Section 16.2. Backup


16.2. Backup

There's a saying in the computer industry: "There are two types of users, those who have lost data, and those that will." Eventually, a hard drive will fail or your database will collapse on your Moodle server and you will lose data. Fortunately, Moodle has an automated backup system that you can run on a nightly basis to export all the course materials for the entire site.

The backup tool in Moodle actually runs the same functions as an individual course backup. It simply runs automatically on all of the courses on the site at a designated time. It's a good idea to schedule backups for when your server isn't usually busy. Running the backup tool over all the courses can be processor-intensive, so you shouldn't run it when there are a lot of students trying to access the server.

There are two steps to setting up the backup. When you access the backup screen, the top section lets you set the types of material to be backed up. Again, the Moodle developers have done a good job of describing each setting. If you are running a nightly full-server backup (which I heartily recommend), I suggest you use the following settings:


Include Modules

Set this to "Yes with user data" to preserve all student work for each course.


Users

Set this to All. If you need to restore your Moodle server from a backup, you don't want to lose any accounts, even if they aren't associated with a current course.


User Files

Set this to Yes as well. You want the restored server to look as much like the original as possible, so all user files should be restored as well.


Course Files

Again, set this to Yes. You'll need to deal with a lot of angry teachers if they have to restore all of their course files after you restore the server.


Keep X Files

This setting determines how many old backups will be saved. Set this as high as you can without taking up too much space on your server. If you need to restore a course a few days after you run the backup (as I've had to a few times), you'll be glad you have a few weeks' worth of data.

Once you've set the backup settings, you'll need to set a backup schedule at the bottom of the screen. To set the backup schedule:

  1. Set Active to Yes. This turns on the automated backup system.

  2. Click the days of the week to run the backup. I recommend backing up every day.

  3. Set the execution time for the backup process. For most servers, early morning will be the best time.

  4. Set the "Save to..." path. If you can, choose a backup path on another machine or on a different drive than the one Moodle is on. You don't want to lose your backups at the same time you lose your Moodle site if the drive fails.

  5. Click Save Changes.

Once you've set up your backup sessions, Moodle will automatically create archives of all the courses on the server at the time you specified. Once the backup is complete, Moodle will send you an email describing the status of the backup.



Using Moodle
Using Moodle: Teaching with the Popular Open Source Course Management System
ISBN: 059652918X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 113

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