Moodle Docs: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

From: johncaptain Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 03:07:05 +0000 (+0000) Subject: smtphost blank addition to e-mail question X-Git-Url: http://git.mjollnir.org/gw?a=commitdiff_plain;h=4fa69b22dfc221677a3a1ce8e82868a21ee52f23;p=moodle.git smtphost blank addition to e-mail question --- diff --git a/lang/en/docs/faq.html b/lang/en/docs/faq.html index 82339c3aba..7f5cb16b7c 100644 --- a/lang/en/docs/faq.html +++ b/lang/en/docs/faq.html @@ -1,510 +1,1024 @@ - - - - -Moodle Docs: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

- -

This page contains answers to some of the most - - frequently asked questions by people installing Moodle. If you have - - followed the installation instructions but - - you still have a problem, then this page is probably the best place to be.

- -

If you don't find your answer here try the Using - - Moodle course on moodle.org. Start by searching the forums using a few keywords, - in case your problem has already been discussed. If you don't find - anything, then try posting your question into the appropriate forum - somebody will - usually be able to help you.

- -

If you have tried a number of solutions without resolving an issue, -and you are running behind a firewall, it may be advisable to try re-configuring your -firewall to ensure that it is not blocking a required function or necessary communication. -Firewalls very rarely cause problems with Moodle but are occasionally responsible for -reduced functionality due to a mis-configuration in the firewall settings. - -

Use this list to jump to the appropriate answer below:

- - - -

Whenever I try to access or view a file that I uploaded, I get an error "File not Found"

- -

PHP - is it installed and what version do I have?

- -

Why are all my pages blank?

- -

My pages show fatal errors such as : call to undefined function: get_string()

- -

Why do I keep getting error messages about "headers already sent"?

- -

I keep getting this error: Failed opening required '/web/moodle/lib/setup.php'

- -

Any text I add with an apostrophe (') or a quote (") causes errors or comes up with a slash added

- -

I keep getting error messages about session_start

- -

When I go to the admin page, I get told to make dirroot blank!

- -

I login but the login link doesn't change. I am logged in and can navigate freely.

- -

When trying to add a resource I receive error messages.

- -

During the initial setting-up process, I never get asked to create an admin account!

I can't log in at all- I just stay stuck on the login screen.

How do I backup my Moodle site?

Why doesn't my Moodle site display the - time & date correctly?

Email copies are not being sent - from my forums

- - - -

Whenever I try to access or view - - a file that I uploaded, I get an error "File not Found"

- -

For example: Not Found: The requested URL /moodle/file.php/2/myfile.jpg - - was not found on this server.

- -

Your web server needs to be configured to allow the part of - - the URL after a script name to be passed directly to the script. This is usually - - enabled in Apache 1, but is usually disabled by default in Apache 2. To turn - - it on, add this line to your httpd.conf, or to a .htaccess file in your local - - directory (see the Install documentation - - for more details):

- -

AcceptPathInfo on

- -

Note, this will ONLY work for Apache versions 2.x.

- -

If you are not using Apache 2 and you still have this problem - - (unlikely) then you can switch Moodle to use an alternative method. The disadvantages - - are a slight loss of performance for your users and you won't be able to use - - relative links within HTML resources.

- -

To use this alternative method: login as Admin, go into the - - "Configure Variables" page and change the setting for "slasharguments". - - You should now be able to access your uploaded files.

- -

- - - -

PHP - is it installed and what version - - do I have?

- -

Make a new file on your web site called info.php, containing the following - - text, and call it from your browser:

- - - -

<?PHP phpinfo() ?>

- -

If nothing happens then you don't have PHP installed. See the - - installation docs for some information about where to download it for your computer.

- -

Why are all my pages blank?

- -

Check the dirroot variable in config.php. You must use complete, - - absolute pathnames, eg:

- -

$CFG->dirroot = "d:\inetpub\sites\www.yoursite.com\web\moodle";

- -

Redhat Linux platform please see: Redhat Linux

- -

My pages show fatal errors such - - as : call to undefined function: get_string()

- -

If you see errors like:

- -

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in c:\program - - files\easyphp\www\moodle\config.php on line 94
- - Fatal error: Call to undefined function: get_string() in c:\program files\easyphp\www\moodle\mod\resource\lib.php - - on line 11

- -

then it's likely you have left out a semi-colon or ending quote - - from a line in config.php (previous to line 94).

- -

Another reason could be that you have opened config.php in a - - program like Word to edit it, and saved it as a HTML web page, instead of a - - proper text file.

- -

Why do I keep getting error messages - - about "headers already sent"?

