I've been trying to download zip packages of the latest/development release for testing in a MAMP installation at work, but every time I try to unzip the file, I will a) get an error message and the process stops, or b) it completes but the resulting Moodle folder is missing numerous directories/files. Just wanted to check if there is an issue on Moodle's end or my work machine. Anyone else able to replicate?
Why are you downloading the zip file? If you download this Moodle For Mac, that might work better.
Or perhaps a better question would be, do you have Apache, PHP and MySQL already set up? If so, then the zip file should be working, if it is installed directly into a Moodle folder in the Apache document root named in the httpd.conf file. If not, then go to the link above and download the complete package.
I have MAMP on my personal mac at home, but have a windows machine at work also running MAMP. So yes, I have everything set up but when downloading the zip file from Moodle.org, the contents are incomplete when unzipping it. This has nothing to do with MAMP, rather, the contents of the latest release package are not complete.
That's interesting, I have just updated mine without an issue. So what's happening? OK the files are being unzipped into Apache document root named in the httpd.conf file? Should be 48 folder files and about another 40 odd files including the Gruntfile.js plus config.php and index.html? YOu have created the database in MySQL? and configured PHP? You've run the php info file to ensure it is running? The Apache server is all working?
Windows running a MAMP? That's something I have not tried to do.... mmm interesting.
I updated out live-site fine last week (from my home mac). I just wanted to set up a testing installation at work since I often have time to do it at work.
I haven't even gotten that far. Unzipping the latest-release zip does not contain the right amount of folders/files.
I downloaded a copy of our production site to set it up since the latest-release zip file is incomplete.
You're going too quick into troubleshooting. All I did was download (https://download.moodle.org/releases/latest/) and unzipped the file to find it missing numerous directories and files, or have it fail. I'm trying to figure out if its some problem on my work machine versus a problem on Moodle's end.
It's my work machine being, well, terrible lol. Go figure since it is brand new too.
William, I might not be sure about what you are doing.
Are you downloading the zip file to a Mac or PC?
Are you trying to unzip it in your "Downloads" folder, or some other folder?
I just downloaded both the .zip and the .tgz latest releases to my Mac's Download folder. I double click on the .tgz file, and it unpacks perfectly, creating a folder moodle.
I then delete this "moodle" folder, double click on the .zip file, and it unpacks perfectly.
I usually use the .tgz file on my Mac.
I'm assuming you mean "latest stable". In which case, here's an alternative...
https://github.com/moodle/moodle/archive/MOODLE_34_STABLE.zip
You might also consider a different unzipper... say, https://www.7-zip.org/
This did the trick (7zip). I'm not sure why the several extractors from the Windows store failed to unpack it but Windows has always been a struggle for me as a Mac user. Thanks Howard.
I'm with you on that one. Windows... best avoided
William, out of curiosity, which version of Windows are you using that gave you problems?
Windows 10!
I'm also struggling to get MAMP (windows version) to recognize the php_intl.dll extension. I've uncommented it like fileinfo.dll in the ini file and restarted the MAMP servers, and while the Moodle installer now recognizes fileinfo, it doesn't intl. If only they would buy a mac for me to use at work so as to avoid these problems. Guess I'll just be playing with 3.5beta at home for the time being .
William, I just downloaded the latest Moodle, then in Windows 10, right-clicked and picked "extract." I am using the bare-bones Windows10 methods, and it seems to work. I am not sure why you had problems. Yes, the Mac is still simpler at doing this, and my Mac can easily extract either the .zip or the .tgz formats.
Well, on to your intl.dll issue.
I have found that various versions of MAMP, WAMP, XAMPP, etc. struggle with this intl extension. Not being a Linux/UNIX guru, I wonder why? When I install the latest XAMPP on my Mac, I cannot get this intl extension working. Ken has suggested to me that I need to recompile stuff, but I haven't made it through his directions yet. Howard (and a few others) suggest installing intl natively on my Mac. Hmmm, don't know. Still learning.
I do have the MAMP running on my Mac, version 4.2. This intl extension works.
On my PC, I do have XAMPP 7.1.10 running, with intl working, running php7. I installed XAMPP first, then manually installed Moodle. It seems to be working well.
I do not have XAMPP-Mac running because of the intl issue.
Also, when I download the packaged Mac OS X from moodle.org, it doesn't run because of this intl issue.
Although you say you are installing MAMP, to me this doesn't make sense because you are working on a PC. I thought that MAMP is a Mac version of the AMP stack. Are you saying that you are trying to install MAMP on a PC?
So on my Windows10 PC, I have success with XAMPP 7.1.10, running MariaDB 10.1.28, php 7.1.10, and Moodle 3.4+ (Build 20180104).
Oh, I should mention to you that my Windows10 PC is actually a VMWare virtual PC on my MacBook Pro.
Rick,
MAMP while traditionally being only a Mac product, does in fact now make a version for Windows. I try to use it on Windows since I am already familiar with it . The name is admittedly confusing. So MAMP on my Mac is perfect, while the Windows version of MAMP has given me this problem the php_intl extension. It seems rather common strangely but I can't figure out how to get around it. I followed a number of suggestions (copy the .dll to various directories, add a direct path), and even enabled it on every php version included and following the default locale info from the documentation. None of these have been effective with Windows MAMP (https://www.mamp.info/en/). May have to give XAMPP 7 a try.
