pointing moodle site to a new host server

pointing moodle site to a new host server

by altan ahmet -
Number of replies: 9


Hi is anyone able to point me in the right directions in order to be able to reconfigure my site from an existing host server to a new host server please ?

I am using :

Moodle 3.1.6 (Build: 20170508)

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In reply to altan ahmet

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

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

See - Moodle_migration

Any questions - just ask!

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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by altan ahmet -

Thanks for the pointer Howard, no doubt I will be back once I have read it with more questions

In reply to Howard Miller

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by altan ahmet -

Hi Howard

If I decide to move my site to a new  host, what sort of things should I be asking potential hosts as to their server's suitability ?

In reply to altan ahmet

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

Howard will probably provide you a bit more guidance.

I would start by asking:

Is the server Linux, Windows, or something else?

What is the highest version of php provided?

What database(s) is provided?

How much memory and hard disk space is provided, and ability to increase these?


Make sure to ask yourself "How big might my Moodle become?"

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In reply to altan ahmet

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

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

Show them the release notes for whatever version of Moodle you want to run and get them to check their service is compatible. 

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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by altan ahmet -

Hi Howard, you kindly provided some initial guidance on migrating my site to a new host. 

I suppose there's nothing to stop me hosting the site on my own server is there ? 

I suppose I back up and copy my hosted site to moodle software which I would download on to my own server ?

Just wondered what sort of tech spec I should be after if hosting myself ? Any suggestions as to where I should be looking for answers ?

In reply to altan ahmet

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers

I am sure that Howard and others will give you more guidance.

No, there is nothing stopping you from hosting your own moodle, except the knowledge to do this.  My post above provides an example of the kinds of questions that you need to address.  For example, when you say "I suppose ..." well, this is not good enough.  You must know, not suppose.

The beauty of Moodle is that you can experiment and learn as much as you want.

There are many ways to host your own moodle.  Begin by probing your own needs.  For example, are you talking about providing 2 courses a year, or 500?  50 students, or 1,000,000?  Look at your own needs first, then some folks here on moodle.org can continue providing guidance to you.

It is also good to let us know a little about your background and abilities to host moodle yourself.  For example, if you were to say "I know nothing about computers and don't want to learn," we would probably direct you to use a Moodle provider.

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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by Colin Fraser -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Testers

Rule of thumb, if you have lots of users, it is going to cost no matter where you put it. So is that cost higher than the cost of hosting your site on your own servers, providing your own storage, your own technical expertise? Could there be a reason to ensure you either take advantage of the existing expertise within your organization, or to develop your own expertise? Or would your organization be happier with a purchased MoodleCloud site? It's always entirely up to you, but make sure you know what it is you want, what your capabilities already are, what limitations may be placed upon your Moodle in any scenario. The important thing is to work out beforehand exactly how you want to get where you want to go, then just do it. 

Oh, if you already have a self-hosted web site, then Moodle will fit there nicely - if not, and the limitations of a purchased MoodleCloud site would be seriously restrictive, then I would suggest a Moodle Partner. You may, or may not, have to pay a little more than for a shared server, but you will always get the essential support you need to keep your site up and running.  

<initial suggestion>Learn Moodle with MoodleCloud, unless you have to provide a seriously wider site. OK, there are limitations, but while you are learning, you won't go too far wrong. You can practice some things on your desktop without damaging your MoodleCloud site, if you can install Apache, MySQL or MariaDB, php v7, then Moodle.</end>


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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: pointing moodle site to a new host server

by altan ahmet -

Hi Rick

Many thanks for your comments.

I've used a host to set up a moodle site, I offer online training in food safety to complement face to face training , with the initial aim of building up to 100 users per year.

I've had some admin training and support in populating and configuring my site by the hosts

Think I'm reasonably computer literate for a baby boomer. Have looked after cms's before for public health projects I have previously ran. But I think moodle is a little bit more complicated than a cms !

My 'suppose' comment is me thinking out aloud in type. Hope that's ok on here ? I'm hoping someone will be able to point me to a resource so I can understand better whats involved.