- -

If you see errors like this:

- -

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already - - sent by (output started at /webs/moodle/config.php:87) in /webs/moodle/lib/moodlelib.php - - on line 1322

- -

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already - - sent by (output started at /webs/moodle/config.php:87) in /webs/moodle/lib/moodlelib.php - - on line 1323

- -

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already - - sent by (output started at /webs/moodle/config.php:87) in /webs/moodle/login/index.php - - on line 54

- -

You have blank lines or spaces after the final ?> in your config.php - - file. Sometimes text editors add these - for example Notepad on Windows - so - - you may have to try a different text editor to remove these spaces or blank - - lines completely.

- -

I keep getting this error: Failed - - opening required '/web/moodle/lib/setup.php'

- -

In your config.php, the setting that you use for the dirroot - - variable must be the complete path from the root of your server's hard - - drive.

- -

Sometimes people only use the path from their home directory, - - or relative to the root of the web server directory.

- -

Any text I add with an apostrophe - - (') or a quote (") causes errors or comes up with a slash added

- -

Problems caused by apostrophes are caused by incorrect "magic - - quotes" settings. Moodle requires the following settings (which are usually - - the default):

- -

magic_quotes_gpc = On
- - magic_quotes_runtime = Off

- -

See the section on webserver - configuration in the Installation docs for more details.

- - - - - - - -

I keep getting error messages about session_start

- -

If you see errors like this:

- -

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: open(/tmp\sess_d40f380d37d431fc1516e9a895ad9ce0, O_RDWR) failed: No such file or directory (2) in G:\web\moodle\lib\setup.php on line 123

- -

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: open(/tmp\sess_d40f380d37d431fc1516e9a895ad9ce0, O_RDWR) failed: No such file or directory (2) in G:\web\moodle\lib\setup.php on line 123

- -

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent (output started at G:\web\moodle\lib\setup.php:1) in G:\web\moodle\lib\setup.php on line 123

- - - -

... these are all related to the fact that PHP is failing to save - - "session" files on your hard disk (in a directory called /tmp). Usually the - - reason is that you don't HAVE a directory called /tmp on your computer. This - - is usually the case with Windows installations. - - - -

The solution is to fix the PHP setting for this path to point to a real directory. You can do this in your php.ini file:

- -

session.save_path = C:\temp

- -

or otherwise in a .htaccess file in your main moodle directory:

- -

php_value session.save_path "/home/moodle/sessions"

- - - -

When I go to the admin page, I get told to make dirroot blank!

- -

If you see errors like this in Moodle 1.0.9:

- - - - - - - - - -

Please fix your settings in config.php: - -

You have: - -

$CFG->dirroot = "/home/users/fred/public_html/moodle"; - -

but it should be: - -

$CFG->dirroot = "";

- - - -

then you have encountered a small bug that occurs on some servers. The problem is with the error-checking mechanism, not with your actual path. To fix it, find this line (line 66) in the file admin/index.php:

- -

if ($dirroot != $CFG->dirroot) {

- -

and change it to this:

- -

if (!empty($dirroot) and $dirroot != $CFG->dirroot) {

- - -

I login but don't appear to be. I am logged in and can navigate freely.

- -

Make sure the URL in your $CFG->wwwroot setting is exactly the - same as the one you are actually using to access the site.

- -

When trying to add a resource I receive error messages.

- -

Assuming you are using Apache, then it's quite likely that your - setting in config.php for $CFG->wwwroot is different from the actual URL you - are using to access the site. Also try turning off "secureforms" in the - admin settings.

- - - -

During the initial setting-up process, I never get asked to create an admin account!

- -

This is a known bug in versions of Moodle up to 1.0.9, now fixed in the main code and version 1.1.

- -

It doesn't affect all people, it only occurs when the person installing Moodle has a - cookie in their browser from another program on the same site, called "user", "admin", or "teacher".

- -

Quick fixes include deleting those cookies from your browser before installing, using a different browser, or editing the file moodle/admin/user.php to insert these lines near the top:

- -

unset($user);
unset($admin);
unset($teacher);

- -

After performing any of these fixes it might be a good idea - to drop all the tables in your database and re-install again from scratch.

- - - -

I can't log in - I just stay stuck on the login screen.

- -

The most common cause for this is that your own computer (not your Moodle server) - has a firewall that is stripping referrer information from the browser.

- -

This can be fixed for everyone using your server by editing the Moodle configuration - page and changing the variable "secureforms" to "No".

