Step-by-step Installation Guide for Ubuntu
Step 1: Install Ubuntu 14.04LTS
Server Edition amd64 Preferred
http://www.ubuntu.com/download
- Ubuntu Server 14.04LTS amd64 has all the required packages.
- Ubuntu Server 14.04LTS has some minor differences from 12.04LTS, mainly to the Apache Sites Configuration, now resides at /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf and the Default Webroot now at /var/www/html/. This document has been updated to reflect those changes.
- You can use either VI (lightweight editor) or VIM (heavyweight editor), however, if you wish to use VIM you will need to install it
sudo apt-get install vim
- VI or VIM Commands
To edit a file press "Insert" Key
To finish editing press "Esc" Key
To write the file press ":w"
To Exit the editor press ":q"
You can also write and quit ":wq"
- In Ubuntu, the standard user, the account you created during the install, does not have rights to install/write to many of the directories. In the below tutorial we will be using the term "sudo" which stands for "super user do" before most of the commands.
Step 2: Install Apache/MySQL/PHP
Open up Terminal and install the following;
- :22 in the Video
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apache2 mysql-client mysql-server php5
'It will prompt you to set the root password for mysql - please, please my dear friends, WRITE IT DOWN and spare yourself some grief, you will need it in step 6.
Step 3: Install Additional Software
- 1:10 in the video
sudo apt-get install graphviz aspell php5-pspell php5-curl php5-gd php5-intl php5-mysql php5-xmlrpc php5-ldap clamav
Restart Apache so that the modules are loaded correctly
sudo service apache2 restart
We will be using Git to install/update the Moodle Core Application
sudo apt-get install git-core
Step 4: Download Moodle
- 1:55 in the video
Setup your local repository and download Moodle, We will use /opt for this installation.
- Git is what is called a "version control system". By using git it will much easier down the road to update the moodle core application. Within Step 5 there is a little more detail on why we put the moodle core application code in the /opt directory.
cd /opt
Download the Moodle Code and Index
sudo git clone git://git.moodle.org/moodle.git
Change directory into the downloaded Moodle folder
cd moodle
Retrieve a list of each branch available
sudo git branch -a
Tell git which branch to track or use
sudo git branch --track MOODLE_28_STABLE origin/MOODLE_28_STABLE
Finally, Check out the Moodle version specified
sudo git checkout MOODLE_28_STABLE
Step 5: Copy local repository to /var/www/html/
- 3:05 in the video
sudo cp -R /opt/moodle /var/www/html/
sudo mkdir /var/moodledata
sudo chown -R www-data /var/moodledata
sudo chmod -R 777 /var/moodledata
sudo chmod -R 0755 /var/www/html/moodle
- Explanation:
Since we setup a local repository in the previous step, you will copy it to your webroot after any updates and making changes. Having your local repository outside of the webroot, like we have in /opt, you will be able to prepare and stage your upgrades in a more efficient manner. For example, you want to make some changes or add some plugins, you would download the plugin and copy it to your local moodle repository. After you have added the plugin and any other changes you might have made you will need to edit the file located in /opt/moodle/.git/info/exclude. Within that file you want to tell git which files/folders to exclude when it pulls down the updates when you run your next "sudo git pull". An example entry would be the certificate mod located in /opt/moodle/mod/certificate so within the exclude file you want to add "/mod/certificate" below the last comments. You would add additional entries, 1 per line, for each plugin or file you might have changed. If I were to change the favicon.ico file you would just add "favicon.ico" to the exclude file. Now when you run "sudo git pull" to update moodle to the latest version it will ignore those files and directories and just update the core moodle code. Before copying to your webroot to upgrade you want to make sure and download and copy over the latest versions of the plugins you might have added.
Step 6: Setup MySQL Server
- 4:45 in the video
First we need to change the default storage engine to innodb and change the default file format to Barracuda, this is a new setting compared to previous versions. You also need to set innodb_file_per_table in order for Barracuda to work properly. Ref: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/innodb-compression-usage.html
- You should not need to make innodb the default storage engine anymore, the latest version of Moodle will select it automatically during install. It is always a good idea to make it default anyway. You do however need to set the default file format!
- If you chose to use VIM instead please substitute vi for vim
sudo vi /etc/mysql/my.cnf
Scroll down to the [mysqld] section and under Basic Settings add the following line under the last statement. if you want to add you have to press the "insert" button on your keyboard. this is usually above the "delete" button. this allows you to add some text.
default_storage_engine = innodb
innodb_file_per_table = 1
innodb_file_format = Barracuda
In order to save my.cnf using the editor, press the Esc (Escape) key, type the following in sequence which will save :w then close the editor :q
:w
:q
Restart MySQL Server for changes to take affect
sudo service mysql restart
Now we need to create the Moodle database and the Moodle MySQL User with the correct permissions
Use the password you created in step 1
mysql -u root -p
mysql>
CREATE DATABASE moodle DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
Where it says "moodledude" and "passwordformoodledude" you should change to the username and password of your choosing.