XAMPP definitely did the trick! Spent a little while figuring out the interface but have a dev build up and running with 3.5 beta at work now. Thanks for the tip Rick!
Yes, these XAMPP products sometimes look different, but all of the functionality is there. I almost prefer starting with XAMPP because one then learns how to install Moodle, and its required components, from scratch. XAMPP and MAMP both provide phpMyAdmin.
Now here's the odd thing... XAMPP for Mac is missing this "intl" extension. I have spent several hours trying to figure out why. No success yet.
But no problem, yet. I can move my production moodle data to either my MAMP on my Mac or my XAMPP on my (virtual) PC. These three environments all have php 7.x, but the odd thing is that my production Moodle and my XAMPP-PC moodles use MariaDB, and my MAMP is using MySQL. But it doesn't matter, I can move the databases around without any problems.
Rick,
I should note that I learned how to install/upgrade Moodle from a video of yours 3 years ago so I definitely am comfortable with the manual installations. I do have Parallels with Windows but I can't quite use it at the moment. My Macbook pro's logic board has some issues that causes gpu kernel panics (with certain software -Parallels being one of them) and there's no way to fix it sans replacing the logic board. I had it replaced before for free under an agreement from apple, and now years later similar issues are up again. It's nearly 8 years old so the only financially viable option is to buy a new one-waiting until WWDC to see if there are any minor hardware refreshes (would really love 32Gb of RAM in the pros but it is still suspect given the intel chip situation).
Well, it is good to hear that my videos helped at least one person!
Yep, time to consider a new computer. I have a 1 1/2-year-old MacBook Pro, which I love. If I were in your shoes, I too would wait. I too would love to have 32GB RAM.
I run VMWare, but originally had Parallels, too. I think VMWare supported more OSs back 5 years ago. This might have changed by now. VMWare has been doing well for me.
If it's a reasonably powerful machine, run VirtualBox plus some lightweight version of Linux (e.g. Lubuntu). It's probably less hassle.
I must admit I have had difficulty with this entire conversation, why would anyone want to run a MAMP on a Windows box? Makes no sense to me at all. And seriously, XAMPP???? That has its own issues if you want to run it with any more than about 20 users. As a test bed, ....mmm no my bad experience with it is not a fair guide.
Agree.
I understood that the purpose is to have access to the own test/development Moodle site at home _and_ at the working place. Home OS is Mac, at work it is Microsoft.
My suggestion: carry a Raspberry Pi, https://moodlebox.net/en/ installed, between the two places!
I understood that the purpose is to have access to the own test/development Moodle site at home _and_ at the working place. Home OS is Mac, at work it is Microsoft.
My suggestion: carry a Raspberry Pi, https://moodlebox.net/en/ installed, between the two places!
Maybe so, Visvanath. I still want to buy a Rasberry Pi and learn what it can do.
However, when I travel light, I am not sure that I want to carry around with me another device. And it doesn't appear to me that the Raspberry Pi can run Microsoft Office, but I might be wrong about this. Your thoughts about MS Office, PC software, and Mac software running on a Raspberry Pi?
Also, out of curiosity, what do you do for a "monitor" for the Raspberry Pi when you travel with it?
Following Visvanath's suggestion I have split his reply and you can now continue the discussion about Raspberry Pi, Linux and Moodle here.
In addition to having a generic Moodle available for testing, I also use MAMP for working on other personal php related sites/projects. I'm not sure that this is all so strange as I have practiced and learned many many Moodle things this way and I don't have to worry about making mistakes or permanently destroying it. It's simpler than setting up a dev site on a server subdomain for me.
MAMP is no longer Mac only, they make a windows version as well.
My problem with MAMP is that it doesn't support MariaDB, which is what I am using on my production Moodle. But as I say, I can move the database tables back and forth (right now) without any problems. XAMPP on my virtual PC is the closest match to my production Moodle.
But since MAMP (on my Mac) support "intl" so easily, it is still my preferred environment for experimenting. I do have the ability to switch to php 5 with MAMP, which then allows me to run my older Moodle 1.9 and 2.9 systems.
My only reason for the PC installs of "AMP" is to see if Moodle works in these PCs and environments. I prefer to remain on my Mac, where I have all my other powerful software. It appears that you have to do stuff on PCs at times too, William.
In the courses that I teach, students will have both Macs and PCs. So these virtualization products allow me to support both groups of students with only one computer. A Mac can emulate a PC, but a PC cannot (easily) emulate a Mac, so the Mac is my computer of choice. In my view, it is not simply a Mac-versus-PC debate, it is about getting the job done.
None of these environments should be used for more than *one* user. They're only intended for testing/development.
It's perfectly possible (so I'm told) to run Moodle natively in Windows but it really isn't designed for that. At least a Mac is a Unix box under the covers. Trying to run server software on a platform that is fundamentally *not* a server has an element of banging one's head off a wall to it.
If you are going to run Moodle for real users on your own 'box' - whatever that is - then you are a server administrator.
With that comes some responsibilities