- -

Another possible cause of this problem is that sessions are - not configured properly on the server. You can test this by calling the script - http://yourserver/moodle/lib/session-test.php.

- - - -

How do I backup my whole Moodle site?

- -

There are two main things you need to make a copy of: the database and the uploaded files. The Moodle scripts themselves are less important, since you can always download a fresh copy if you have to.

- -

There are many ways to do such backups. Here is an outline of a little script you can run on Unix to backup the database (it works well to have such a script run daily via a cron task

cd /my/backup/directory

mv moodle-database.sql.gz moodle-database-old.sql.gz

mysqldump -h example.com -u myusername --password=mypassword -C -Q -e -a mydatabasename > moodle-database.sql

gzip moodle-database.sql

For the files, you can use rsync regularly to copy only the changed files to another host:

rsync -auvtz --delete -e ssh mysshusername@example.com:/my/server/directory - /my/backup/directory/

- - -

Why doesn't my Moodle site display the time & date correctly?

- -

Each language requires a specific language code (called a locale - code) to allow dates to be displayed correctly. The language packs contain default - standard codes, but sometimes these don't work on Windows servers.

You can find the correct locale codes for Windows on these two - pages: Language - codes and Country/region - codes.(eg "esp_esp" for spanish)

These new locale codes can be entered on the Admin -> Configure - -> Variables page, where they override the ones in the currently chosen language - pack.

Email copies are not being sent - from my forums

You must set up cron properly if you want Moodle - to send out automatic email from forums, journals, assignments etc. This same - process also performs a number of clean-up tasks such as deleting old unconfirmed - users, unenrolling old students and so on.

Basically, you need to set up a process to regularly call the - script http://yoursite/admin/cron.php. Please see the - section on cron in the Installation documentation.

- - - -

- -

Suggest - - a new FAQ (include the answer!)

- -

Thanks to John Eyre for helping to maintain this - - FAQ.

- -

Moodle Documentation

- -

Version: $Id: faq.html,v 1.6 2003/03/30 13:54:28 - - moodler Exp $

- - - - - - + + + + + + + + +Moodle Docs: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

+ + + +

This page contains answers to some of the most + + + + frequently asked questions by people installing Moodle. If you have + + + + followed the installation instructions but + + + + you still have a problem, then this page is probably the best place to be.

+ + + +

If you don't find your answer here try the Using + + + + Moodle course on moodle.org. Start by searching the forums using a few keywords, + + in case your problem has already been discussed. If you don't find + + anything, then try posting your question into the appropriate forum - somebody will + + usually be able to help you.

+ + + +

If you have tried a number of solutions without resolving an issue, + +and you are running behind a firewall, it may be advisable to try re-configuring your + +firewall to ensure that it is not blocking a required function or necessary communication. + +Firewalls very rarely cause problems with Moodle but are occasionally responsible for + +reduced functionality due to a mis-configuration in the firewall settings. + + + +

Use this list to jump to the appropriate answer below:

+ + + + + + + +

Whenever I try to access or view a file that I uploaded, I get an error "File not Found"

+ + + +

PHP - is it installed and what version do I have?

+ + + +

Why are all my pages blank?

+ + + +

My pages show fatal errors such as : call to undefined function: get_string()

+ + + +

Why do I keep getting error messages about "headers already sent"?

+ + + +

I keep getting this error: Failed opening required '/web/moodle/lib/setup.php'

+ + + +

Any text I add with an apostrophe (') or a quote (") causes errors or comes up with a slash added

+ + + +

I keep getting error messages about session_start

+ + + +

When I go to the admin page, I get told to make dirroot blank!

+ + + +

I login but the login link doesn't change. I am logged in and can navigate freely.

+ + + +

When trying to add a resource I receive error messages.

+ + + +

During the initial setting-up process, I never get asked to create an admin account!

+ +

I can't log in at all- I just stay stuck on the login screen.

+ +

How do I backup my Moodle site?

+ +

Why doesn't my Moodle site display the + + time & date correctly?

+ +

Email copies are not being sent + + from my forums

+ +

+ + + + + + + +

Whenever I try to access or view + + + + a file that I uploaded, I get an error "File not Found"

+ + + +

For example: Not Found: The requested URL /moodle/file.php/2/myfile.jpg + + + + was not found on this server.

+ + + +

Your web server needs to be configured to allow the part of + + + + the URL after a script name to be passed directly to the script. This is usually + + + + enabled in Apache 1, but is usually disabled by default in Apache 2. To turn + + + + it on, add this line to your httpd.conf, or to a .htaccess file in your local + + + + directory (see the Install documentation + + + + for more details):

+ + + +

AcceptPathInfo on

+ + + +

Note, this will ONLY work for Apache versions 2.x.

