How to install Moodle on OpenBSD

Moodle is a popular open-source learning management system widely used in educational institutions. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to install Moodle on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation, you need to make sure that:

• You have root access to the OpenBSD server.
• Apache and PHP are installed and running on your OpenBSD system.

Step 1: Install the required packages

Open the terminal on your OpenBSD system and run the following command to update the package list:

# pkg_add -u

Next, install the required packages for Moodle to function properly:

# pkg_add apache php php-mysql mariadb-server mariadb-client

Step 2: Install Moodle

1. Download the latest stable version of Moodle from the official website: https://download.moodle.org/

$ wget https://download.moodle.org/stable39/moodle-latest-39.tgz

2. Extract downloaded package:

$ tar -xzf moodle-latest-39.tgz

3. Move the extracted moodle directory to the web root directory:

# mv moodle /var/www/htdocs/

4. Set the proper ownership and permissions for the Moodle directory:

# chown -R www:www /var/www/htdocs/moodle
# chmod -R 755 /var/www/htdocs/moodle

Step 3: Configure Apache

1. Open the httpd.conf file in your favorite text editor:

# vi /etc/httpd.conf

2. Add the following lines to the httpd.conf file to enable PHP and configure VirtualHost:

LoadModule php7_module        modules/libphp7.so
AddHandler php7-script php
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html
Listen 80

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin [your_email_address]
    DocumentRoot /var/www/htdocs/moodle
    ServerName [your_Moodle_website_name]
    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/error_log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/access_log combined
    DirectoryIndex index.php index.html
    <Directory "var/www/htdocs/moodle">
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

3. Save the file and exit.

4. Restart the Apache web server:

# rcctl reload httpd

Step 4: Configure MariaDB

1. Run the following command to start the MariaDB server:

# rcctl start mysqld

2. Create a new database for Moodle:

# mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE DATABASE moodle;
MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON moodle.* TO 'moodleuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
MariaDB [(none)]> EXIT;

Note: Replace password with a secure password of your choice.

Step 5: Finish the installation

1. In your web browser, navigate to http://your_Moodle_website_name.

2. Follow the installation wizard steps to install and configure Moodle.

3. During the installation, provide the MariaDB database details you created in Step 4.

4. After the installation, log in to the Moodle admin panel using your admin credentials.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Moodle on OpenBSD. You can now start creating course content and enroll students.

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