Xampp Installer FAQ
The Xampp Installer package has been designed for an easy installation of Moodle onto a standalone computer. This, in effect, has allowed a lot of people who do not have extensive IT skills to get a private Moodle up and running quickly and easily.
This FAQ is a set of simple questions that seem to be recurring in the forums.
Where should I use the full Moodle Windows Xampp Installer package?
The Windows Xampp installer is a very simplistic package that has pre-configured Apache, PHP, MySQL And Moodle. It was set up specifically for the standalone Windows environments, like XP and Vista. The Moodle/Windows Xampp installer is very handy for Teachers to use on their personal computers, or laptops, to develop courses they can backup then transport to their production sites. As a production site, it is useful on a very small LAN and for a small number of users, perhaps 20 or 25 at a time. Any more users and there are resource issues. It is not useful for large numbers of students or a full production web site.
This installer is modified for the Moodle installation. The full Xampp installer package is produced by Friends of Apache and does not include Moodle.
If you wanted to create a test site that is easy to reinstall, then the Windows Xampp installer is probably the easiest to use. While it obviously cannot replicate environmental, that is platform, issues, it can be handy for just about anything else.
Can I migrate my Xampp Moodle to the Web?
There is no reason to think you cannot, just not in the Xampp environment. Once set up, try to upload the Moodle files to a web site, they should upload without difficulty. The problem is going to be accessing the PHP and mySQL files to make it work. If you already have a working production site, then all you may want to do is to upgrade it to a newer version, and you can do that in any number of other ways. Whatever you try, or whenever you do anything like this, you need a long conversation with your host service. They may not appreciate you trying something like this without their help or knowledge.
Xampp or AppServ?
Both the Xampp and AppServ packages are useful if you want to install a web server as an independent environment. They offer similar things and it is difficult to differentiate between them. Neither package is offering Moodle as native, but Moodle will comfortably run in either, once they are set up and configured properly.
I have just installed Moodle using the Xampp installer, but Apache will not start.
Do the simple first, have you got Skype installed and running? If it is go to Skype > File > Options > Connection and uncheck the "Use port 80..." box after reading the note below it. This is the usual problem. For more information go to the Skype FAQ page.
My test Moodle won't start even after I run "Moodle Start.exe", the localhost changes to http://localhost/xampp/.
Basically your browser does not know where Moodle is located. This could be any number of reasons. Usually this is an issue with an apache configuration or with the browser address.
Browser address alternatives. Try: http://localhost/xampp/moodle or http://localhost/moodle
In an XAMPP package installed from Apachefriends.org, Moodle should be installed in the htdocs folder along with a folder called XAMPP. Edit the htdocs/index.htm file so that both a HTML link to the XAMPP and Moodle sites are shown.
You could check or change the Apache httpd.conf file so that the web server links directly to Moodle when "Localhost" or the desktop's IP is typed by another machine on the local network.
Go to C:\Moodle\server\apache\conf (or whatever your path may be) Open httpd.conf file in your text editor. DocumentRoot variable should read:
DocumentRoot '"C:/Moodle/server/moodle"' (Your path to the Moodle index.php file)
and the Directory
<Directory "C:/Moodle/server/moodle"> (Your path to the Moodle index.php file)
Make sure the paths specific are correct.
After that, check the moodle/config.php file which is located in your Directory path folder. Look for the line
$CFG->wwwroot = 'http://localhost';
If the wwwroot variable reads anything else, then change it to read the same as above.
If none of these things work, then delete your Moodle and reinstall, most likely something has not installed properly.
Can I use Moodle pages from the Xampp installer to upgrade a production server?
Yes, of course you can. There is no difference between the two in the Moodle PHP pages, just the environments in which they sit. If you have the patience and the understanding, you can reverse a Xampp installation and remove Xampp altogether, or rather, extract Apache, PHP, MySQL and Moodle from the Xampp shell, and it will still run.
Can I use Xampp installed Moodle on a network?
Yes, of course. There are some limitations though. This installer was never designed for a production site, so it has some issues with hardware resources. The more people that are on line simultaneously, the greater the demands, obviously. However, the memory requirement for the server increases dramatically and therefore uses up system resources too quickly.
Perhaps a good application of the Xampp Moodle across a network is for a course developer Moodle. That is, instead of tying up the production site, your course writers, Teachers, Course Creators, whomever, have a localized Moodle that they alone have access to ti\o prepare courses, which are then uploaded to the production site.
How can I make my Xampp Moodle accessible/viewable across a small LAN?
The same way it is done for every other Moodle. The Xampp Moodle installs to a "localhost" and if you go to the config.php file in the Moodle folder, you will find the line $CFG->wwwroot = 'http://localhost/"; Change that to read $CFG->wwwroot = 'http://192.168.1.109/'; //or whatever you have given as an address of your server machine. That should allow your Moodle to be accessible from elsewhere.
I keep getting the message that the maintainence cron file has not run in the last 24 hours. How can I stop that?
Run the cron job. Most Windows users are unfamiliar with the term "cron job" but essentially, it is a batch file that can be automated. Perhaps the simplest way of dealing with it is to set up a Scheduled Task.
We have outgrown Xampp so what is next?
At this point you need to carefully consider just what do you want in the way of a Moodle. The Xampp is a good learning and development environment for Teachers and Course Creators, but it is, more or less, a benign environment. All the major problems have been taken care of which allows it to fulfill its primary purpose, a standalone installation for teachers to develop courses in, outside of normal hours and without threatening the production site. What is nxt is what server environment do you want to use? Windows or Linux? For your web server, Apache is credible. It is scalable and, despite its apocryphal beginnings, is a stable and popular server. PHP is required, irrespective of the environment - Moodle is written in it. The database environment is entirely your choice, as long as it is SQL compliant, it should make little difference what database server you choose. However, in these pages the majority support seems to be for MySQL. This could be because it is relatively easy to install, the right price and, if I have Moodle history right, the first database used in Moodle. This creates the "AMP" part of the acronym - Apache, MySQL, PHP, with either Windows or Linux making up the first letter.
To install Moodle in this environment is a little more demanding than Xampp, but you end up with a stable and scalable Moodle. You can also add in so much, like a MediaWiki, if you do not like the native Moodle Wiki, or any other web tools or applications you like. You can also use Moodle for your public site - in your own server.
One issue that is not always clear, is that of accessing your database. You may have gotten used to using the phpMyAdmin plugin to look inside your database and find yourself somewhat at a loss to realise that your new server model Moodle does not include that as a standard Module. Download it from the link above and unzip it to the Moodle/admin folder. Go to the Administration > Server > Database page and phpMyAdmin will automatically install.