mysql>
create user 'moodledude'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'passwordformoodledude'
mysql>
GRANT SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE,CREATE,CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES,DROP,INDEX,ALTER ON moodle.* TO moodledude@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'passwordformoodledude';
mysql>
quit;
Step 7: Complete Setup
- 6:40 in the video
- Note - If you are not comfortable using terminal to create the config.php file that needs to be created when going through the installer, you should temporarily make the webroot writable by doing the following:
sudo chmod -R 777 /var/www/html/moodle
After you have ran the installer and you have moodle setup, you NEED to revert permissions so that it is no longer writable using the below command.
sudo chmod -R 0755 /var/www/html/moodle
Open your browser and go to http://IP.ADDRESS.OF.SERVER/moodle
Follow the prompts:
Change the path for moodledata
/var/moodledata
Database Type
Choose: mysqli
Database Settings
Host server: localhost
Database: moodle
User: moodledude (the user you created when setting up the database)
Password: passwordformoodledude (the password for the user you created)
Tables Prefix: mdl_
Environment Checks
This will indicate if any elements required to run moodle haven't been installed.
Next next next...
follow prompts and confirm installation
Create a Site Administrator Account
Create your moodle user account which will have site administrator permissions.
The password you select has to meet certain security requirements.
Installation Complete
Congrats! You can now start using Moodle!
Don't Forget
If you made the webroot writable, revert permissions
sudo chmod -R 0755 /var/www/html/moodle
System Paths After Install
- 10:05 in the video
After installing Moodle you should set the system paths, this will provide better performance VS not setting them. Each entry in Moodle will have it's explanation.
Navigate, on the moodle webpage, to Site Administration > Server > System Paths
Input the following;
Path to Du: /usr/bin/du
Path to Apsell: /usr/bin/aspell
Path to dot: /usr/bin/dot
Save Changes
- Optional if you do not already have an AntiVirus Solution
We also installed ClamAV in Step 3 so we need to set the path in Moodle
1st Create the Quarantine Directory
sudo mkdir /var/quarantine
Change Ownership
sudo chown -R www-data /var/quarantine
Navigate to Site Administration > Security > Anti-Virus
Check "Use ClamAV on uploaded files"
ClamAV Path : /usr/bin/clamscan
Quarantine Directory : /var/quarantine
Save Changes
Suggestions: Enable Zend OpCache/Change Document Root
- 11:00 in the video
- Since we have installed Ubuntu Server 14.04LTS, we can use the built-in PHP OPcache, https://docs.moodle.org/26/en/OPcache
Within the link above, https://docs.moodle.org/26/en/OPcache add the recommended settings to your 05-opcache.ini file. Again, substitute vi with vim and remember to use the correct key squences from the introduction.
sudo vi /etc/php5/apache2/conf.d/05-opcache.ini
Restart Apache for changes to take affect.
sudo service apache2 restart
That's it for the Zend OpCache!
You can also install a GUI to view the status of your Zend OpCache, not recommended on production servers.
cd /var/www/html/moodle/
Download the PHP Script to your Moodle directory, you should also add this file to /opt/moodle/.git/info/exclude file so it does not get removed when upgrading your installation.
sudo wget https://github.com/rlerdorf/opcache-status/blob/master/opcache.php
Visit http://ip.address.of.server/moodle/opcache.php
If you do not want your end users to type http://yourserver/moodle and just want them to naviagate to http://youserver you will need to edit the site configuration for Apache which will tell Apache to use the /var/www/html/moodle as the root directory and not /var/www/html
Open up the Apache sites config and change the document root
sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf
On the line where DocumentRoot is;
Change From: DocumentRoot /var/www/html
Change To: DocumentRoot /var/www/html/moodle
:w
:q
Restart Apache for changes to take affect.
sudo service apache2 restart
Important note!
If you have already installed Moodle then you should make the below changes.
Editing config.php for moodle
In the installation instructions, one of the suggested settings for 'webroot' is 'localhost'. This is fine if all you want to do is some local testing of your new Moodle installation. If, however, you want to view your new installation from another machine on the same local area network, or view your site on the internet, you will have to change this setting:
For local testing, 'localhost' is fine for the webroot ($CFG->wwwroot in config.php). If you want to test your site from other machines on the same local area network (LAN), then you will have to use the private ip address of the serving machine, (e.g. 192.168.1.2/moodle) or the network name of the serving computer (e.g. network_name_of_serving_machine/moodle) as the web root. Depending on your LAN setup, it may be better to use the network name of the computer rather than its (private) ip address, because the ip address can and will change from time to time. If you don't want to use the network name, then you will have to speak to your network administrator and have them assign a permanent ip address to the serving machine. Finally, if you want to test your new installation across the internet, you will have to use either a domain name or a permanent (public) ip address/moodle as your web root. To handle both types of access, see masquerading.
Edit config.php for Moodle
cd /var/www/html/moodle sudo vim config.php
Hit the "insert" button on your keyboard, make then changes you need to make. Then press "escape" and type the following in to quit and to save changes (excluding quotation marks): ":wq"
Under $CFG->wwwroot change to http://ip.address.of.server instead of http://ip.address.of.server/moodle
