Installation guide - Moodle for Windows on a USB Memory Stick

CH Software's WOS - Webserver on a Stick packages a complete Apache/PHP/MySQL webserver with a wrapper that automatically configures and starts the servers; the Small Edition takes only 20 Mb. It is published under the GNU GPL.

The complete package with a vanilla Moodle 1.5.3, WOS Portable SE 1.1.1, Apache 2.0.5, PHP 5.1.2 (and 4.4.1), and MySQL 4.1.18-nt - all free, open source software - occupies less than 100Mb.

Installation

For best results you should always install and run WOS from the root directory of a drive. The first time it's run, WOS configures the paths for the servers based on the current directory.

Note: Make sure you stop IIS service which may already be running on your PC.

1. Start by downloading the latest versions of WOS Portable or WOS Portable Small Edition.

1a. Thanks to Matt Campbell, you can also get the complete Moodle on a Stick (MOS) package as a single zip download from this

URL:http://instructor.metrotech.org/~mcampbell/USBMoodle.zip 

(Includes Moodle 1.5.3 and 1.6.0, as well as the WOS package) Simply unzip the file onto a USB stick, check the readme file to make sure your setup is correct, and run

start.exe 

if using this method.

2. Unzip the file and copy to your USB Stick. Switch to the stick and double click start.exe to begin the WOS installation.

3. Choose your language, then click through the Terms of Use. WOS starts up and displays the WOS Status dialog box and opens your web browser to the WOS start page

• You should now see the follow on the WOS startup page.

Apache 2.0.55 is running
PHP 5.1.2 works (or PHP4 if you configured it that way)
MySql 4.1.18-nt is running
Document Root is: F:/www

4. Setup your Database Click on the PHPMyAdmin link on the Start page. In PHPMyAdmin, type a name for your database. ie: 'moodle' and click Enter.

5. Now Download your preferred version of Moodle from the Moodle Download page and unzip the file to your www directory on the USB stick.

6. Run Moodle Installation. Using the directory and settings above, the URL is http://localhost/moodle/install.php.

Now you simply work through the normal Moodle installation procedures. NOTE: During the databases setup, use root as the database user and leave the password field blank (warning: security risk if opening to your LAN/WAN)It should work just like it does on the web or on your hard drive windows installation.

Troubleshooting

Moodle requires a number of PHP settings to be active for it to work. On most servers these will already be the default settings. However, I noticed the WOS package required register_globals needed to be turned off and magic_quotes gpc turned On. These are defined in PHP's configuration file (usually called php.ini):

WOS Portable is freeware, and there is no official support.

If you have a problem after running through the above, try the troubleshooting hints on the WOS Wiki.