moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

by todd lehman -
Number of replies: 5

so, in order to upgrade my existing moodle instance i must:

1) copy the entire webroot to a new backup folder.

2) deploy some new zip archive to replace the entire webroot, and then copy back the moodledata dir.

3) figure out what plugins or modules need special attention, because the update process is unable to apprise me of them.

4) the docs assume that I have deployed moodle at some  "/moodle" dir, instead of the root of the webhost.


In all honesty, I would be better off deploying and entirely new moodle instance and trying to import students, courses, assignments, submissions, etc...


Moodle doesn't really have an " upgrade" or "update" functionality.

Moodle has some really nice features, and can use external DB data to create courses, students, professors, etc..


But your upgrade docs, considering that the latest version is only 2 months old, REALLY SUCK.

give me an archive that I can deploy in-place, and quit acting like you are some high-end LMS, you are NOT.


if you care to disagree with me, or maybe I am just dumb and can't find the correct docs, PLEASE, and I mean PLEASE, tell me what I am doing wrong.

tplehman@gmail.com

Average of ratings: -
In reply to todd lehman

Re: moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
Well, I'm crying.

If I can be perfectly honest with you, telling people that their documentation "REALLY SUCKS" is pretty childish and will get you the attention that probably won't surprise you.

You are correct about the upgrade procedure. Yes, it could be better but Moodle is a very large, complicated application and it's rarely straightforward to upgrade between major versions due to all the non-core additions that may have been used. It's not Wordpress. Personally, I'm not a fan of these "one click" upgraders. This way gives you a push towards doing proper testing.

If you want to help, the docs are a Wiki and anybody can improve them. If you want to write or sponsor some nice upgrader for Moodle then that would be fabulous wink
Average of ratings: -
In reply to Howard Miller

Re: moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

by todd lehman -
fair enough, you actually listened to my childishi temper-tantrum, and didn't just write me off respect sir.
Average of ratings: -
In reply to todd lehman

Re: moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

by Rick Jerz -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Testers
Yes, Todd (to add a little to what Howard has already said), your method could be correct, and it might be one of a thousand ways to upgrade Moodle. But your upgrade method might depend upon the several thousand ways that you installed Moodle. (Moodle is not a PC or Mac installation, its a server installation.)

What I have noticed here on Moodle.org is that folks who manage their Moodle(s), with time, develop their own best practice for upgrading their Moodle based upon the general guideline provided in the Moodle docs. For example, I do not use the "GIT" technique.

I am a small-time Moodle person, <15 courses/yr and <500 students/year. I am not a server-admin. But I have learned much about running my own Moodle, with much help here on Moodle.org. The main thing that I have learned is that running and upgrading Moodle is not as simple as keeping my applications upgraded on my personal computer, and this originally shocked me. However, Linux (UNIX) is not like DOS either.
Average of ratings: -
In reply to todd lehman

Re: moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

by Ken Task -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

Process and docs aside, maybe someone should ask ... so I will!   Responses do determine strategy/approach.

What version of Moodle are you currently running?

Have you run, System Admin menu -> Server -> Environment and updated the component (link to update in upper right of Environment panel).   Then use drop down pick list for higher versions of Moodle.  Any 'red' checks?

Server is hosted, but with what hosting service?

Is the account on a shared service/server?

Can you make full user backups of current courses successfully?

'SoS', Ken

Average of ratings: -
In reply to todd lehman

Re: moodle upgrade docs are stupid and broken

by Emma Richardson -
Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers
In addtion to the other comments, I would just like to point out that the people you complaining too are just moodle users trying to help each other. And the help docs are a wiki and have so many pages, it is hard for just the few people that work on them to keep up. Help is always appreciated. Git is a much easier way to upgrade once you are up and running. Ken is our resident Git expert and has got me to the point that I can just reference his emails when I get ready to upgrade again(!!) - thanks Ken, BTW.
I have always thought that one simple fix would be to have a custom folder like wordpress where all plugins install too - they we would not have to search through multiple folders to find all those plugins.
A couple of things I noticed - 1. Your moodledata folder should not be in your webroot - Moodle will get to the point of making you move that. 2. It does not matter what the folder is called that moodle is installed in - just change the name to your actual folder when following the docs. 3. Once you get git running, it is just a matter of a few commands to get upgraded and you do not need to mess with your folders etc... 4. Plugins are separate from the moodle code - they can be updated automatically from the plugin page. But you do need to copy all the plugins' folders over to the new moodle code if you are not using git.
Average of ratings: -