Moodle 3 Administration - Third Edition

Table of Contents

Moodle 3 Administration Third Edition

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

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Why subscribe?

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

VLE job functions

Obligations and skill sets of a VLE administrator

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the color images of this book

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Moodle Installation

Moodle installation – an overview

Choosing the best setup

Moodle prerequisites

Hardware requirements

Software requirements

Installation in a LAMP environment

Downloading Moodle

Creating the Moodle database and the data directory

Using a hosted server

Using the command line

Creating the Moodle data directory

Running the installer script

Finalizing the installation

Setting up the cron process

Installation in a Windows environment

Installation in a Mac OS X environment

Installation via the Command Line Interface

Updating Moodle

Manual update

Creating a backup

Creating your new Moodle system

Running the update script

Updating Moodle via CLI

Update notifications

Summary

2. The Moodle System

Moodle architecture

The LAMP architecture

The Moodle layer

Code and data locations

Finding your way around in Moodle

The Navigation bar

The administrator search facility

Moodle bookmarks

Moodle Docs and Help

File management

The Moodle file management interface

Uploading files

Private files

To link or to copy?

File types

The upload limit

Web host file management

File management via the file system repository

Summary

3. Courses, Users, and Roles

A high-level overview

Moodle courses

Moodle users

Moodle roles

Summary

4. Course Management

Course categories

Course categories – an overview

Managing course categories

Adding course categories

Course sub-categories

Deleting course categories

Organizing courses and categories

Creating courses

Course requests – enabling teachers to ask for new courses

Managing courses in bulk

Forms of enrolment

Internal enrolment

Manual enrolment

Self enrolment

Guest access

Cohort enrolment and synchronization

Database-driven enrolment

LDAP

External databases

Flat files

The IMS Enterprise file

Meta courses – sharing enrolment across courses

Enrolment with payment

PayPal

Summary

5. User Management

User profiles

Profile fields

General category

User picture category

Additional names

Interests category

Optional category

Creating user-defined profile fields

Profile categories

Profile fields

User preferences

Standard user actions

Browsing users

Filtering users

Bulk user actions

Manual accounts

Adding individual users

Bulk uploading and updating of users and their pictures

The text file format

Required fields

Password

Optional fields

Custom profile fields

Enrolment fields

Cohort fields

System role

Special fields

Uploading users

Setting default values and templates

Loading of data

Uploading user pictures

Manual account settings

Cohorts

User authentication

Common authentication settings

Email-based self-registration

The LDAP server

The LDAP server settings

Data mapping

External databases

Connection settings

Data mapping

Other authentication mechanisms

External Moodle authentication methods

Internal Moodle authentication methods

Usernames – best practice

Summary

6. Managing Permissions – Roles and Capabilities

Moodle predefined roles

Contexts

Assigning roles

The System context

The Course Category context

The Course context

The Module context

The Block context

The User context

The Front page context

Multiple roles

Capabilities

Role definitions

Modifying roles

Overriding roles

Creating custom roles

Example roles

The parent/mentor role

Testing new roles

Roles management

Allowing roles assignments and overrides

Assigning of default roles

Moodle role assignment – best practice

Summary

7. Moodle Look and Feel

An overview of the look and feel

Site versus Dashboard

Customizing your front page

The front page settings

Arranging front page blocks

Logging in from a different website

Other front page items

Front page users

Front page filters

Front page reports

The front page backup and restore

Front page questions

The default Dashboard and Profile pages

Customizing navigation

Replacing the front page

Moodle themes

Fixed width versus fluid versus responsive themes

Selecting a Moodle theme

Theme types

Theme settings

Customizing themes

Theme customization basics

The Moodle editor

Configuring the Atto editor

Extending the functionality of tables

Supporting mathematical equations

Adding some awesomeness

Accessibility

Guaranteeing accessibility through Moodle themes

Accessibility support through the Moodle editor

Support for a screen reader

Summary

8. Moodle Plugins

