From 6ecde2bef32984d07444f593e598623da07009d0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: gustav_delius Date: Sat, 8 May 2004 22:09:46 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] replaced very old install.html with current version from lang/en/doc. I guess this is duplicated here to make it easier to find for people? --- doc/install.html | 803 +++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------- 1 file changed, 421 insertions(+), 382 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/install.html b/doc/install.html index 34e5232332..2716a0d69c 100755 --- a/doc/install.html +++ b/doc/install.html @@ -1,382 +1,421 @@ - - Moodle Docs: Installation - - - - -

Installing Moodle

This guide explains how to install Moodle for the first time. It goes into some detail - about some of the steps, in order to cover the wide variety of small differences between - web server setups, so this document may look long and complicated. Don't be put off by this - - I usually set Moodle up in a few minutes!

Take your time and work through this document carefully - it will save you time later on.

Sections in this document:

Requirements
Download
Site structure
Create a data directory
Create a database
Check web server settings
Edit config.php
Go to the admin page
Set up cron
Create a new course

1. Requirements

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Moodle is primarily developed in Linux using PHP, Apache and MySQL, and regularly - tested with PostgreSQL and in Windows XP and Mac OS X environments.
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All you should need are:
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a working installation of PHP (version - 4.1.0 or later), with the following features enabled (most PHP installations - these days will have all of these): -
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JPEG and/or PNG image editing support via the GD library
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Sessions support
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File uploading allowed
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a working database server: MySQL or PostgreSQL are recommended. (MSSQL, Oracle, Interbase, Foxpro, Access, ADO, Sybase, DB2 or ODBC are also theoretically supported but will require you to manually set up the database tables).
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On a Windows platform, the quickest way to satisfy these requirements is - to download FoxServ, - or EasyPHP which will install Apache, - PHP, and MySQL for you. Make sure you enable the GD module so Moodle can process - images - you may have to edit php.ini and remove the comment (;) from this - line: 'extension=php_gd.dll'.
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On Mac OS X I highly recommend the fink - project as a way to download easily-maintainable packages for all of this.
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If you're on Linux or another Unix then I'll assume you can figure all this out for yourself! ;-)
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2. Download

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There are two ways to get Moodle, as a compressed package and via CVS. These - are explained in detail on the download page on http://moodle.com/
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After downloading and unpacking the archive, or checking out the files via - CVS, you will be left with a directory called "moodle", containing - a number of files and folders.
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You can either place the whole folder in your web server documents directory, - in which case the site will be located at http://yourwebserver.com/moodle, - or you can copy all the contents straight into the main web server documents - directory, in which case the site will be simply http://yourwebserver.com.
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3. Site structure

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Here is a quick summary of the contents of the Moodle folder, to help get - you oriented:
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config.php - the only file you need to edit to get started
- version.php - defines the current version of Moodle code
- index.php - the front page of the site
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admin/ - code to administrate the whole server
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auth/ - plugin modules to authenticate users
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course/ - code to display and manage courses
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doc/ - help documentation for Moodle (eg this page)
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files/ - code to display and manage uploaded files
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lang/ - texts in different languages, one directory per language
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lib/ - libraries of core Moodle code
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login/ - code to handle login and account creation
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mod/ - all Moodle course modules
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pix/ - generic site graphics
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theme/ - theme packs/skins to change the look of the site.
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user/ - code to display and manage users
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4. Create a data directory

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Moodle will also need some space on your hard disk to store uploaded files, - such as course documents and user pictures.
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Create a directory for this purpose somewhere. For security, it's best that - this directory is NOT accessible directly via the web. The easiest way to do this - is to simply locate it OUTSIDE the web directory, otherwise protect it - by creating a file in the data directory called .htaccess, containing this line: -
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deny from all
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To make sure that Moodle can save uploaded files in this directory, check that - the web server software (eg Apache) has permission to write - to this directory. On Unix machines, this means setting the owner of the directory - to be something like "nobody" or "apache".
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On many shared hosting servers, you will probably need to restrict all file access - to your "group" (to prevent other webhost customers from looking at or changing your files), - but provide full read/write access to everyone else (which will allow the web server - to access your files). Speak to your server administrator if you are having - trouble setting this up securely.
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5. Create a database

