User Access Issue

User Access Issue

by Ken Milligan -
Number of replies: 6

I've just successfully (!?!) installed moodle using a complete windows installer (latest 1.9.zip) on a winXP machine intending to serve my intranet on a trial basis before branching out with a fully fledged VLE. However, only admin user accounts can view my site. I've searched high and low to see where I'm going wrong to no avail. I've added a TCP/IP port 80 exception to my windows firewall on the serving machine, tried all sorts of combinations of servername/#cfg in my config files, but cannot enable teachers or pupils to connect to the test site using a fixed IP address. The error being returned to all other than admin users is a 503, which I think suggests that the server is aware of the request for data but is unable to provide access.

Any suggestions most welcome.

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In reply to Ken Milligan

Re: User Access Issue

by Richard Enison -
KM,

My suggestion is very simple. First of all, according to sources I have found by Googling "http 503", it means service unavailable. So I'm guessing what is happening is this: user A (an admin) attempts access from workstation A and succeeds; user B (a teacher or student) attempts access from workstation B and fails. What happens if you have user A attempt access from workstation B and vice versa?

BTW is it a Windows or Linux server? Does it use Apache or IIS? See http://docs.moodle.org/en/Installation_FAQ#System_information_needed_for_Installation_Forum

RLE
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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: User Access Issue

by Ken Milligan -
Admin can access from wherever, including stations where non-admin cannot access. Both server and clients are Windows XP Pro machines with Apache2 running on the server machine, as per the full windows installer.
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In reply to Ken Milligan

Re: User Access Issue

by Richard Enison -
KM,

When the admins and non-admins are at the stations where they do their attempts to access Moodle, are they logged onto Windows at those stations as themselves? What happens if a non-admin logs onto Windows at a station, attempts to access Moodle and fails, then without logging out of Windows or switching users, gets up and lets an admin sit down, and again without re-logging into Windows, tries to access Moodle? (S)he fails, right? I mean, how does the Moodle server know that it's a different human being at the station?

Now if the admin logs into Windows as him/herself, then is (s)he able to access Moodle successfully? I suspect so. So there is something about the Windows id's of the non-admins that the server doesn't like.

Try it and see. Let us know if I'm not correct.

RLE
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In reply to Richard Enison

Re: User Access Issue

by Ken Milligan -

RLE

OK, I reckon we can agree that it's nothing to do with the actual human, but with the type of user account. I thought I'd explained that as my original problem.smile It's "what is the something about the non-admins that the server doesn't like" that I'm trying to figure out. Is there something I need to do at the server to determine that anyone, not just admins, can access the site? I've not found instructions in any of the installation primers on this site which clarify this, hence my query. Is there a particular user account which needs to be created? Since this is actually just another machine acting as a server while I get to grips with the whole idea, have I failed to do something which is assumed to have been done?

KM

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In reply to Ken Milligan

Re: User Access Issue

by Ken Milligan -

On reflection, I can see where I have not been as clear as I might have been. I am referring to windows admins and teacher/pupil windows adUseraccounts rather than moodle account types.

Interestingly, having continued to try all sorts of permutations, I've just seen a non-graphics rendering of my front age displayed after a long delay (3-4 minutes) for both teacher and pupil windows accounts connecting to my site using the machine name (http://K990/) I'm suspicious that there'a a config problem somewhere here that I'm just not seeing. Perhaps changing the dirroot or servername settings in the apache and php config files will resolve this...

KM

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In reply to Ken Milligan

Re: User Access Issue

by Richard Enison -
KM,

If I understand you correctly, I think we are in agreement that the problem is with the Windows/network accounts of the teachers and students, not with their Moodle accounts. After all, if they can't access the site, they can't enter their Moodle login. Therefore I would suggest that php and Moodle config files such as php.ini and config.php are irrelevant, because it never gets that far. So much for dirroot.

Apache config files, such as httpd.conf, on the other hand, might be involved. I would be looking there, and at the network/router/firewall settings.

RLE
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