Hi,
I request help in setting up SharePoint 2010 as the WebDAV repository for Moodle v1.9.9. This is to ensure that the files uploaded in Moodle are stored in SharePoint 2010 along with keywords and versioning.
I would appreciate if you anybody can suggest any pointers in this regard.
Anyone tried (a variation) of this with Moodle 2.x and SharePoint 2010 ?
e.g.
1. Followed the first part (Step 1) of the Microsoft Education Labs white paper to create a SharePoint document library (or libraries) with a WebDAV interface
2. Use the new Moodle 2.x WebDAV repository inteface to add the SharePoint document library (or libraries) as the Site-wide (Course-wide? or User private?) instances.
Settings >> Site administration >> Plugins >> Repositories
Cheers
Geoffrey, I had a look at WebDav as it was developed for Moodle 1.9 but left as it seemed a little bit too complicated to install/configure, waiting for Moodle 2.x where it was promised to be integrated ready to use.
Now I have a test server for 2.x and a lot of doubts about the user-friendlyness of the new file and repository system. I think you commented also in the same thread where I mentioned my point of view of a systems administrator.
I would like to know whether I can integrate WebDav to every users personal home drive located on a windows-file-server. There is really no use if I could configure only ONE WebDav-Repository where more than thousand teachers would have to keep their files only to be able to upload them comfortably to Moodle.
This has to be solved/offered on a personal basis for every teacher otherwise I do not see any advantages of a repository. Common repositories may be interesting for little schools with a reasonable number of teachers. But it's for certain no easy to use solution for universities with thousands of teachers. Besides the WebDav to personal server-drives there should also be a possibility to configure other server-drives for teams of teachers who work together in one or more courses.
P.S. did you have a look at my new siteNavigation and myCourses Blocks? They offer popUp-Windows now and enhanced speed. But only for 1.9.x as 2.x has a good navigation block already built in and dockable to gain speed by loading the navigation tree only once per user session and not on every course page - roughly the same behaviour I achieve with my popUp-windows now.
Rosario
Hi Rosario
I have been looking at both SharePoint and Alfresco as possible Moodle 2 repositories. So far, I have made most progress with Alfresco, as it is under my direct administrative control, though am also interested in getting SharePoint to work as it is our 'official' institutional repository. I have used both the Moodle 2 Alfresco repository/filepicker and the WebDAV repository/filepicker to successfully connect to Alfresco.
As I see it, WebDAV can be used in two ways:
1. to Connect Moodle 2 to a WebDAV repository. This WeDAV repository could be any system with a WebDAV interface, Alfresco, SharePoint, ePrints, Documentum, MediaWiki... etc. In this way Moodle 2 users could use the WebDAV repository/filepicker to copy or link to resources in the repository.
In the case of Alfresco, an alternative connection can be made via the Moodle Alfresco repository interface. A repository interface for SharePoint is also under development.
2. to connect users 'client' file-sytems to the WebDAV repository. Users would not (necessarily) have to directly interact with the repository (Alfresco, SharePoint etc) at all. Just add content to a specific folder on their filesystem/desktop. This folder would be mapped, via WebDAV, to their repository space and so content would be immediately accessible to the Moodle 2 file picker.
To try to answer your questions comments
...a little bit too complicated to install/configure.
In my experience, Alfresco is a bit fiddly to install/configure and the documentation for the free community version is somewhat spartan. Java Tomcat stuff is a bit different to the LAMP stack I'm used to for running Moodle. However, the latest Alfresco installation bundle (3.4.d) makes this somewhat easier. Once installed the WebDAV interface works out-of-the-box.
Although I don't have direct experience of setting up SharePoint, it is also supposed to be straightforward to set up a WebDAV interface.
This has to be solved/offered on a personal basis for every teacher...
Agreed. Alfresco can be tied to the same authentication system as Moodle (e.g. AD/LDAP) and 'User Home' folders/spaces for users can be automatically generated from AD/LDAP synchronisation. Alfresco gives WebDAV access to these spaces 'out-of-the-box'. So teachers can easily add content from these spaces (and hence via 2 above a desktop folder)
This works well for copying resources to a Moodle 2 course.