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You need to create an empty database (eg "moodle") in your database system - along with a special user (eg "moodleuser") that has access to that database - (and that database only). You could use the "root" user if you wanted to, but - this is not recommended for a production system: if hackers manage to discover - the password then your whole database system would be at risk, rather than - just one database. -
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Example command lines for MySQL:
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-   # mysql -u root -p
-   > CREATE DATABASE moodle; 
-   > GRANT SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE,CREATE,DROP,INDEX,ALTER ON moodle.* 
-           TO moodleuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword'; 
-   > quit 
-   # mysqladmin -p reload
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Example command lines for PostgreSQL:
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-   # su - postgres
-   > psql -c "create user moodleuser createdb;" template1
-   > psql -c "create database moodle;" -U moodleuser template1
-   > psql -c "alter user moodleuser nocreatedb;" template1
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(For MySQL I highly recommend the use of phpMyAdmin - to manage your databases).
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As of version 1.0.8, Moodle now supports table prefixes, and so can safely share - a database with tables from other applications.
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6. Check your web server settings

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Firstly, make sure that your web server is set up to use index.php as a default - page (perhaps in addition to index.html, default.htm and so on).
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In Apache, this is done using a DirectoryIndex parameter in your httpd.conf - file. Mine usually looks like this:
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DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm 
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Just make sure index.php is in the list (and preferably towards the start - of the list, for efficiency).
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Secondly, 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, some PHP servers (and some of the more recent PHP versions) may - have things set differently. These are defined in PHP's configuration - file (usually called php.ini):
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file_uploads = 1
-magic_quotes_gpc = 1
-short_open_tag = 1
-session.auto_start = 0
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If you don't have access to httpd.conf or php.ini on your server, or you - have Moodle on a server with other applications that require different - settings, then you can OVERRIDE all of the default settings. - -
To do this, you need to create a file called .htaccess in Moodle's - main directory that contains definitions for these settings. - This only works on Apache servers and only when Overrides have been allowed. -
-DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm
-php_value magic_quotes_gpc 1
-php_value file_uploads 1
-php_value short_open_tag 1
-php_value session.auto_start 0
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You can also do things like define the maximum size for uploaded files: -
-php_value upload_max_filesize 2M
-php_value post_max_size 2M
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The easiest thing to do is just copy the sample file from lib/htaccess - and edit it to suit your needs. It contains further instructions. For - example, in a Unix shell: -
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cp lib/htaccess .htaccess
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7. Edit config.php

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Now you can edit the configuration file, config.php, using a - text editor. This file is used by all other files in Moodle.
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To start with, make a copy of config-dist.php and call it config.php. We - do this so that your config.php won't be overwritten in case you upgrade Moodle - later on.
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Edit config.php to specify the database details that you just defined (including - a table prefix - notice this is REQUIRED for PostgreSQL), as - well as the site address, file system directory and data directory. - The config file has detailed directions.
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For the rest of this installation document we will assume your site is at: - http://example.com/moodle
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8. Go to the admin page

