Moodle with Godaddy

Moodle with Godaddy

by Chris Liang-Vergara -
Number of replies: 25
Hey Lynne & Other Godaddy Customers-

I'm Tony's student that went through the fun little process of running Moodle on Godaddy.  It took quite a few tries . . . but it finally is up and running.  I admit it does run a bit slow at times and the themes do not always appear correctly - but it does work!  Here's basically what I did-

Please note that Godaddy's is not up to date enought to run Moodle 1.6.  Thus, you'll need to use the last 1.5 version available.

  1. UPLOADING:  As mentioned in another post, you have to FTP upload the entire unzipped moodle package to your godaddy account.  This takes time, and you also need to make sure everything gets uploaded.  At first I tried using the Internet Explorer Webfolder setup to upload - but it always hangs.  So I used SmartFTP - and for some reason the upload likes to randomly stop, especially when it is uploading the languange files.  So essentially you need to stop and check to see where the upload cuts off, and then manually drag over the folders it missed.
  2. MySQL: I setup a MySQL within the Godaddy hosting interface according to the specifications within the moodle installation documentation.
  3. INSTALLATION:  Once everything was uploaded and in place, then I ran the installation file for moodle-
    1. The basic way to make it work is DON'T CHANGE ANY SETTINGS AT ALL!  The only one I changed was the wwwroot location to where the moodle folder was located, BUT do not touch or adjust the dirroot or dataroot.  Just trust what Moodle ends up finding.
    2. Besides these settings - don't touch any other settings within all of the administration menus!  Every time I tinkered with anything I had errors during the installation.  Wait until the entire installation is done, then you can go back into the administration settings and change things as needed - but don't touch them during installation at all.
    3. With the MySQL settings - you'll need to click on the name of your SQL within Godaddy to find the proper address and etc for it.
  4. PHP SETTING:  Assuming that you made it through the installation and things are somewhat up and running, there is one more key setting you need to change.  I spent a few weeks trying to figure out why I couldn't see any photos or uploaded files within the Moodle - turns out you need to change the slasharguements settting.
    1. Click on the Configuration
    2. Go to the Variables Page
    3. In the Operating System section, find the slasharguments setting
    4. Change it to: file/php?file=/pic.jpg
  5. SECURITY:  Finally - the big problem with Godaddy is a security issue since there is not way to create folders that are not "on the web".  The only way I've figured out to cover myself on this is creating a htaccess file.  Instructions can be found here:
    1. Creating a data directory

      Moodle will also need some space on your server's hard disk to store uploaded files, such as course documents and user pictures.
      The Moodle installer tries hard to create this directory for you but if it fails then you will have to create a directory for this purpose manually.
      For security, it's best that this directory is NOT accessible directly via the web. The easiest way to do this is to simply locate it OUTSIDE the web directory, but if you must have it in the web directory then protect it by creating a file in the data directory called .htaccess, containing this line: 

      deny from all
  6. CRON:  Oh - and you need to run the cron to make e-mails and etc run automatically.  There's no way to run crons in Godaddy, so you need to run one off of your own computer.  I have windows, so I just run the cron in the background.  Check out the documentation about how to do it:
    1. http://docs.moodle.org/en/Cron
So am I happly with the way Moodle runs on Godaddy?  No - it moves slowly, and the pages don't always appear correctly - although I'm not sure if that's my fault or Godaddys.  But still - it works and it's afforadable.  I only use my moodle for a few personal endevours, so it's not a major problem for me.  If I was a school or a major institution - I would definitely user another host provider.

Check out my Moodle at:
http://www.djliang.com/moodle
There is a free Vocabulary Podcast Community I've created with quizzes and etc - so feel free to send students or anybody that way.  Thanks!
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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Chris Liang-Vergara -
So my question to others that are running on Godaddy-

Any idea how to fix the problem of the themes not appearing correctly?  I'd say about 30% of the time I go to my Moodle the colors don't appear and everything is in sort of a plain text setup.  I tried reinstalling the themes - which seemed to work for a week, but then the problems started back up.  Any ideas?
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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Chris Liang-Vergara -
After digging around the forums - it looks like disappearing themes in Godaddy seems like a common problem.  Check out this discussion

http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=49762#234064
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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Steve Hyndman -

Chris,

I'm not sure, but I would guess that this is just a side effect of running Moodle on a $3 a month account...you are probably on a lower-end server with hundreds and hundreds of other users. I had one of those accounts for a while just to test things out, but quickly discovered it wasn't worth the headache. I have all my domains with Godaddy, but I wouldn't use them for hosting...pay just a few more bucks and go with someone like Bluehost if you have to use shared hosting.

