Local Moodle Environment Setup for LTI Development

This guide will help developers quickly establish a consistent and reliable Moodle environment for development purposes.

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Warning:

The setup uses a docker-compose file based on configurations that Bitnami provided under the Apache License, Version 2.0. You can find the original configuration in the Bitnami GitHub repository. Usage of the Moodle™ trademark within this guide does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by Moodle HQ, which maintains the Moodle LMS independently.

Prerequisites

• Ensure your system meets the minimum Docker and Docker Compose requirements. Refer to the official Docker documentation for system requirements.
• If you don't have Docker installed on your system, follow the installation instructions for your specific platform on the Docker website.
• Docker Compose is a separate tool bundled with Docker on some platforms, but you might need to install it separately on others. Refer to the Docker Compose installation guide for details.

Setup Instructions

Moodle requires access to a MySQL or MariaDB database to store information. The local setup uses the pinned MariaDB image defined in the repository root .env file.

To initialize your Moodle environment, run the following command from the repository root:

docker compose --env-file .env -f docker/moodle/moodle.yml up

This command will download the necessary Docker images and initialize the Moodle instance with the specified environment and configurations.

Configuration

When you start the Moodle image, you can adjust the instance's configuration by passing one or more environment variables in the compose file. Version pins for the Moodle and MariaDB images are configured centrally in the repository root .env file.

Available environment variables

• MOODLE_USERNAME: Moodle application username. Default: user
• MOODLE_PASSWORD: Moodle application password. Default: bitnami
• MOODLE_EMAIL: Moodle application email. Default: user@example.com
• MOODLE_SITE_NAME: Moodle site name. Default: New Site
• MOODLE_SKIP_BOOTSTRAP: Do not initialize the Moodle database for a new deployment. This setting is necessary if you use a database with Moodle data. Default: no
• MOODLE_HOST: Allows you to configure Moodle's wwwroot feature. Ex: example.com. By default, it is a PHP superglobal variable. Default: $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']
• MOODLE_REVERSEPROXY: Allows you to activate the reverse proxy feature of Moodle. Default: no
• MOODLE_SSLPROXY: Allows you to activate the sslproxy feature of Moodle. Default: no
• MOODLE_LANG: Allows you to set the default site language. Default: en

Customization

You can customize the Moodle port number in docker/moodle/moodle.yml.

moodle:
    image: docker.io/bitnamilegacy/moodle:${MOODLE_VERSION}
    ports:
        - '8085:8080'
        - '443:8443'

Accessing Moodle

You can access your local Moodle instance over localhost:port in the browser. The default configuration sets it to http://localhost:8085/.

Troubleshooting

Configuring Time Zone

For LTI 1.3 integration, accurate timing for tokens is crucial. Set the time zone in the moodle.yml file to ensure the correct local time.

For example, to align the Docker container's operations with Berlin's local time, which follows Central European Time (CET) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST) in summer:

environment:
    - TZ=Europe/Berlin

This setting ensures that all operations within the Docker container, including token generation and expiration, adhere to the Central European Time zone.