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Moodle is a free and open-source e-learning software platform, written in PHP.

This article describes how to set up the Moodle server.

## Installation

Installation quick guide:

  You will need a working web server (e.g. Apache HTTP Server), a database (e.g. MySQL or PostgreSQL) and have PHP configured.

There is also an AUR package moodleAUR for the installation. Either you can use this way:

Download the most current version of Moodle from https://download.moodle.org/ - this installation was done with 2.3.1+, and there may be minor changes to the install routine in later versions.

Unzip it into `/srv/http`:

    # tar xzvf moodle-latest-23.tgz -C /srv/http

Make it read/writeable by Apache:

    # chown -R http:http /srv/http/moodle

## Preconfiguration

Some changes need to be made to the default setup so Moodle will work.

### File access

Add `/srv` to `/etc/php/php.ini`:

    open_basedir = /srv/http/:/home/:/tmp/:/usr/share/pear/:/srv/

This allows PHP to access the `/srv/moodledata directory` (thanks to forum user "Ravenman") for this fix.

### Create the MoodleData Directory

This needs to be readable and writeable by Apache:

    # mkdir /srv/moodledata
    # chown http:http /srv/moodledata

### Configure PHP extension

Uncomment the following lines in `/etc/php/php.ini` (remove the semicolon from the start of the line):

    extension=curl
    extension=gd
    extension=gettext
    extension=iconv
    extension=intl
    extension=mysqli
    extension=soap
    extension=xmlrpc
    extension=zip

### Restart Apache

You now need to restart Apache's `httpd.service` to make these changes current. Note that if you get any errors while installing Moodle, and make subsequent changes, you will need to restart Apache after each set of changes.

### MariaDB

If you are using MariaDB and the moodle installer complains about the wrong version of MySQL, edit `config.php` in `/srv/http/moodle`

    $CFG->dbtype    = 'mariadb';
    $CFG->dblibrary = 'native';

## Configuration

Go to http://localhost/moodle/install.php - this starts the Moodle installer. There then follows a sequence of configuration screens, most of which should be left at the defaults:

- Select the language
- You should pass the first page of tests (PHP Settings).
- Leave the default locations as they are. An error here is likely to be a data directory problem - check the directory exists, that it has the right ownership and that `open_basedir` in `/etc/php/php.ini` is set correctly.
- On the MySQL Screen, enter the user (root) and that user's password in the screen. If you get an error here, go to the `test.php` created when you set up the LAMP stack and check mysql is working, and also check the passwords.
- On the Environment screen, you should pass all the tests - if not the errors give you a clue what is missing - an uninstalled program or a failure to uncomment one of the lines in `/etc/php/php.ini`
- If you are English, you do not need to download language packs.
- If the `config.php` has failed - probably because of lack of write access to the moodle subdirectory - the most likely reason is the ownership of the `/srv/http/moodle` structure, which should be `http:http` - this was set earlier but you might have skipped that bit.
- The remainder of the install should be automatic. It takes 2 or 3 minutes on my computer to set up all the SQL Databases and so on.
- The final page allows you to set up the administrator user for Moodle. You need to enter a password, name and set the country as a bare minimum. Do not forget the password !

Happy Moodling !

Category:

- Web applications