Upgrading

Upgrading

by Rob Wallace -
Number of replies: 7

I know I will take criticism for this post, but I'm at the point where I need help so try not to judge me.

I installed a version of Moodle many moons ago (version 1.6.1) but desperately need to upgrade some of it for security reasons. I really enjoy the layout and function of this old version. I did try an install of a newer version about two years ago but didn't like it. However, I would like to stop the spam accounts that plague my user accounts and I would like to use the Powerschool plugin to upload marks. So I have a challenge.

How do I upgrade the internal part without changing the simple interface of 1.6.1? Is that even possible?



On a side note, I tried to install the latest version onto my site in a test directory to see if I could manage it. I use Softaculous to install it. But when I try to access it, I get this error:

Warning: Unexpected character in input: '\' (ASCII=92) state=1 in /home/vicnewme/public_html/test/index.php on line 218

Warning: Unexpected character in input: '\' (ASCII=92) state=1 in /home/vicnewme/public_html/test/index.php on line 218

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/vicnewme/public_html/test/index.php on line 218

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Rob Wallace

Re: Upgrading

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

You just need to upgrade and learn to appreciate the new stuff - in essence it hasn't changed so much. You can't just change "the internal part". Make sure you read the documentation. It may be simplest to install 2.9 and start from scratch to be honest. 

Your error is because the version of PHP you have on your server is too old for the version of Moodle you have installed. You need at least PHP 5.4.4 (preferably 5.5.something).

PS. I have no idea why you expect to be criticised. This forum is here to help people who are stuck wink

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Rob Wallace

Re: Upgrading

by Emma Richardson -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers

Howard is correct.  This error normally shows up when the php version is not compatible.  It is possible that your host has a higher version and you just need to switch to it.  You would be much better off to install manually than to use an installer program as it would give you full control over the installation and you would not have to deal with any added "stuff" that the installer does to your install.

As to upgrading from 1.6, it is going to be a long process.  There are several interim steps that you need to go through.  If you can get it to 1.9 then you could export your courses and import them into your new installation which might be the best way overall.  Someone might correct me, but I think that you have to be on 1.9 or later to import courses into the newer versions and you cannot import the users that way, just the course content.

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Emma Richardson

Re: Upgrading

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

I can't honestly remember but, even so, it's a good idea. It's tricky enough as it is restoring from 1.9 and the latest 1.9.19 will give the best chance. 

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Upgrading

by Robert Brenstein -
Indeed, to follow the formal upgrade path, one needs to go from 1.6 to 1.8 then to 1.9 and only then to 2.x. However, even though the basic operation hasn't changed, considering numerous other changes (addition of roles, module evolutions, new admin/site options, themes implementation, etc etc) as well as varying experience of sites upgrading from 1.9 to 2.x, it might be better to re-create the service in a clean install of 2.9, taking full advantage of the new features and functionality.

The "simpler" interface that you refer to, Rob, was last seen in 1.9. The newer interface is however the future, so you should try to embrace it. You can control the appearance thru the selected theme, of course, and there are many options that allow you to control what is shown, where and how, although the new interface is inherently more busy and complex as compared to 1.6.
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Robert Brenstein

Re: Upgrading

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

And 1.6 is *much* simpler than 1.9 even. 

Those old enough to remember may recall a proposal to fork 1.6 as 'Moodle lite' because  1.7 and newer were substantially more complex. In any case, the resource requirements of Moodle took a big jump with the introduction of roles in 1.7 (which took until 1.9 to sort out various performance problems)

Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: Upgrading

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
Rob

Confirming what others have said. See https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Releases for a history of releases. https://download.moodle.org/releases/latest/, https://download.moodle.org/releases/supported/, https://download.moodle.org/releases/security/ and https://download.moodle.org/releases/legacy/ to find out the system software requirements.

Yes, 1.6 was a milestone. If I may use a forbidden word, it was the first (inofficial) LTS release. The performance suffered a lot during the transition > 1.7 > 1.8, but then smoothed out in later 1.9. In my openion (today) it is not worth to keep 1.6 going: a) 1.9 has the same interface b) during almost the decade since 2006 was introduced the performance of computers has come a long way. You got it right: it is worth fighting for 1.9 (the Windows XP of Moodle HQ;). See https://moodle.net/stats/.
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Rob Wallace

Re: Upgrading

by Rob Wallace -

Thank you everyone for your positive responses. I checked my cPanel and found that my PHP was up-to-date. I have asked the tech support people at my web host to install Moodle for me and hopefully they will be without errors.

I plan on using my old version for this semester, but I have to develop and teach two new courses for semester two so I figure it's a good opportunity to try and build those on the new version of Moodle. I will spend the next five months learning about the new version and building assignments and content, etc. before I use it live in my classroom.  

Thank you again.

Average of ratings: -