Migrate Moodle™ from Other Providers

This article guides you how to migrate Moodle instance from other providers (called old instance for short) to cloud MClusters (called cloud instance for short).

Prerequisites

Before any operations, please get configuration files config.php on both instances. The value of the checked settings should be recorded for later use in the migration process.

1. Back up old instance

1.1 Back up website files

We recommend using zip, and assume the backup file name is web_old.zip.

1.2 Back up data files

We recommend using zip, and assume the backup file name is data_old.zip.

1.3 Back up database

We recommend using mysqldump, and assume the backup file name is db_old.sql.

Note: The step has to be completed on the old instance. If you do not know how to operate, please contact your previous provider.

2. Transfer backups to cloud platform

Currently, 2 methods are available for file transfer: File Manager and FTPs. We recommend FTPs if the file size is over 50MB. Please get guides for both methods on the Guidance page on our Client Panel.

3. Restore site on cloud instance

3.1 Access CLI Console from the Shell/SSH page on our Client Panel

Note: Shell/SSH is available for verified customer account only. If the feature is greyed out, please complete your billing information first.

3.2 Restore website files and data files

• Backup existing cloud instance files

    mv /cloudclusters/moodle/html /cloudclusters/moodle/html_cloud
    mv /cloudclusters/moodle/moodledata /cloudclusters/moodle/moodledata_cloud
  

• Restore old instance files

    unzip /path/of/web_old.zip /cloudclusters/moodle/html
    unzip /path/of/data_old.zip /cloudclusters/moodle/moodledata
  

Note: If unzip is not recognized, please install it via command apt update && apt install -y unzip.

• Update configurations

    mv /cloudclusters/moodle/html/config.php /cloudclusters/moodle/html/config_old.php
    cp /cloudclusters/moodle/html_cloud/config.php /cloudclusters/moodle/html/config.php
  

  Update settings $CFG->prefix and $CFG->admin in config.php with values on old instance.

• Update file owner

    chown -R www-data:www-data /cloudclusters/moodle/html/
    chown -R www-data:www-data /cloudclusters/moodle/moodledata/
  

3.3 Restore database

• Backup the existing cloud instance database

  Assume the backup file name is db_cloud.sql.

    mysqldump -uadmin -p moodledatabase > /cloudclusters/moodle/html_cloud/db_cloud.sql
  

• Restore old database

    mysql -uadmin -p
    mysql> drop database moodledatabase;
    mysql> create database moodledatabase;
    mysql> use moodledatabase;
    mysql> source /path/of/db_old.sql
  

3.4 Restore domain and SSL settings

• Add the domain name of the old instance, such as moodle.yourdomain.com, on the Site & SSL page on our Client Panel, and make it as primary.

• Update DNS records from your name server.

• Enable Free SSL once DNS propagation completes.