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The admin page should now be working at: http://example.com/moodle/admin. - If you try and access the front page of your site you'll be taken there automatically - anyway. The first time you access this admin page, you will be presented with - a GPL agreement with which you need to agree before you can continue with the setup.
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(Moodle will also try to set some cookies in your browser. If you have - your browser set up to let you choose to accept cookies, then you must - accept the Moodle cookies, or Moodle won't work properly.) -
Now Moodle will start setting up your database and creating tables to store data. - Firstly, the main database tables are created. You should see a number of SQL statements followed by - status messages (in green or red) that look like this:
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CREATE TABLE course ( id int(10) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment, category - int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0', password varchar(50) NOT NULL default - '', fullname varchar(254) NOT NULL default '', shortname varchar(15) NOT - NULL default '', summary text NOT NULL, format tinyint(4) NOT NULL default - '1', teacher varchar(100) NOT NULL default 'Teacher', startdate int(10) - unsigned NOT NULL default '0', enddate int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default - '0', timemodified int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0', PRIMARY KEY (id)) - TYPE=MyISAM
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SUCCESS
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...and so on, followed by: Main databases set up - successfully.
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If you don't see these, then there must have been some problem with the database - or the configuration settings you defined in config.php. Check that PHP isn't - in a restricted "safe mode" (commercial web hosts often have safe mode turned - on). You can check PHP variables by creating a little file containing <? - phpinfo() ?> and looking at it through a browser. Check all these and try - this page again.
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Scroll down the very bottom of the page and press the "Continue" - link.
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Next you will see a similar page that sets up all the tables required by - each Moodle module. As before, they should all be green.
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Scroll down the very bottom of the page and press the "Continue" - link.
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You should now see a form where you can define more configuration variables - for your installation, such as the default language, SMTP hosts and so on. - Don't worry too much about getting everything right just now - you can always - come back and edit these later on using the admin interface. Scroll down - to the bottom and click "Save changes".
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If (and only if) you find yourself getting stuck on this page or the next - page, unable to continue, then your server probably has what I call the - "buggy referrer" problem. This is easy to fix: just edit - your config.php and set the variable buggy_referrer to true, then - try the page again.
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The next page is a form where you can define parameters for your Moodle site and the - front page, such as the name, format, description and so on. - - Fill this out (you can always go back and change these later) and then press - "Save changes".
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Finally, you will then be asked to create a top-level administration user - for future access to the admin pages. Fill out the details with your own name, - email etc and then click "Save changes". Not all the fields are - required, but if you miss any important fields you'll be re-prompted for them. -
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Make sure you remember the username and password you chose - for the administration user account, as they will be necessary to - access the administration page in future.
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Once successful, you will be returned to the main admin page, which contain - a number of links arranged in a menu (these items also appear on the home - page when you are logged in as the admin user). All your further administration - of Moodle can now be done using this menu, such as:
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creating and deleting courses
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creating and editing user accounts
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administering teacher accounts
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changing site-wide settings like themes etc
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9. Set up cron

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Some of Moodle's modules require continual checks to perform tasks. For example, - Moodle needs to check the discussion forums so it can mail out copies of posts - to people who have subscribed.
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The script that does all this is located in the admin directory, and is called - cron.php. However, it can not run itself, so you need to set up a mechanism - where this script is run regularly (eg every five minutes). This provides - a "heartbeat" so that the script can perform functions at periods - defined by each module.
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Note that the machine performing the cron does not need to be the same - machine that is running Moodle. For example, if you have a limited web hosting - service that does not have cron, then you can might choose to run cron on another - server or on your home computer. All that matters is that the cron.php file is - called every five minutes or so.
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First, test that the script works by running it directly from your browser:
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http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php
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Now, you need to set up some of way of running the script automatically and - regularly.
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Running the script from a command line
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You can call the page from the command line just as you did in the example - above. For example, you can use a Unix utility like 'wget':
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wget -q -O /dev/null http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php
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Note in this example that the output is thrown away (to /dev/null).
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The same thing using lynx:
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lynx -dump http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php > /dev/null
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Alternatively you could use a standalone version of PHP, compiled to be run - on the command line. The advantage with doing this is that your web server - logs aren't filled with constant requests to cron.php. The disadvantage is - that you need to have access to a command-line version of php.
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/opt/bin/php /web/moodle/admin/cron.php
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-(Windows) C:\apache\php\php.exe C:\apache\htdocs\moodle\admin\cron.php
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Automatically running the script every 5 minutes
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On Unix systems: Use cron. Edit your cron settings from the commandline - using "crontab -e" and add a line like:
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*/5 * * * * wget -q -O /dev/null http://example.com/moodle/admin/cron.php
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On Windows systems: The simplest way is to use my package moodle-cron-for-windows.zip - which makes this whole thing very easy. You can also explore using the built-in - Windows feature for "Scheduled Tasks".
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10. Create a new course

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Now that Moodle is running properly, you can create a course.
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Select "Create a new course" from the Admin page (or the admin - links on the home page).
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Fill out the form, paying special attention to the course format. You don't - have to worry about the details too much at this stage, as everything can - be changed later by the teacher.
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Press "Save changes", and you will be taken to a new form where - you can assign teachers to the course. You can only add existing user accounts - from this form - if you want to create a new teacher account then either ask - the teacher to create one for themselves (see the login page), or create one - for them using the "Add a new user" on the Admin page.
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Once done, the course is ready to customise, and is accessible via the "Courses" - link on the home page.
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See the "Teacher Manual" for more details - on course-building.
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Moodle Documentation

Version: $Id$

- - + + +Moodle Docs: Installation + + + + + + + +