Linking to resources is more problematic, as all users in the Moodle course need access/viewing permissions in the repository (Alfresco, SharePoint etc). So, the repository space will need to be 'public' or more sophisticated ways of managing and coordinating permissions between the repository and Moodle will be required.
I suspect that the Edu-Sharing and Elis systems may also offer this sort of functionality, though I have not tried these as, currently, they require older versions of Alfresco.
There is really no use if I could configure only ONE WebDav-Repository...
Agreed. As I hope I have made clear above, Alfresco has one WebDAV interface but can contain multiple spaces owned by different users and groups of users. I'm hoping SharePoint can do much the same.
I would emphasise that I am not following the model proposed in the Microsoft white-paper for integrating Moodle 1.9 and SharePoint which has a single SharePoint Document Library replacing Moodlefiles. Just using the same WebDAV interface/protocol.
...a possibility to configure other server-drives for teams of teachers...
In Alfresco, it is easy to manually create/configure spaces owned by groups of users. It is also possible to automate this through AD/LDAP groups. Again, Elis and Edu-Sharing may have additional capabilities to do this. Again. I hope SharePoint can do the same.
As you can see, I have been focusing on Moodle 2 recently, but I will certainly take a look at your updated navigation blocks as we'll still be running Moodle 1.9 alongside Moodle 2 for the next academic year.
Cheers
Geoff
Thanks a lot. Everything makes sense but there is one point I do not understand or if a do understand, it can not be achieved:
>>
Agreed. Alfresco can be tied to the same authentication system as Moodle (e.g. AD/LDAP) and 'User Home' folders/spaces for users can be automatically generated from AD/LDAP synchronisation. Alfresco gives WebDAV access to these spaces 'out-of-the-box'. So teachers can easily add content from these spaces (and hence via 2 above a desktop folder)
>>
So suppose we have already windows-servers with windows (cifs/samba) server shares, where every teacher gets TWO server-volumes mapped on his windows or apple macintosh desktop automatically when logging in.
Now the best solution for me would be to connect these two server volumes by WEBDav or FTP or any other protocol directly with Moodle, so that the teachers would have only ONE personal repository for their private files and a SECOND repository where all the teachers of one university or department work together being able to share data per course in which they teach in teams or groups.
Unfortunately I do not know those webspaces because at the moment being, our university offers the whole infrastructure on itself, which implies we have not to go through third party offers or equipments. Otherwise we could start oursourcing everything.
I assume also, that in a windows server infrastructure with Active Directory controlling accounts and user access permissions, the SharePoint-Server could become something superseding the server-shares we already have. So setting up the SharePoint-Server could "inherit" everything and permit a WEBDAV connection directly to Moodle's WEBDAV-Repository.
So this could be my solution, to keep everything inhouse. But I do not know if Moodle offers exactly what I want, if I can set up Moodle's Repository to be fed with every teachers personal home share and departement share or if - what I rather fear - I can set up only - statically - a certain number of Repositories offered to all teachers in the file-picker:
a) indipendently of their access-permissions on the mentioned server shares
b) with no personal mapping on a per user or group/team basis
And there is the whole mentioned discussion with multiple linking of the files into different resources and courses and copying of the files into Moodle's file system to complete the whole mess, if teachers start to upload different versions of the same file and link/copy it into different resources (as we discuss in the new file system thread).
So I think we are still far away from:
As our Moodle runs on a SUSE Linux box I could very simply mount the user's private home and departement/team windows shares by a samba mount, not even needing FTP or WEBDAV at all. In this case Moodle should only permit to pass the user's credentials to the underlying Linux-Samba-File-System and present the user's two shares in the File-Picker as his Repositories. I do not need more. May be it is too simple and nobody thought about it because webspaces and webrepositories have become very handy and in these days.
If I have time, I will have to study the Moodle-Code and see whether I or a more skilled Linux/Moodle Programmer could write that code.
Rosario
