This post shows students and new users the steps to install Moodle on Google Cloud servers running Ubuntu Linux. We have reviewed a series of posts beginning with registering a domain name, setting up a Google Cloud server, and installing software and packages to help us create a functional online course.
We are now ready to install Moodle to help us build our first professional and dynamic online courses and begin teaching our users and students the materials we create.
Moodle is an open source learning management platform written in PHP, designed to help educators create effective online courses and combined with a MySQL or MariaDB database. With Moodle, one can create online courses using free templates, plugins, and a support base to help one through the entire process.
This is the seventh post in this series that can be used as a beginner’s guide to learning how to create a website domain, configure a Google Cloud server with Ubuntu Linux, and install software and packages to create and run an online website.
In this series:
Now that you’ve learned how to create a website domain, set up a Google Cloud server, install Apache, Nginx, PHP, and MySQL or MariaDB, you can proceed below to tie it all together with Moodle.
When we started this series, we said that a web server enables content to be published and served to web clients and the public browsing your website. A PHP or server-side scripting language allows for a more functional and dynamic website. A database server enables you to store your website content efficiently.
Other programs and packages may also be required to enhance the functionality of a website. Next, we will show you how to install these tools with Moodle.
In our first post, we also said that after creating a domain name, it cannot be used until it is forwarded or pointed to a server. In the second post, we showed you how to point a domain to a server that we created. We then show you how to install software and packages to help us run an online website.
At this point, we are ready to connect to our Google Cloud server and install Moodle by linking the software and packages installed in our previous posts.
How to connect to Google Cloud servers
The Google Cloud (Compute Engine) server allows users to connect using SSH from the browser window to your virtual machine (VM) instance from within the Google Cloud Console.
Browser SSH supports the following:
- web browsers
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 and later
- Safari 8 and later. Please note that Safari in private browser mode is not supported.
- Virtual machine configurations
- All Linux VM images that are available natively on Google Cloud.
No additional software or browser extensions are required. Just log in to the Google Cloud Console and go to Menu ==> Compute Engine ==> VM instances.
In the list of virtual machine instances, click SSH in the row of the instance you want to connect to.
Alternatively, you can open an SSH connection to an instance by clicking its name and clicking SSH from the instance details page.
An SSH terminal window will open with the Ubuntu Linux instance that was created in the second posts in the series.
You should now be able to run commands on Ubuntu Linux created on the Google Cloud server.
How to Moodle on Google Cloud Servers
Installing and managing a Moodle on Ubuntu Linux is no different, whether it’s on Google Cloud servers or on a local VM instance.
Once you have installed all the necessary packages, Moodle can be configured directly from your browser by navigating to the server’s hostname or IP address.
In the following link you will find a detailed post and help on how to install Moodle on Ubuntu Linux with Apache or Nginx. Click on it for more information on how to install and manage Moodle on Ubuntu Linux.
How to install Moodle on Ubuntu Linux with Apache
How to install Moodle on Ubuntu Linux with Nginx
Each link above will show you all the steps we took in our previous posts to get here. You will also learn how to protect your Moodle website with free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.
If you follow the links above and go through all the steps involved, you should be able to create an online store using Moodle.
Conclusion:
This post is the final post in this series on installing Moodle on Ubuntu Linux on Google Cloud. If you find any errors above or have something to add, use the comment form below.
