Howard Miller

gzuncompress() is a built-in PHP function and part of the ZLib extension. Moodle checks for that extension when it installs or upgrades, so you shouldn't have been able to install Moodle without it.

You need to fix your PHP to include that extension. How you do that depends on how PHP was installed in the first place.

It's perfectly possible to create a "self-contained" Moodle. That's what the one-click installers for Windows and Macos do.

However, they just generate (very regular) forum posts, "How do I make this Moodle available on my network?". The honest answer is probably "You don't!". Or, at least, "You shouldn't".

So you're back to where you started. Of course, the underlying problem is that it's easy if you have the budget.

I've said it multiple times before... I'm not sure it's helpful... but Moodle is a server application. It's too much to expect that Moodle should be "easy" to install if you don't know anything about your server environment. I, for example, wouldn't know where to start on Windows Server but I know that I'd have to find out. I don't think that mindlessly following instructions is the answer (on many levels) - it's fine until something doesn't work. We'll help you all day long with Moodle but even common servers OSs have variations that are hard to predict.

So, get on Youtube or whatever and learn a bit about your OS. It'll pay back.

Moodle isn't hard to install - if you want something that is, try installing a fully working mail server

They've been saying for decades that computers will replace "information" jobs like doctors. I still can't get a doctor when I need one

Can you remember the web before search engines? Especially Google.

It's the next logical step.