Steve

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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Jeff Dees -

I contacted Godaddy tech support yesterday. This is the first time I was really disappointed with the service I received. Below is a copy of the response I received. I had the Moodle software running just fine before they changed to hosting version 2.0. I read the link they sent, but it really seems way beyond my internet/computer skills.

"Thank you for contacting Customer Support. Please look for ways to optimize the application you are running as well as the database. You can improve performance by optimizing the fields and tables of your database.

See the link below:

http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/presentations/presentation-oscon2000-20000719/index.html

The following article is also helpful if you are on a Windows hosting server:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/209126/

Please note this is not something we can assist you with.

If this does not resolve the issue, please let us know.

Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.

Regards,

Amber P.
Customer Care Specialist"

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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Megan Mahaffey -

I've tried several times now to install on our GoDaddy account, and continue to have issue with my dataroot directory. If I leave it as the default that Moodle "finds", I get the following:

 Notice: Fatal: $CFG->wwwroot is not configured! Exiting. in /home/content/c/d/e/cdexs/html/learning/lib/setup.php on line 84

Warning: main(/pagelib.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/content/c/d/e/cdexs/html/learning/lib/blocklib.php on line 14

Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required '/pagelib.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/content/c/d/e/cdexs/html/learning/lib/blocklib.php on line 14

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: redirect() in /home/content/c/d/e/cdexs/html/learning/index.php on line 20

 

Now, I recognize that these errors are a function of the path does not exist... How can I make Moodle use a real path?

If I change the setting for the dataroot to reflect a folder within my hosting site (yes, I know, not advised, but at the moment, my only option...), I just get an un-passable error. It will not allow me to continue.

I'm not horribly proficient with any of this stuff, but have some brain cells to rub together and make a spark! Obviously, some of you have been able to pull this off successfully! Any advice as to what to create for my dataroot to make this thing work?

 

Megan

 

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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Waruna Lakmal -
Hello dear Chris Liang,
i'm having a account in godaddy. i installed moodle in our account in godaddy.
now th prob lem i have is , i cannot upload file to moodle account. once i upload a lecture materials to the courses we have created it says 'No input file specified.'

I cannot understand what the prob is. if u know whats the proob please help me as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Waruna Lakmal

gmail: warunalakmal
yahoo: wlakmal@yahoo.com
skype: waruna.lakmal
hotmail: waruna_lakmal
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In reply to Waruna Lakmal

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by karim faid -

Probably you may need to set the permissions on the moodle data directory and all the sub-directories to 777 to be able to upload your files... Use an FTP program to modify those.

Karim

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In reply to karim faid

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by ray s. -
With all the problems associated with shared hosting on GoDaddy, I was curious what fields in the config file (or other files) need to be changed to move the site to a dedicated server?

Regards
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In reply to Waruna Lakmal

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Keith Norton -
I'm having the same problem. GoDaddy support hasn't been very helpful. They suggest trying a .htaccess file but that hasn't helped.
I suspect it is related to running php as cgi (per the support forum here) but I can't confirm it.
It is frustrating because everything works fine on my local developement server.

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In reply to Keith Norton

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by ADSL geek -
If you just go here:
https://hostingconnection.godaddy.com/Application/Moodle.aspx

The web interface does the full install for you for free. Sets up permissions, and everything. It couldn't have been easier.

Cheers,
ADSL geek
http://www.adslgeek.com/
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In reply to ADSL geek

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Pavan Kota -
I have installed Godaddy using the https://hostingconnection.godaddy.com/MyApplications.aspx and it's over in less than a minute.

Pavan
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In reply to Pavan Kota

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Armando Duran -
I am also planning to use Moodle with GoDaddy, are there any issues that I may be aware of?
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In reply to Armando Duran

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Faith Moulin -
We were GoDaddy a few years ago and there was quite a bit of down time.  We switched to Remote Learner and have experienced very few problems.
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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Khader Elias -

Dears ;

I have done all the steps mentioned in your articl and uploaded the latest version of moodle on my godaddy windows server ... but the problem was in the installation once i run my moodle it asks me to choose the language but i have no language choices ... i have uploaded moodle twice and i think it is not missing files problem

the link below will show the exact problem

http://www.poktraining.com/moodle

thank you for the help in advance

kind regards

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In reply to Khader Elias

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Martin F -
check that you are using the following
Requires: PHP 4.3.0, MySQL 4.1.16 or Postgres 8.0 or MSSQL 9.0

I've installed Moodle on Godaddy(linux server) without problems
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In reply to Martin F

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Martin F -
For those experiencing problems with Godaddy and Moodle, my advice is switch to another host such as Hostmonster (not HostGator)., which is what I did.. few problems since.
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In reply to Martin F

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Jon Fila -
Dexter,

How are you accessing the information that gets put in the /home/... file when you install Moodle?

I can't get into those files and I don't know anything about making an htaccess file.

