The Lambda Solutions eLearning Blog

AWS Moodle™ Installation Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Written by Lambda Solutions | Sep 20, 2023

Moodle™, the popular open-source learning management system (LMS), is widely used by educators and institutions to deliver online courses. If you're considering hosting Moodle on Amazon Web Services (AWS), you're in the right place. In this step-by-step guide, we'll walk you through the process of installing Moodle on AWS, ensuring a reliable and scalable learning environment.

Prerequisites

Before you start the installation process, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

  1. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account: You'll need an AWS account to create and manage the necessary resources.

  2. Amazon EC2 Instance: Set up an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance to host Moodle. Ensure you select an appropriate instance type based on your anticipated workload.

  3. Domain Name: Have a domain name registered and configured to point to your AWS instance's IP address.

  4. SSH Key Pair: Create an SSH key pair to securely connect to your EC2 instance.

Step 1: Launch an EC2 Instance

  1. Log in to your AWS Management Console.
  2. Navigate to the EC2 dashboard.
  3. Launch a new instance, choosing the appropriate Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for Moodle (e.g., Bitnami Moodle).

Step 2: Configure Security Groups

  1. Create a new security group for your EC2 instance.
  2. Configure inbound rules to allow traffic on ports 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP), and 443 (HTTPS).

Step 3: Connect to Your EC2 Instance

Use your SSH key pair to connect to your EC2 instance. The command typically looks like this:

ssh -i your-key.pem ec2-user@your-instance-ip

Step 4: Install Moodle

  • Update your server's package lists:
    sudo apt update
  • Install necessary software:
    sudo apt install apache2 mariadb-server php php-mysql libapache2-mod-php php-gd php-xmlrpc php-mbstring php-soap php-intl php-zip php-curl
  • Download and unpack the latest Moodle version:
    wget https://download.moodle.org/download.php/stableXY/moodle-latest-stableXY.tgz
    tar -zxvf moodle-latest-stableXY.tgz -C /var/www/html/
  • Create a Moodle data directory:
    sudo mkdir /var/moodledata
    sudo chmod 0777 /var/moodledata

    1. Configure the Moodle web installer through your browser by navigating to your domain.

    Step 5: Complete the Moodle Installation

    1. Follow the web installer prompts to set up your database, admin user, and other Moodle settings.

    2. Once installation is complete, log in to your Moodle site.

    Step 6: Configure Additional Settings

    1. To optimize performance and security, configure server settings, install plugins, and customize your Moodle site as needed.

     

    Installing Moodle on Amazon Web Services provides a scalable and reliable platform for online learning. By following this step-by-step guide, you can set up Moodle on AWS and create a powerful e-learning environment to meet your educational needs. Enjoy the flexibility and scalability that AWS offers for hosting your Moodle site.

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