Moodle update to newer version

Moodle update to newer version

by Elvis Kalniņš -
Number of replies: 11

Dear moodle community,

I really hope you could help me.

I am relatively new to moodle.

1) I have 3 version (version atm is 3.10.4)  updates available: 3.10.11, 3.11.9+ and 4.0.3+. I have some questions regarding this:

    • Do I have to install all of the 3 updates or just the new one?
    • How can I update to the newest version?  (can someone, please, explain in details/steps?) Do not want to lose any data on moodle, etc.
    • Can I set moodle to update automatically to a newer version or do I have to do it manually?

2) Is it possible to see who did, for example, put a URL on moodle (which teacher)? I know that you can see students/teachers activity - which file did they open, when did they open certain file, etc.


I will appreciate any help on this matter,

Have a great and a productive week! smile



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In reply to Elvis Kalniņš

Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
If you look at the requirements for Moodle 4 (https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Moodle_4.0_release_notes#Server_requirements) you can see that the minimum version you can upgrade from is 3.6. So, it's fine to go to the latest version if that's what you want to do.

Upgrading instructions are here - Upgrading

If you don't read anything else - the most important thing is to have good backups before you start.

There is currently no automatic upgrade (in Moodle). This is probably a good thing. Ideally, you should take a copy of your site and test the upgrade first.

I don't know what you mean by "put a URL on moodle". Most activities in Moodle are logged (but not all)
Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Howard Miller

Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Elvis Kalniņš -
Thank you Howard Miller for your answer!

Some follow up questions.
If I understood correctly - Can I just make 1 update to 4.0.3+, without installing 3.10.11 and 3.11.9+?

How do I create good backup before I start? Sorry again, I am just new to this as I mentioned before, therefore everything is quite unclear.

How do I make a copy of the site and test the upgrade?

I meant, for example, if one of the teachers posts something on moodle, how can I know which one of the teachers did post certain file? Where can I find this information?
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In reply to Elvis Kalniņš

Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

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

If I understood correctly - Can I just make 1 update to 4.0.3+, without installing 3.10.11 and 3.11.9+?

Yes, you can.

How do I create good backup before I start? Sorry again, I am just new to this as I mentioned before, therefore everything is quite unclear.

It's not a function in Moodle. It depends on your server/hosting. However, there is guidance here - Site_backup

How do I make a copy of the site and test the upgrade?

Again, depends on what facilities you have available. See Moodle_migration. Obviously (I hope), you're not removing the original site. In fact, once you have backups in the prior step you can use them to create a copy.

I meant, for example, if one of the teachers posts something on moodle, how can I know which one of the teachers did post certain file? Where can I find this information?

I still don't really know what you mean. Which Moodle activity are we talking about? There isn't an activity "post a file". You can add folder resources. You can add files to a forum post, and so on. So it depends.

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In reply to Howard Miller

Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Elvis Kalniņš -
Thank you very much!

Some follow up questions.

Is there, perhaps, a video that shows how to upgrade moodle step by step?
Where can I find the server/hosting?

I still don't really know what you mean. Which Moodle activity are we talking about? There isn't an activity "post a file". You can add folder resources. You can add files to a forum post, and so on. So it depends. - The situation: there is, for instance, 1 course and 10 teachers. I see that some file appears in this course. How and where do I see which one of the 10 teachers did put this file in this course? Can I see such information?
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In reply to Elvis Kalniņš

Re: Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
If you literally mean who added a file resource onto a course page then, yes, that's in the logs report.
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In reply to Howard Miller

Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Elvis Kalniņš -
Thank you, but where exactly is this "logs report" available?
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In reply to Elvis Kalniņš

Re: Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers
In the course you're interested in....

Click the 'Settings cog' at the top right > More... > Reports > Logs

From the dropdowns select the activity you want to know about and change 'All events' to 'Teaching'. The last (i.e. earliest) entry should be that activity getting created.

See also - Logs
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In reply to Howard Miller

Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Elvis Kalniņš -
That was exactly what I was looking for smile

Thank you very much! smile
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In reply to Elvis Kalniņš

Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Translators
This is essential: https://docs.moodle.org/dev/Releases#Version_support. There are three currently supported versions, 3.9/3.11/4.0, all three have end-of-life in November 2023.

Generally it is advisable to update the running version to its latest/last. For 3.10 that would be 3.10.11. So, you are already there.

But, since version 3.10 is no more supported, you have to upgrade. The question is, to which version, 3.11 or 4.0. You can upgrade to 4.0 from 3.10 in one step, if you want. But whether you want 4.0, that is up to you. The "generation change" 3.x > 4.x is huge in terms of look-and-feel. You might want to do evaluate 4.0 by doing a test upgrade or just a fresh 4.0 and export your courses to it and compare.

By visiting > Site administration > Server > Environment you can check whether your server/hosting has the necessary system software.

Whatever you do, you need to have clean backups.
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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Atbilde: Re: Atbilde: Re: Moodle update to newer version

by Elvis Kalniņš -
Thank you very much for your answer!

How do I ensure that I have clean backups? Where do I see and find them?
Perhaps, there is a tutorial video how to upgrade moodle step by step? Considering that I have not done this never before and do not want to lose any files, etc.
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