Install Moodle 4.3 on Ubuntu 23.10

Moodle, an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is a robust open-source platform designed to facilitate online learning and course management. Developed by Martin Dougiamas in 2002, Moodle has evolved into one of the most widely used Learning Management Systems (LMS) globally.

Whether you are an educator, administrator, or learner, Moodle offers a robust and flexible environment for creating and participating in online courses. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install Moodle 4.3 with the following specifications:

·         Virtual Cloud Server: 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB Storage

·         Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

·         Subdomain: admission.sherubtse.edu.bt

·         SSL: Let’s Encrypt

·         Web Server: Apache

·         PHP: PHP v8.2

·         Database: MariaDB v10.6

·         Moodle: Moodle v4.3.2

 

Step 1: update system packages

            sandip@admission:~# sudo apt update

            sandip@admission:~# sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install dependencies – install the required dependencies for Moodle, Apache web server, PHP and MariaDB database:

sandip@admission:~# sudo apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-mbstring php-curl php-tokenizer php-xmlrpc php-soap php-zip php-gd php-xml php-intl mariadb-server -y

 Open the php.ini configuration files:

            sandip@admission:~# sudo vim /etc/php/8.2/apache2/php.ini

Note:  Some ubuntu doesn’t have preinstalled vim editor. To download vim use the command: apt install vim

 Activate and configure the following settings:

            Max_input_vars = 5000

 

Step 3: Create a Database

Log in to MariaDB

            sandip@admission:~# mysql

Creating a database for Moodle:

>CREATE DATABASE database_name;

>GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON database_name.* TO ‘vle’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘password’;

>FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

> EXIT

 

Step 4: Download Moodle – download Moodle v4.3.2 from https://download.moodle.org:

sandip@admission:~# sudo wget https://packaging.moodle.org/stable403/moodle-4.3.2.tgz

 

Extract moodle-4.3.2.tgz:

            sandip@admission:~# sudo tar xzvf moodle-4.3.2.tgz

Move the moodle directory to /var/www/sherubtse_vle/moodle-app:

sandip@admission:~#  mkdir /var/www/sherubtse_vle
sandip@admission:~#  mv moodle /var/www/sherubtse_vle/moodle-app

 Create the moodle-data directory

            sandip@admission:~#  mkdir /var/www/sherubtse_vle/moodle-data

 Change user-group and permissions for the sherubtse_vle directory

            sandip@admission:~# chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/sherubtse_vle

 

Step 5: Configure Virtual Host

Create a virtual host configuration for the subdomain admission.sherubtse.edu.bt:

sandip@admission:~# sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/sherubtse_vle.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName admission.sherubtse.edu.bt
    DocumentRoot /var/www/sherubtse_vle/moodle-app
    <Directory /var/www/sherubtse_vle/moodle-app>
        Options -Indexes +FollowSymLinks +MultiViews
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/sherubtse_vle_error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/apache2/sherubtse_vle_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the rewrite module, virtual host and restart Apache:

            sandip@admission:~# sudo a2enmod rewrite

            sandip@admission:~# sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

            sandip@admission:~# sudo a2ensite sherubtse_vle

            sandip@admission:~# sudo systemctl restart apache2

check the status of the UFW firewall:

            sandip@admission:~# sudo ufw enable

            sandip@admission:~# sudo ufw status

 

If UFW is active, allow HTTP and HTTPS

            sandip@admission:~# sudo ufw allow http

            sandip@admission:~# sudo ufw allow https

 Browse the subdomain to test whether Moodle is accessible:

Step 7: Web installation

Continue the installation in the web browser. Choose the language, for example English (en), and then click the Next.

Enter the path for the Moodle Data directory, which is /var/www/sherubtse_vle/moodle-data, then click the Next:

Database driver, choose MariaDB (native/mariadb), then click Next.

Enter database settings. Input Database name, Database user, and Database password. Then click Next:

Copyright notice, click Continue to confirm.

Checking if the server environment meets all the requirements. Click Continue if everything is OK:

The installation is in progress, click Continue when it’s finished:

Creating an admin account, then click Update profile.

Configure Site home settings, then click Save changes:

Congratulations! We have successfully installed Moodle 4.3 on Ubuntu 22.04. Let’s explore the platform’s features, customize our courses, and embark on a journey of seamless online learning with Moodle.

Reference:

                https://vle.sherubtse.edu.bt/