Plugins – an overview

Module plugins

Activity modules

Configuring blocks

Configuring filters

Moodle repositories

Internal repository plugins

External repository plugins

Data storage repositories

Application repositories

Moodle portfolios

Miscellaneous plugins

Course formats

Question types and behaviors

Availability restrictions

Licences

Plagiarism prevention

Installing third-party plugins

Third-party software – an overview

Good add-ons and bad add-ons

Popular add-ons

Organizational decisions around plugins

Installing third-party add-ons

Installing the Collapsed Topics format plugin via the web interface

Installing the Configurable Reports plugin manually

Installing the Certificate module via Git

Installing plugins via the command line

Keeping plugins up to date

Uninstalling third-party add-ons

Summary

9. Moodle Configuration

Collaboration

Configuring blogs

Supporting comments

Managing tags

Configuring and managing badges

Adding badges

Supporting the LTI consumers and producers

Localization

Languages, idiomas, 语言, and اللغات

Language packs

Language settings

Language customization

Multilingual content

Calendaric information

Calendars

Time zones

Grades and gradebook settings

Miscellaneous educational settings

Communication

Synchronous communication

Instant messaging

Video conferencing

Asynchronous communication

Messaging configuration

Outbound messaging

E-mail configuration

The Jabber configuration

Mobile notifications

Default message output

Inbound messaging

Support contact

Configuration RSS feeds

Experimental settings

Summary

10. Moodle Logging and Reporting

Moodle's logging framework

Events

Event lists

Event monitoring rules

The log manager

The log store

Reports

An overview of reporting

Moodle's reporting facilities

Live logs

Error reports

Course and user reports

Statistics

Statistics settings

Statistics view

Report generation

Configurable reports

The Totara report builder

Data analysis

Web log analyzers

Google Analytics and Piwik

Miscellaneous reports

Summary

11. Moodle Security and Privacy

Security – an overview

Security notifications

Moodle notifications

Security report

User security

Access to Moodle

Self-registration

Guest access

Protection of user details

Course contacts

Moodle passwords

Security in roles

Spam prevention

Data and content security

Content created within Moodle

Visibility of content

Site policy

Antivirus

System security

Configuration security

Access to dataroot

The cron process

HTTP security

The IP blocker

Moodle privacy

Information stored about users

Information available to other users

Summary

12. Moodle Performance and Optimization

An overview of performance and optimization

The Moodle content

Content creation

Content volume

Content types

Moodle's filter settings

Moodle Universal Cache

The MUC background

Cache types

Cache stores

Cache definitions

MUC configuration and testing

The Moodle system settings

Session handling

Cron management and scheduled tasks

Module settings

Gradebook optimization

Chat optimization

Forums

Miscellaneous settings

Course backups

Log files

System paths

Front page courses

Roles and users

Moodle performance profiling and monitoring

Built-in profiling

System profiling

Summary

13. Backup and Restore

The course-level backup and restore

The course backup

Initial settings

Backup default values

Content-only backup versus full-course backup

Schema settings

Confirmation and review

Finalizing a backup

The course restore

The restore destination

Restore settings

The backup schema

Finalizing a restore

The course Import

Site-level backups

Backup settings

Backup reports and notifications

The backup strategy

Drawbacks of site-level backups

System-level backups

Moodle backups

The Moodle software

The Moodle data

Snapshot creation

Uses of backup and restore

The year-end procedure

Course templates

Summary

14. Moodle Admin Tools

Web-based admin tools

Upgrade tools

Database tools

Other tools

Command Line Interface (CLI)

Moosh – the Moodle shell

Moodle Adminer

Summary

15. Moodle Integration

Web services overview

Web services in Moodle

Enabling web services for external systems

Create a specific user

Check user capability

Select a service

Add functions

Select a specific user

Create a token for a user

Enable developer documentation

Test the service

Enabling web services for users

The Moodle mobile web service

Customizing styles for the Moodle app

Mobile app notifications

Summary

16. Moodle Networking

Networking overview

Networking prerequisites and security

Required PHP extensions

Networking security

Peer-to-peer networks

Adding a peer

Peer services

Profile fields

Network authentication

Allowing roaming

Network servers block

Network enrolment

Moodle hubs

Integrating Mahara or Totara Social

Mahoodle!

