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Moodle requires that a webserver, PHP and a supported database be installed to run on Windows. This may be achieved by using EasyPHP, a package that bundles all the software you need in the form of Apache (webserver), PHP and MySQL (database) into a single Windows application. Please note however, that EasyPHP is not designed to be used for a production server. Here are the steps from start to finish.

===Preparation===

# Firstly, if you have ever installed MySQL before (even as part of another package), uninstall it all, delete all the MySQL files and make sure you delete ''c:\my.cnf'' and ''c:\windows\my.ini''. You might want to do a search and delete ANY file called ''my.cnf'' or ''my.ini''.
# If you've ever installed PHP before delete any files called php4ts.dll from around your Windows directory, as well as any files called php.ini.
===Get EasyPHP===
# Download EasyPHP from here: [http://www.easyphp.org/easyphp-devserver.php EasyPhp DevServer 13.1]

===Install EasyPHP 1.7 - Note: Obsolete version. See Section Below.===
# Run the downloaded file: ''easyphp1-7_setup.exe''. The installation process is in French but is much like installing any other Windows program - I advise accepting the defaults and letting it all install. Note: that "Suivant" means Next and "Oui" means Yes.
# At the end of the install leave the checkbox selected to "Lancer EasyPHP" (Start EasyPHP) and hit the "Terminer" button. You might be taken to a information web page which you can safely ignore.
# If all went well - congratulations! Apache, PHP and MySQL are all installed and running! You should see a black E in your toolbar tray. You can right click on it to get a menu which will let you control the running programs, but you won't be needing that for now.
#Some things may be in French and you may prefer English. You can download this file http://www.easyphp.org/telechargements/dn.php?F=indexUS_1.7 which contains English versions of www and home folder in the EasyPHP1-7 folder. These can be copied over the default files.

    contains English versions of www and home folder in the EasyPHP1-7 folder. These can be copied over the default files.

===Install EasyPHP 1.13===

# Run the downloaded file: EasyPHP-DevServer-13.1VC9-setup.exe (or whatever the current version is). It will prompt you to select your language. I choose all of the other defaults. Note: VC9 is for Windows XP to Windows 8. VC11 is for Windows 7 & 8.
# At the end of the install leave the checkbox selected to "Start EasyPHP".
# If you experience an error starting EasyPHP, it might be because inetinfo.exe is running. Bring up Windows Task Manager by typing CTRL+ALT+DELETE. Find inetinfo.exe in the task list, highlight it and click "End Process." Right-click on the EASYPHP icon and restart the process.
# If all went well - congratulations! Apache, PHP and MySQL are all installed and running! You should see a black E in your toolbar tray. Right click on it to get a menu which will let you control the running programs.
# Configure PHP to extend the max execution from 30 seconds to something more, otherwise your installation will fail due to exceeding this 30 second time limit.

===Create a database===
#  The next thing you need to do is to set up a database for Moodle to use. Right-click the black E in the toolbar tray and choose Administration, then click DB Management (beside PHPMyAdmin). Alternatively, using a browser, go to http://localhost/mysql/ (note the final slash).
# If asked for a username, use "''root''" with a ''blank password''. You should see a phpMyAdmin web interface that allows you to create a new databases and user accounts.
# Create a new database by typing "moodle" into the field and hitting the "Create" button and don't forget to specify a utf-8 collation for the database being created. That was easy!
# You can also create a new user to access your database if you want. This can be a bit tricky for a first-time user, so you might just want to use the existing user "root" with no password in your Moodle config for now, and fix this later.

===Get Moodle!===
# You're ready to install Moodle! Download the latest release of Moodle from [http://moodle.org/download Moodle.org], then unzip the archive.
=== Installing Moodle===
# Copy your moodle files into the directory where you installed EasyPhP ''C:\Program Files\EasyPHP\www'' or ''C:\Program Files\EasyPHP-DevServer-13.1VC9\data\localweb'' for the newst EasyPHP version. You can either copy the entire moodle directory (ie ''C:\Program Files\EasyPHP\www\moodle'') or copy all the ''contents'' of the moodle directory. If you choose this second option then you will be able to access your Moodle home page using ''<nowiki>http://localhost/</nowiki>'' instead of ''<nowiki>http://localhost/moodle/</nowiki>''.
# Make a new empty folder somewhere else for Moodle to store uploaded files in, eg: ''C:\moodledata''
# Go into your Moodle folder. Make a copy of ''config-dist.php'', and call it ''config.php''
====Edting the the config.php file==== Edit ''config.php'' using a text editor (Notepad will do, just be careful that it doesn't add unwanted spaces at the end).
# Put in all your new database info:
#  $CFG->dbtype = 'mysql';
#* $CFG->dbhost = 'localhost';
#* $CFG->dbname = 'moodle';
#* $CFG->dbuser = 'root';
#* $CFG->dbpass = <nowiki>''</nowiki>;
#* $CFG->dbpersist = true;
#* $CFG->prefix = 'mdl_';
# And put in all your file paths
#* $CFG->wwwroot = 'http://localhost/moodle'; // Use an external address if you know it.
#* $CFG->dirroot = 'C:\Program Files\EasyPHP\www\moodle';
#* $CFG->dataroot = 'C:\moodledata';
#Save config.php - you can ignore the other settings if there are any.

===The web based installer===
# You're nearly there now! The rest of the setup is all web-based. Visit ''<nowiki>http://localhost/moodle/admin/</nowiki>'' with your browser to continue the setup via your browser.
# To use zip files with Moodle (for example the backups use zip) you might need to enable "zlib". You can do this by going to your EasyPHP directory (C:\Program Files\EasyPHP), and running the program phpini.exe in there. Put a mark in the checkbox next to "zlib.dll". Close that window, then go to the black E in your toolbar and right-click it to get a menu - select "Restart" from this menu.
===Setting a Cron===
# Lastly, you need to set up some sort of cron. See the [[Installing Moodle#Set up cron|Installation guide]] for more details on this.
===Tips===
If you don't or can't use EasyPHP, here are a few tips to make sure your PHP is set up correctly and avoid common problems:
*  Make sure you enable the GD module so Moodle can process images - you may have to edit php.ini and remove the comment (;) from this line: 'extension=php_gd2.dll'.
* Make sure you enable the Zlib module so that you can create and unpack zip files from within Moodle.
* Make sure sessions is turned on - you may have to edit php.ini and fix the directory for ''session.save_path'' - instead of the default "/tmp" use a Windows directory like "c:/temp".

[[Category:Administrator]]
[[Category:Installation]]