Introduction

Moodle is a popular open-source Learning Management System (LMS) written in PHP. It enables educational institutions and organizations to create and manage online learning environments.

This guide explains how to install Moodle on Ubuntu 14.04 using Apache, PHP-FPM, and MariaDB (or MySQL). PHP-FPM is used instead of the default Apache PHP module to provide better performance and improved resource management.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • Ubuntu 14.04 server
  • Root or sudo access
  • Apache web server
  • MariaDB or MySQL
  • PHP 5.x with PHP-FPM
  • Internet connectivity to download Moodle

Implementation

Step 1: Install Required Packages

Install Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and PHP-FPM.

sudo apt-get install apache2 mariadb-server php5 libapache2-mod-fastcgi php5-fpm

Install the remaining Moodle dependencies.

sudo apt-get install graphviz aspell php5-pspell php5-curl php5-gd php5-intl php5-mysql php5-xmlrpc php5-ldap git-core

Step 2: Configure Apache with PHP-FPM

Enable the required Apache proxy modules.

cp -p /etc/apache2/mods-available/proxy.* /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/
cp -p /etc/apache2/mods-available/proxy_fcgi.load /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/

Add the following line inside your Apache Virtual Host configuration.

ProxyPassMatch ^/(.*\.php(/.*)?)$ fcgi://127.0.0.1:9000/var/www/html/$1

Configure PHP-FPM to listen on a TCP port.

Edit:

vi /etc/php5/fpm/pool.d/www.conf

Comment the default socket configuration:

listen = /var/run/php5-fpm.sock

Add:

listen = 127.0.0.1:9000

Restart the services.

service apache2 restart
service php5-fpm restart

Step 3: Download Moodle

Navigate to the installation directory.

cd /opt

Clone the Moodle repository.

git clone git://git.moodle.org/moodle.git

Move into the Moodle directory.

cd moodle

List available branches.

git branch -a

Track the latest stable branch (example).

git branch --track MOODLE_31_STABLE origin/MOODLE_31_STABLE

Switch to the stable release.

git checkout MOODLE_31_STABLE

Step 4: Configure Moodle Files

Copy Moodle to the Apache document root.

cp -R /opt/moodle/* /var/www/html/

Create the Moodle data directory.

mkdir /var/moodledata

Set ownership and permissions.

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/moodledata
chmod -R 777 /var/moodledata
chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/moodle

Restart Apache.

service apache2 restart

Step 5: Configure the Database

Using MariaDB

Verify that InnoDB is the default storage engine.

SHOW ENGINES;

Create the Moodle database.

CREATE DATABASE moodle
DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8
COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;

Create the database user.

GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE,
CREATE TEMPORARY TABLES, DROP, INDEX, ALTER
ON moodle.*
TO 'moodle_user'@'localhost'
IDENTIFIED BY 'passwordformoodle_user';

Flush privileges.

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

The same database configuration can also be performed using MySQL.

Step 6: Complete the Moodle Installation

Temporarily update the permissions.

chmod -R 777 /var/www/

Open your browser and access:

http://<server-ip-address>

During the installation wizard, configure:

SettingValue
Database TypeMariaDB or MySQL (mysqli)
Database Hostlocalhost
Database Namemoodle
Database Usermoodle_user
Database Passwordpasswordformoodle_user
Table Prefixmdl_

Complete the environment checks and follow the installation wizard to create the administrator account.

After installation, restore secure permissions.

chmod -R 755 /var/www/

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Moodle on Ubuntu 14.04 using Apache, PHP-FPM, and MariaDB. This setup provides a reliable and high-performance platform for hosting Moodle. Once the installation is complete, you can begin configuring courses, users, and plugins to build your learning environment.

Note: Ubuntu 14.04, PHP 5.x, and Moodle 3.1 are now end-of-life. For new deployments, consider using a supported Ubuntu LTS release, PHP 8.x, and the latest stable version of Moodle to benefit from security updates and improved performance.

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