Hi Guys,
I am new here in Moodle and I am the server guy in our school and I wanted to propose this Moodle for use of our school as I think that this could give a massive improvement in our leaning community.
I have a new HP server and I installed the following
Windows Server 2003
MSSQLExpress 2005
IIS 6.0
Apache 2.2
PHP 5.2.8
But I can't make it work. I am seeking guidelines for concerned guys out there. The thing is we are a school with 1600 population and we wanted to have this Moodle.
Can anyone advise me the recommended setup for Moodle that can suit the needs of our school.
Which web server is better to use? Apache 2.2 or the IIS 6.0?
MSSQL Express or MySQL?
I followed the instructions in moodlewindows.za.net but I found myself going in circles.
I tried using the PHP 5.2.8 with IIS but when I browse the site it only displayed "Service Unavailable" but when I tried to use PHP 5.2.8 with Apache 2.2 it gave me much more display. I can browse the install.php of Moodle but the problem is in the summary, it uses MySQL which I don't know where it is from.
Will appreciate your help very much.
Thanks,
If you want a book on the subject Moodle Administration is a good solid introduction that covers most of what you need to know about running Moodle.
However, for more immediate answers to specific questions, the Administrator documentation on Moodle Docs is probably the way to go.
Getting PHP to 'talk to' MS SQL is a bit of a pain, but there are instructions at Installing_MSSQL_for_PHP. I don't think it would be a good idea to run a real installation on, but if you are just setting up a test site, it is probably OK.
MySQL is an alternative, free (open source) database. You can download it from http://www.mysql.com/.
(Of course, Postgres is a much better open source database, but now is probalby not the time to get into that debate.)
You ask about recommended setup. It is a two-part answer. The most commone setup is Linux+Apache+MySQL+PHP, so other things being equal, if you go with that you are more mainstream. On the other hand, lots of poeple do run on the variants (Windows or MacOS X, IIS or lighthttpd, Postgres or MS SQL), so if you are more familiar with administering those systems, then your greater expertise is probably more valuable than a mainstream choice of platform. So, go with what you know, and where you don't know, pick the most common option.
However, for more immediate answers to specific questions, the Administrator documentation on Moodle Docs is probably the way to go.
Getting PHP to 'talk to' MS SQL is a bit of a pain, but there are instructions at Installing_MSSQL_for_PHP. I don't think it would be a good idea to run a real installation on, but if you are just setting up a test site, it is probably OK.
MySQL is an alternative, free (open source) database. You can download it from http://www.mysql.com/.
(Of course, Postgres is a much better open source database, but now is probalby not the time to get into that debate.)
You ask about recommended setup. It is a two-part answer. The most commone setup is Linux+Apache+MySQL+PHP, so other things being equal, if you go with that you are more mainstream. On the other hand, lots of poeple do run on the variants (Windows or MacOS X, IIS or lighthttpd, Postgres or MS SQL), so if you are more familiar with administering those systems, then your greater expertise is probably more valuable than a mainstream choice of platform. So, go with what you know, and where you don't know, pick the most common option.
The weakest link in your setup is SQL Express. If you have to use a MS database then it's best to use one of the "non-Express" versions, i.e. the Standard or Enterprise versions. Otherwise, if you have the luxury of choice, you should consider using MySQL or Postgres - there are big expensive cost implications when you use one of the "non-Express" versions of MS SQL. I would never use SQL Express for an application like Moodle - not on production at least. After a while scalability issues will come back and bite you. Example, with SQL Express your databases can, I believe, only be up to 4 GB in size and you're restricted to 1GB ram. With the OS databases you don't have those stupid restrictions.
If you can, and you have the IT people with the right skills, go with Apache for the web server and MySQL or Postgres for the database. As Tim said, getting PHP to 'talk to' MS SQL is a pain in the beginning (you have to use third party drivers like FreeTDS, etc.)
Apache and MySQL/Postgres is not within the scope of the moodlewindows.za.net guide - moodlewindows is only for those of us who are stuck on the MS platform. Where did you get lost in the moodlewindows guide?
Hi,
Get the Moodle windows installation package, the "MoodleWindowsInstaller-latest...." form the download area.
This package contains everything that you need to run Moodle on a windows installation. You don't need to download or install anything other than this.
Now uninstall all the PHP goodies that you have installed earlier, as it may cause conflicts. don't worry about the MS SQL, you can just leave that as is, it won't cause any conflicts.
If you still cant get Moodle to run on the server, go take a look at what is running on the server that may be using port 80. If IIS is running, you should turn that off, as it will conflict with moodle's apache. Skype should also be set to use a port other than port 80. (or any other communication tools that may be running on the server)
Get the Moodle windows installation package, the "MoodleWindowsInstaller-latest...." form the download area.
This package contains everything that you need to run Moodle on a windows installation. You don't need to download or install anything other than this.
Now uninstall all the PHP goodies that you have installed earlier, as it may cause conflicts. don't worry about the MS SQL, you can just leave that as is, it won't cause any conflicts.
If you still cant get Moodle to run on the server, go take a look at what is running on the server that may be using port 80. If IIS is running, you should turn that off, as it will conflict with moodle's apache. Skype should also be set to use a port other than port 80. (or any other communication tools that may be running on the server)
After I downloaded the package what am I gonna do next? I tried to follow the windows installation from moodlewindows.za.net and I get stuck on php. I couln't make it run.
I uninstall all the things that I did and finally came up to install mysql, php(msi package) and Apache 2.2 in my windows server
This will be used in our school that has 1600 students and 300 teachers. Is the current setup that I did could support the school in a long run? Do you have any advices on what is the best setup for us? I am really new here and I don't know if setups varies on the number of users.
Thanks for the reply anyway. Really appreciate it.
MDO,
- How far did you get in setting up PHP in following moodlewindows? There are 12 steps on that page. What exactly happened when you tried to "make it work"? How did you try?
- According to Installing Moodle#How_many_users.3F, the main thing the number of users influences is the amount of memory you will need. In your case, you will need about 8 GB of RAM.
- For what to do next, see Installing AMP, Installing Moodle.
- The easiest installation of Moodle on Windows is the XAMPPlite-based Windows Complete Package but this is only for testing, learning to use Moodle, development etc. DO NOT USE IT ON YOU SERVER for security reasons!