Mahara networking

Adding Mahara to Moodle

The Mahara portfolio

The Moodle Community Hub (Moodle.net)

Summary

A. Configuration Settings

Configuration reference: an overview

Configuration reference: administration settings

Configuration reference: system settings

Default parameters

Optional parameters

Index

Moodle 3 Administration Third Edition

Moodle 3 Administration Third Edition

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: September 2008

Second Edition: October 2011

Third Edition: February 2016

Production reference: 1240216

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78328-971-4

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Credits

Author

Alex Büchner

Reviewers

Chad Outten

Ian Rifkin

Shashikant Vaishnav

Acquisition Editors

Reshma Raman

Rebecca Youe

Content Development Editor

Rashmi Suvarna

Technical Editor

Shivani Kiran Mistry

Copy Editor

Sonia Cheema

Project Coordinator

Suzanne Coutinho

Proofreader

Safis Editing

Indexer

Tejal Daruwale Soni

Production Coordinator

Nilesh Mohite

Cover Work

Nilesh Mohite

About the Author

Alex Büchner is the co-founder and technical director of the Platinum Totara, Moodle, and Mahara partner, Synergy Learning. He has been involved in system and database administration for more than two decades and has been administering virtual learning environments of all shapes and sizes since their advent on the educational landscape.

Alex holds a PhD in computer science and an MSc in software engineering. He has authored over 50 international publications, including two books, and is a frequent speaker on Totara, Moodle, Mahara, and related open source technologies. His first two books on Moodle Administration by Packt Publishing have become the de facto standard on the topic.

The best learning experience in Moodle is provided when communication and collaboration is utilized. The same has been applied in writing this book, which would not have been possible without the support of the Packt editorial team.

I would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive feedback provided during the reviewing process. This book would not be the same without your comments and suggestions.

Special thanks must go to all my colleagues at Synergy Learning. No matter how tricky the Moodle problem, somebody will always be there to come up with a rock solid solution.

I have to thank all our customers. Without you, we wouldn't be aware of all the Moodle hitches and glitches that are out there. Keep them coming!

Last but not least, I have to thank AB + ab for their support and patience while I have been hiding away writing yet another book. I will make up for it. Promise!

About the Reviewers

Chad Outten is a qualified educator and technologist with more than 15 years of experience in the education and ICT sectors. He is the Managing Director at My Learning Space, an Australian e-learning company, and has worked closely with high-profile organizations such as eBay, Shell, Ricoh, iiNet, Rip Curl, and Queensland Health, among a diverse range of clients to help them improve staff performance and business outcomes through better learning, training, and compliance programs.

Chad is a Moodle certified teacher and has acted as a mentor and assessor for the internationally recognized Moodle Teacher Certification program. He is a proud member of the esteemed Particularly Helpful Moodlers and Quality Assurance Testers groups at moodle.org, and in 2008, he organized the Australian Moodle Moot. Chad is passionate about e-learning, admires educators, and understands the value of a good learning management system to address the challenges of 21st century education.

Ian Rifkin has experience with servers and applications (purchased, open source, and custom), and acts as a release engineer for his institution. He has in-depth knowledge of web application development and middleware integrations, including identity management systems. He is a developer and manager who has intimate knowledge of command-line Unix environments.

He has worked with Moodle as a student, faculty member, and administrator. Currently, he is employed as the software systems manager at Brandeis University, where he manages a small web team. He also holds a part-time adjunct instructor role for the Graduate Professional Studies division at Brandeis University, where he teaches web content management and web application development.

