Hi Tim, going off topic a little, I developed a very simple system for a cd we're giving away at the BETT show:
- Install moodle on your local pc using Moodle for Windows, based on xampp (not a version based on easyPHP). OR
use xampp / xampplite to create your own installation [which is what I did]. - All of the files needed should be in a single folder. When I did this with xampplite, the default is the folder C:\xampplite
- Add the courses you want to distribute to moodle, in the usual manner.
- Zip the file - I used 7zip to create a self expanding archive.
The resulting file can be distributed; when you launch it, it asks you where you want it installed - this needs to be the same location as it came from - I used C:\ as this is the path of least resistance. Eventually, I'll look into something more flexible.
I will post a copy of the file I did for the BETT show, but I was having ftp grief when I last tried!
Alternatively, there are versions based on live cd's: have a look at Maik Riecken's ideas at http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=31311
I also experimented with PClinuxOS. This is a very very smooth livecd version of linux, designed for / containing a script to customise and distribute as your own live linux cd. Note, I never completed it due to time issues, so here's a challenge....
You basically install the linux to your pc and customise it until it does what you want, keeping the total size less than about 1.9 Gb (for a cd; you can make larger, live dvd's) and installing extras (e.g. the necessary servers and moodle); then run a script to create a cd iso image file; burn that to your disk, and voila, a live cd, potentially with moodle content. It's a nice version of linux for newcomers, too.
To install moodle with content, you would need to:
- Do a fresh install of pclinux OS
- Customise linux and remove packages that are not relevant, e.g user applications, games, etc. [In my 1st attempt, I removed something that stopped X - Windows launching, so you may need to jump to step 7 and make a test live cd at this point - CD-RW's are a good idea here]
- Install and launch apache/mysql/php - again xampp is good for this.
- Do what configuration is needed to launch these when it boots. [Don't ask me though...]; alternatively rely on the user starting them themself.
- Install moodle and your course material; test it all.
- Now here's what foulled my last attempt. I installed xampp to /opt/lampp; in the live cd version, this becomes /union/opt/lampp, so you will need to edit moodle/config.php for the document root and data root to have the correct path name for these folders as they would appear in the live cd. Note, this is where I ran out of time, but I'm sure it can be done.
- Run mklivecd to create the iso file, burn to disk, boot your pc, launch a browser, and hopefully look at your moodle content in localhost.
Can anyone else make this one work? Would make a nice tool for distributing content or promoting moodle.
Andy D