+ + + +

If you are not using Apache 2 and you still have this problem + + + + (unlikely) then you can switch Moodle to use an alternative method. The disadvantages + + + + are a slight loss of performance for your users and you won't be able to use + + + + relative links within HTML resources.

+ + + +

To use this alternative method: login as Admin, go into the + + + + "Configure Variables" page and change the setting for "slasharguments". + + + + You should now be able to access your uploaded files.

+ + + +

+ + + + + + + +

PHP - is it installed and what version + + + + do I have?

+ + + +

Make a new file on your web site called info.php, containing the following + + + + text, and call it from your browser:

+ + + + + + + +

<?PHP phpinfo() ?>

+ + + +

If nothing happens then you don't have PHP installed. See the + + + + installation docs for some information about where to download it for your computer.

+ + + +

Why are all my pages blank?

+ + + +

Check the dirroot variable in config.php. You must use complete, + + + + absolute pathnames, eg:

+ + + +

$CFG->dirroot = "d:\inetpub\sites\www.yoursite.com\web\moodle";

+ + + +

Redhat Linux platform please see: Redhat Linux

+ + + +

My pages show fatal errors such + + + + as : call to undefined function: get_string()

+ + + +

If you see errors like:

+ + + +

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in c:\program + + + + files\easyphp\www\moodle\config.php on line 94
+ + + + Fatal error: Call to undefined function: get_string() in c:\program files\easyphp\www\moodle\mod\resource\lib.php + + + + on line 11

+ + + +

then it's likely you have left out a semi-colon or ending quote + + + + from a line in config.php (previous to line 94).

+ + + +

Another reason could be that you have opened config.php in a + + + + program like Word to edit it, and saved it as a HTML web page, instead of a + + + + proper text file.

+ + + +

Why do I keep getting error messages + + + + about "headers already sent"?

+ + + +

If you see errors like this:

+ + + +

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already + + + + sent by (output started at /webs/moodle/config.php:87) in /webs/moodle/lib/moodlelib.php + + + + on line 1322

+ + + +

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already + + + + sent by (output started at /webs/moodle/config.php:87) in /webs/moodle/lib/moodlelib.php + + + + on line 1323

+ + + +

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already + + + + sent by (output started at /webs/moodle/config.php:87) in /webs/moodle/login/index.php + + + + on line 54

+ + + +

You have blank lines or spaces after the final ?> in your config.php + + + + file. Sometimes text editors add these - for example Notepad on Windows - so + + + + you may have to try a different text editor to remove these spaces or blank + + + + lines completely.

+ + + +

I keep getting this error: Failed + + + + opening required '/web/moodle/lib/setup.php'

+ + + +

In your config.php, the setting that you use for the dirroot + + + + variable must be the complete path from the root of your server's hard + + + + drive.

+ + + +

Sometimes people only use the path from their home directory, + + + + or relative to the root of the web server directory.

+ + + +

Any text I add with an apostrophe + + + + (') or a quote (") causes errors or comes up with a slash added

+ + + +

Problems caused by apostrophes are caused by incorrect "magic + + + + quotes" settings. Moodle requires the following settings (which are usually + + + + the default):

+ + + +

magic_quotes_gpc = On
+ + + + magic_quotes_runtime = Off

+ + + +

See the section on webserver + + configuration in the Installation docs for more details.

+ +

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

I keep getting error messages about session_start

+ + + +

If you see errors like this:

+ + + +

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: open(/tmp\sess_d40f380d37d431fc1516e9a895ad9ce0, O_RDWR) failed: No such file or directory (2) in G:\web\moodle\lib\setup.php on line 123

+ + + +

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: open(/tmp\sess_d40f380d37d431fc1516e9a895ad9ce0, O_RDWR) failed: No such file or directory (2) in G:\web\moodle\lib\setup.php on line 123

+ + + +

+ + + + + + + +

... these are all related to the fact that PHP is failing to save + + + + "session" files on your hard disk (in a directory called /tmp). Usually the + + + + reason is that you don't HAVE a directory called /tmp on your computer. This + + + + is usually the case with Windows installations. + + + + + + + +

The solution is to fix the PHP setting for this path to point to a real directory. You can do this in your php.ini file:

+ + + +

session.save_path = C:\temp

+ + + +

or otherwise in a .htaccess file in your main moodle directory:

+ + + +

php_value session.save_path "/home/moodle/sessions"

+ +

+ + + + + + + +

When I go to the admin page, I get told to make dirroot blank!