Ian holds an M.Sc. degree in information technology management and a BA degree in anthropology (with a minor in Internet studies). In his spare time, he enjoys computer games, genealogy research, baking, gardening, and spending time with his wife, Valerie, and son, Caleb.

Shashikant Vaishnav was born and brought up in Jodhpur, a desert town in Rajasthan, India. He's involved with a London-based Seedcamp-supported start-up, Shoprocket. It's an e-commerce system delivered over the cloud and integrates seamlessly into any application with a single line of code.

He is been involved with Moodle for quite a long time as a student. While an undergraduate, he participated in Google's Summer of Code program and integrated Apache Solr with Moodle. He also participated as a mentor in Google's Code-in program for the Sugar Labs organization.

He finished his graduation from the Government Engineering college Bikaner with a bachelor's of engineering and technology degree in computer science in 2013. His focus on academics aside, he harbors a deep interest in music and sports.

He loves to blog about his experiences with open source technology, travel, and life. He reads spiritual books, indulges in photography, and hacks around with open source projects.

He previously collaborated with Packt Publishing as a technical reviewer of Git Version Control Cookbook and Moodle 3 Administration Third Edition.

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Preface

Since its launch in 2002, Moodle has become the benchmark that every learning management system is measured against. It has won a wide range of international accolades and established itself as an ecosystem for a large number of educational tools and services.

Moodle 3 Administration, Third Edition is a complete, practical guide for administering Moodle sites. It covers setting up Moodle, configuration, and day-to-day administrative tasks as well as advanced options to customize and extend Moodle.

The author, who has been at the cutting edge of Moodle administration since its advent, has adopted a problem-solution approach to bring the content in line with your day-to-day operations. The practical examples will help you to set up Moodle for large organizations and small courses alike.

This is a one-stop reference for tasks that you will come across when administering a Moodle site of any shape or size. It not only covers core Moodle functionality, but also third-party tools and add-ons that will increase your flexibility and efficiency even further when dealing with administrative duties.

Why another book on Moodle administration? Since the second edition of the title in 2011, the system has been modified and extended significantly to cover all the relevant new functionality in Moodle 3.

What this book covers

Moodle has grown into a mature, sophisticated, and complex software system. As a result, Moodle Administration covers a wide range of topics. A fun way to demonstrate the various subjects is in the form of a tube/subway/metro/ underground map (under the Creative Commons license by Synergy Learning):

Chapter 1, Moodle Installation, tells you about the most suitable Moodle setup for your organization, including software and hardware requirements. You will learn how to install Moodle in three environments, namely, LAMP/Unix, Windows, and Mac OS, before Moodle updates options are covered in detail. Throughout the chapter, you will also learn how to perform some of the described operations using the Moodle Command-line Interface (CLI), Git, and Moodle Shell (Moosh).

Chapter 2, The Moodle System, covers the building blocks of the learning platform. First, we cover the Moodle architecture, that is, the main Moodle components and where its data and code is stored. We then provide you with the skills to find your way a round in Moodle via its intuitive user and administration interface. Finally, we deal with the management of files, which includes Moodle's standard file management, web host file management, and file management via the file system repository.

Chapter 3, Courses, Users, and Roles, gives you an overview of Moodle courses, users, and roles. It covers the basics of the three key concepts and demonstrates how the three core elements are inherently intertwined.

Chapter 4, Course Management, shows you how to set up new courses (also in bulk) and organize them in categories. The remainder of the chapter deals with an array of enrolment options, covering Moodle's internal enrolment (manual, self, and guest), cohort enrolment and synchronization, database-driven enrolment, for instance, via LDAP, meta courses, and payment-driven enrolments.