I want to install aspell and change some other settings. Why would Moodle install a path that I can't access?
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In reply to Jon Fila

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Lisa Dodson -

The folder you are actually accessing is the last filename in the whole path..

all of the paths on the shared servers follow the same format:

/home/content/a/b/c/abcfile/html/moodledirectory

'abcfile' represents the name of your hosting account with GoDaddy

a/b/c is the first three characters of your hosting account name

/html tells it that it's a web accessible folder (and no they do not let you put a folder out there that's not accessible via the web; hence the use of .htaccess files to deny access"

/moodledirectory is the folder name where you put your moodle install (dirroot),

the path for your dataroot is the same except for the last name in the path. 

Essentially, when you access your GoDaddy account, all your files and folders are in the /html folder

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In reply to Chris Liang-Vergara

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Lisa Dodson -

I have been running Moodle on GoDaddy's shared servers for a while and have not experienced any problems. 

1.  Yes, this is one way and depending on the FTP client you use, it can be quite time consuming.  Use your client FTP app, not GoDaddy's web based FTP because it takes even longer.  However, if you go through GoDaddy's Hosting Connection service, they can install Moodle within a matter of minutes with you providing some basic information.

2.  MySQL was very easy, at least I thought it was.  Using GoDaddy's PHPAdmin method, I just created a shell MySQL database and then let Moodle's install process actually create all the tables.  No problems at all.

3. Using what "moodle ends up finding" is okay if that's what you want; however, I do not use dataroot folders with the standard "moodledata" file name.  I also don't use the "moodle" directory name.  At least with the dataroot directory, it's harder to figure out if someone is trying to hack my site.

4. You can override GoDaddy's basic php.ini settings by simply putting a php.ini file in your root folder.  It works fine for my moodle site.

5.  .htaccess does work just fine.  Even when I did allow the moodle install to create the data directory, I never had problems, you may have just had problems with the way GoDaddy wants you to define the path, but once you understand it, it is easy.

6.  GoDaddy does offer cron jobs.  You have to logon to your hosting account on GoDaddy, then go to the manager and create a cron job through their cron app.  My cron jobs are set up through GoDaddy and I have had no problems.   Now, I have no scripted any custom cron jobs because I do not know how, so I use moodle's standard cron script.  

I have had many problems with themes, but those that I have are related to the CSS code and the browser, so I would recommand testing your themes across a variety of browsers. 

 

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In reply to Lisa Dodson

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Jose Trompiz -

Hi Lisa.

I have a moodle site in godaddy, and I have problems with cron. I use standard moodle cron

Please could you send me what command do you put in Cron Manager?

Regards

 

 

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In reply to Jose Trompiz

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Lisa Dodson -

Here's a sample command, I changed it to mask my hosting account name and moodle directory name

/web/cgi-bin/php5 "/home/content/a/b/c/abcsite/html/moodle/admin/cron.php"

If you're running php4 version on GoDaddy, you will need to change that.

"abcsite' would be your GoDaddy hosting account name for the server you have moodle installed on.. a/b/c is just the first 3 letters of the hosting account name.  If you went with the default moodle install and your moodle runs from the "moodle" folder, then you should be fine, otherwise you need to replace "moodle" with the name of your moodle folder (dirroot).

It will send the cron job results in the form of an email, so provide it with an email address, sent the frequency on how often you want the job to run and you're good to go.    

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In reply to Lisa Dodson

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Daniel Bailey -
Hi Lisa, I noticed that you use Godaddy. I'm using them too and so far so good.
I would like to ask what you did to protect your moodledata folder from outside users. Did you use an .htaccess file or did you move your moodledata folder?

When you installed moodle, did you do the automatic moodle install? (very convenient)... did you install it directly into your root folder? I directly downloaded it to my root folder. I think it is a problem because I have no where to move my moodle data folder to. (at least I don't think I do)

Sorry for all the questions. I just assigned my students online homework today and i want to be prepared for any problems that may arise.

Thanks,
Danny
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In reply to Daniel Bailey

Re: Moodle with Godaddy

by Lisa Dodson -
Hi -

I'm not sure what you mean by "did you move your moodledata folder"..It's installed as a directory in my domain's root folder. I gave it both a unique name and used an .htaccess file.

I've used their Hosting Connection to install the app before, however, I prefer to install it manually using another FTP client. It takes longer, but take a coffee break and come back when it's done. The Hosting Connection walks you through the entire setup. You can do the same thing yourself with the manual install. Once the files are installed in the root directly, just navigate via the web to your index.php page. Moodle's install script will walk you through the same process that GoDaddy does.

If you used their Hosting Connection, it should have also created the directory for your moodledata as well, just use their File Manager feature on your hosting account and see what other directories exist. Its in there somewhere. If you didn't give it a specific name, then the directory is probably called "moodledata".
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