hunt Nov 25, 2008
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A very good, thorough introduction to everything you need to know to administer Moodle. If you are new to the task, this book will cover everything you need to know, and if you are already a relatively experienced Moodle admin, you might still like to read this book to make sure that you are not overlooking anything.My one slight disappointment with the book is that in a few places where I wanted to know more (for example performance tuning) the book rapidly referred you to the online Moodle documentation, rather than covering it directly. However, it is the nature of a book like this that it can only cover so much ground, and there is already plenty here.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
John Blanco Nov 26, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Thought i knew it all until i started using this book to get my moodle site up and running. i currently have five students that I am using as a test panel the book was amazing it really teaches the ins and out of moodle big ups to Alex Buchner.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Rolando Jr Lontok Mar 19, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
(This is a review of the newer book by Alex Buchner on the same subject matter: "Moodle 2 Administration")About three weeks ago, I got the chance to get hold of the book by Alex Buchner, "Moodle 2 Administration" (Packt Publishing, 2011). It's an opportune time as I am currently migrating the college Moodle server from v1.9 to v2.2. From then onwards, the book became a handy reference for me, giving me good guidance on general system administration I have to get back to, as well as providing me with very good introduction on some of the new features of Moodle v2.x that differentiate it with the old v1.9. Following are some of the topics discussed in the book which I found very useful for my work so far:Moodle setup: As the college had already decided (from experience) that the best Moodle environment based on its operation is LAMP, Buchner's book allowed me to review the best environment possible by providing recommendations and possible scenarios with different hardware and software requirements. The book also provided an introduction on Moodle CLI which I found handy from time to time. This does not mean that the book is useful for Linux/Unix enthusiasts only. Moodle 2 Administration also provided a comprehensive setup discussion for those who favor the Windows platform, and even for those whose preference is Mac OS X.User Roles: The book helped me a lot in setting and evaluating possibilities in creating custom roles in Moodle. As our Moodle user architecture requires the provisioning of `e-Learning Coordinators' from each academic department and other custom roles to ensure smooth and effective utilization of the system from staff and students, the clear discussions and procedures I got from the book allowed to implement custom roles easily and effectively.Moodle Plugins: I also got very good information from the book regarding Moodle plugins, particularly the one regarding plagiarism prevention. As our English Language Centre starts using Moodle for their students, I believe that one of the most important new features of Moodle v2.x is the anti-plagiarism plugin, and the book gave me a very good introduction about it.I am still not fully complete with migrating our Moodle platform from v1.9 to v2.2, and there are still many more work and tweaking to be done. I know I will go back to Buchner's book many more time in the next few weeks.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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