Chapter 5, User Management, explains how to manage users on your system. We first cover what user profiles look like and how they can be extended before presenting (manual and bulk) standard user actions. We then explain how to add users to Moodle manually, that is, one-by-one, and via batch upload before dealing with cohorts. Then, you will learn about a plethora of authentication mechanisms that Moodle equips us with. Finally, we discuss the best practices of user naming schemes.

Chapter 6, Managing Permissions – Roles and Capabilities, guides you through permission management. It applies roles and capabilities to users in different contexts. We will cover the assignment of roles, modification of existing roles, and creation of new roles before we deal with any administrative role-related settings.

Chapter 7, Moodle Look and Feel, tells you how to adapt your Moodle system to bring it in line with the corporate branding of your organization. We will cover the customization of the front page, basic creation of Moodle themes, and support for mobile devices via responsive themes. You will also learn how to configure the Moodle editor and support users with accessibility requirements.

Chapter 8, Moodle Plugins, explains in detail how to extend your Moodle system via third-party add-ons. You will be able to distinguish between good add-ons and not-so-good add-ons before we cover extensions that are popular with other users. We will then cover how to install, configure, and uninstall third-party add-ons. Plugins that are covered are activities, blocks and filters, repositories, portfolios, text editors, licenses, question types and behaviors, plagiarism prevention, licenses, and availability restrictions.

Chapter 9, Moodle Configuration, deals with the educational and technical configuration of your Moodle system. Pedagogical topics that are covered are badges, collaboration (blogs, comments and tags), LTI, localization, grades and gradebook settings, and a number of miscellaneous parameters. Technical subjects that are dealt with include synchronous communication (instant messaging and video conferencing), asynchronous communication (inbound and messaging as well as RSS feeds), and a number of experimental settings.

Chapter 10, Moodle Logging and Reporting, equips you with the tools that you require in order to interpret and analyze the vast amount of usage data that Moodle is collecting. You will learn about the logging framework and monitoring facilities provided by Moodle that include activity reporting, user tracking, and some basic statistics. Then, we will take a look at third-party tools that cover learning analytics, report generation, web log analyzers, and live data trackers such as Google Analytics and Piwik.

Chapter 11, Moodle Security and Privacy, focuses on ensuring that the data in your Moodle system is protected from any misuse. You will learn about security notifications, user security, data and content security, and system security. We will conclude the chapter with information on privacy and data protection concerns.

Chapter 12, Moodle Performance and Optimization, makes sure that your Moodle system runs to its full potential. We will cover configuring, monitoring, and fine-tuning your virtual learning environment for maximum speed. You will learn how to optimize Moodle content before we focus on system parameters, namely, caching via the Moodle Universal Cache (MUC), session handling, cron management, scheduled tasks, module settings, and miscellaneous settings. We also present some basic performance profiling and monitoring tools.

Chapter 13, Backup and Restore, focuses on ensuring that your data would not be lost in the event of a disaster. We will cover course backups, site backups, system backups, and restoring data from the taken data archives.

Chapter 14, Moodle Admin Tools, covers Moodle admin tools that assist you with certain specific administrative tasks. These include web-based helpers such as upgrade and database tools as well as CLI scripts. We will also be looking at some add-ons, especially the powerful Moodle Shell, Moosh.

Chapter 15, Moodle Integration, looks at ways to integrate Moodle with other systems via web services. We will provide information about the basic concepts of Moodle web services before you learn how to set up external systems and users controlling Moodle. This also covers the support for the official mobile app.

Chapter 16, Moodle Networking, tells you how to connect disparate Moodle and Totara systems either in a peer-to-peer setup or via a Moodle hub. You will also be able to apply the learned networking techniques to connect the popular open source e-portfolio system, Mahara, and the social learning tool, Totara Social, to Moodle. We will further show you how to connect to Moodle.net and set up your own community hub.

Appendix, Configuration Settings, provides you with a list of parameters that can be modified in Moodle's configuration file and the impact that each of these values will have. The areas covered are Administration Settings and System Settings.