Moodle Archive Server: Course backup

Important Note:  At the end of each semester, you should create a backup of your course(s) materials, and if you have student-generated content you would like to save, you should create a second backup including student work. You should also export all gradebooks. After making the backups, you will need to download them to your computer. You should then move the backup files to another device (e.g., external drive, thumb drive, etc.) for long-term storage. Please contact FITS (fits@depauw.edu or 765-658-1093) if you need assistance in doing so.

Courses taught prior to F19 are on the Moodle Archive server (Moodle 2.7). For courses hosted on the current Moodle server (Moodle 3.5), backup and restore instructions are here.

To Create a Moodle 2.7 Course Backup

  1. In the desired Moodle 2.7 course, click Backup under Course Administration in the Administration block.
    Image of Backing up a Course Moodle 2.7- Administration Block
  2. Make the following selections:
    1. At 1. Initial settings deselect the Include enrolled users box when backing up the course to restore it into Moodle 2.7. (Note: You may want to save another version of the course that includes student data for your records.)
    2. At the bottom of the window, click Next to start the back up process.
      Image of Backing up Course in Moodle 2.7-Initial Settings
  3. At 2. Schema settings, click Next at the bottom of the window.
  4. At 3. Confirmation and review, click Perform backup at the bottom of the window. This finishes the back process. (Note: Depending on your course size, this make take some time.)
  5. At 5. Complete, when the message The backup file was successfully created is displayed, click Continue (Note: 4. Perform backup will be completed automatically before the confirmation at step 5.)
    Image of Backup Course Moodle 2.7- Backup Complete
  6. The backup of the course has been saved in the User Private Backup Area below or the Course Backup Area above if student data was included. This is on the Restore page of the course, and the file name will include backup, the course name and number plus the current date.
    Image of Backup Course Moodle 2.7- Course Backup Area
  7. To restore your Moodle archive backup to the current Moodle server, save the backup to your computer by clicking on Download. You may then proceed to Restoring a Course to Moodle 3.5. Backups of courses from the Moodle Archive server restore in the same manner as backups from the current Moodle server.

Updated: 7/25/2023