+ + + +

If you see errors like this in Moodle 1.0.9:

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Please fix your settings in config.php: + + + +

You have: + + + +

$CFG->dirroot = "/home/users/fred/public_html/moodle"; + + + +

but it should be: + + + +

$CFG->dirroot = "";

+ + + + + + + +

+ + + +

if ($dirroot != $CFG->dirroot) {

+ + + +

and change it to this:

+ + + +

if (!empty($dirroot) and $dirroot != $CFG->dirroot) {

+ +

+ + + + + +

I login but don't appear to be. I am logged in and can navigate freely.

+ + + +

Make sure the URL in your $CFG->wwwroot setting is exactly the + + same as the one you are actually using to access the site.

+ +

+ + + +

When trying to add a resource I receive error messages.

+ + + +

Assuming you are using Apache, then it's quite likely that your + + setting in config.php for $CFG->wwwroot is different from the actual URL you + + are using to access the site. Also try turning off "secureforms" in the + + admin settings.

+ +

+ + + + + + + +

During the initial setting-up process, I never get asked to create an admin account!

+ + + +

This is a known bug in versions of Moodle up to 1.0.9, now fixed in the main code and version 1.1.

+ + + +

It doesn't affect all people, it only occurs when the person installing Moodle has a + + cookie in their browser from another program on the same site, called "user", "admin", or "teacher".

+ + + +

Quick fixes include deleting those cookies from your browser before installing, using a different browser, or editing the file moodle/admin/user.php to insert these lines near the top:

+ + + +

unset($user);
unset($admin);
unset($teacher);

+ + + +

After performing any of these fixes it might be a good idea + + to drop all the tables in your database and re-install again from scratch.

+ +

+ + + + + + + +

I can't log in - I just stay stuck on the login screen.

+ + + +

The most common cause for this is that your own computer (not your Moodle server) + + has a firewall that is stripping referrer information from the browser.

+ + + +

This can be fixed for everyone using your server by editing the Moodle configuration + + page and changing the variable "secureforms" to "No".

+ + + +

Another possible cause of this problem is that sessions are + + not configured properly on the server. You can test this by calling the script + + http://yourserver/moodle/lib/session-test.php.

+ +

+ + + + + + + +

How do I backup my whole Moodle site?

+ + + +

There are two main things you need to make a copy of: the database and the uploaded files. The Moodle scripts themselves are less important, since you can always download a fresh copy if you have to.

+ + + +

There are many ways to do such backups. Here is an outline of a little script you can run on Unix to backup the database (it works well to have such a script run daily via a cron task

+ +

cd /my/backup/directory

+ +

mv moodle-database.sql.gz moodle-database-old.sql.gz

+ +

mysqldump -h example.com -u myusername --password=mypassword -C -Q -e -a mydatabasename > moodle-database.sql

+ +

gzip moodle-database.sql

+ +

For the files, you can use rsync regularly to copy only the changed files to another host:

+ +

rsync -auvtz --delete -e ssh mysshusername@example.com:/my/server/directory + + /my/backup/directory/

+ +

+ + + + + +

Why doesn't my Moodle site display the time & date correctly?

+ + + +

Each language requires a specific language code (called a locale + + code) to allow dates to be displayed correctly. The language packs contain default + + standard codes, but sometimes these don't work on Windows servers.

+ +

You can find the correct locale codes for Windows on these two + + pages: Language + + codes and Country/region + + codes.(eg "esp_esp" for spanish)

+ +

These new locale codes can be entered on the Admin -> Configure + + -> Variables page, where they override the ones in the currently chosen language + + pack.

+ +

Email copies are not being sent + + from my forums

+ +

You must set up cron properly if you want Moodle + + to send out automatic email from forums, journals, assignments etc. This same + + process also performs a number of clean-up tasks such as deleting old unconfirmed + + users, unenrolling old students and so on.

+ +

Basically, you need to set up a process to regularly call the + + script http://yoursite/admin/cron.php. Please see the + + section on cron in the Installation documentation.

+ +

Tip: Try the default setting in Moodle variables page. Leave the smtphost blank. + +This will acceptable for the majority of users. + +

+ +

+ + + + + + + +

+ + + +

Suggest + + + + a new FAQ (include the answer!)

+ + + +

Thanks to John Eyre for helping to maintain this + + + + FAQ.

+ + + +

Moodle Documentation

+ + + +

Version: $Id: faq.html,v 1.6 2003/03/30 13:54:28 + + + + moodler Exp $

+ + + + + + + + + + + + +