backup and restore instructions from sandbox to production site
TRANSCRIPT
Backup and Restore Instructions
from Sandbox to Production Site
Generally the sandbox server is where you work on your course, making
changes until you have it the way you want it. But students do not have
access to the sandbox. The production site server
(http://cctx.mrooms.net/login/index.php) is where students access your
course. To make your course available to students, you must make a backup
of your sandbox course (if that is where your completed and updated course
resides) and restore the backup to the production site. Follow the instructions
on these pages to do everything needed. Every step is important, so do not
skip any steps!
To create a backup of your course located in the sandbox, complete the
following steps.
In the "Administration" block of your Sandbox course select “Backup” under
the "Course administration" heading.
Leave all of the others that are already enabled as they
are. Those enabled should be:
Include activities and resources
Include blocks
Include filters
Include calendar events (This keeps due dates.)
Include question bank (This keeps quizzes.)
Include groups and groupings (This can be enabled
even if you don’t use groups in your course.)
Include PLD data (This can be enabled even if you
didn’t create any alerts with PLD.)
Click the
Next button.
Do not enable “Include enrolled users” unless
you have special calendar events you added
(such as discussion forums). If that is the case,
make sure you are the only person enrolled in
your sandbox course (from Users in Settings
block). Then you can include enrolled users and
select calendar events to be backed up.
Note: If you have performed
backups a lot and are sure you
want no other changes, you can
click “Jump to final step” to start
the actual backup.
.”
Review backup settings and confirm options.
(Won’t appear if you clicked “Jump to final step”
button.)
Leave all items at the default settings unless you see
some empty units at the bottom that you don’t want to
include in your backup.
Click the
Next button.
(Won’t appear if you clicked “Jump to final step” button.)
Change filename of your backup file if desired. You must leave the
extension .mbz at the end of the filename.
(Won’t appear if you clicked
“Jump to final step” button.)
Scroll to bottom and click
Perform backup
Depending on the size of your
backup file, this could take a
few moments.
Uncheck
any empty
units
A timer bar appears to let you know
how long before the backup is
completed.
When "The backup file was successfully created"
message appears, click Continue.
(Depending on the size of your course you may
need to wait a few seconds.)
At this point the original backup copy is on the MoodleRooms Sandbox server. You need to
download it to your personal computer. (You will be restoring your downloaded backup to the
production site server later in these instructions.) After downloading the backup, you will delete
the original copy from the MoodleRooms Sandbox server so we can conserve file space on that
server.
Follow these steps:
You are finished making and downloading the backup of your course from the sandbox.
Click Download beside the backup to
start the process of downloading the
backup to your personal computer.
Choose to Save File.
Choose location to save your backup and type a
filename that is descriptive of the file. Then click Save.
Depending on the Windows version you have, it may
automatically save the file to the Downloads folder on
your computer instead of giving you a choice. If this
happens, just close the Downloads window when it has
finished downloading the backup file.
Then click OK.
Note the Size of your
backup file. If it is over
32 MB, you will have an
extra step to complete
during the restore
process.
Very important!
You need to delete the original backup copy that is still on the MoodleRooms server so we don’t
use valuable space needed for our course files. (We have to pay for the space we use on their
server, so we want to do everything we can to conserve that space.)
Follow these steps to delete the original backup located on the MoodleRooms server:
You can make additional backups of your course and download it to your personal computer
any time you make major changes to your course in the sandbox. Don’t forget to remove it from
the MoodleRooms server once you download it to your own computer.
Click the backup file you need to delete.
Click the Manage backup files
button.
Click Delete Click OK to confirm.
Click Save changes
Restore your backup to your “blank” course shell on the “Production Site” server.
Go to cctx.mrooms.net (the Production Site server) and log into your empty course that students
will have access to by clicking on your course. (Another quick way to get to the Production Site
server is by clicking the Login to Online Classes button on Clarendon Colleges home page.)
Important! Complete the following extra steps on this page if the size of your backup file was
over 32 MB in size.
You are now ready to begin the restore process.
Increase the Maximum upload size to something
above your actual backup file size.
Click Save changes
Your course should be “grayed out,”
indicating it is not currently available to
students.
Instructions for making it available to
them is included at the end of this
handout.
Your empty course on the Production site
server will look similar to this.
You will be replacing the empty units with
your own course content during the
replace process beginning on the next
page of these instructions.
Click Edit settings in the Administration
block.
Click to Choose a file to find and select the backup you
made from the sandbox. (If you feel comfortable doing so,
you can use the drag and drop feature.)
First, choose to Upload a file
Then click Browse
In the Administration block under
Course administration select Restore.
Use the following steps if you
clicked Choose a file
Locate and select your backup file. Then click
Open
If you have Windows 7 on your computer, the
file should be in the Downloads folder.
Make sure the name of the backup
file is in the Attachment textbox.
Click to Upload this file.
Look through the backup details page to make sure everything is correct. Scroll to the bottom
and click Continue
When the name of the backup file
appears in the Import a backup file
window, click to Restore.
Scroll to the bottom and
click Continue
If you receive any error messages, contact Will Thompson, the Moodle administrator, at
In the Restore into this course section, choose to
Delete the contents of this course and then restore.
Then click Continue.
Click Next
Scroll to bottom and click
Perform restore.
(Depending on the size of your
backup file, this may take a
few minutes.)
When your course is restored, click
Continue to open your course.
Scroll to bottom and click
Next
Do not change whatever Course startdate is here.
Choose Yes for Keep current roles and enrolments
Choose No for Keep current groups and groupings.
Choose No for Overwrite course configuration.
Check these course settings
Some of these course settings will need to be changed on your production site course.
Continue tweaking your course on the production site as the semester progresses. If you made
quite a few changes, you may want to back up the production site version of your course and
use that backup to restore to your Sandbox course so you can be making date and other
changes there to get it ready to backup for the next semester. Or keep the backup to restore to
your new production site version once it becomes available for the next semester.
Set to course Format to Folder View format
Leave Visible choice at “Hide” until you are ready for students to start accessing your class. (Change it to “Show” when you are ready for them to access it.)
Set to correct number of units in your course so you don’t have some extra “empty” units at the bottom of your course content.
Set Completion tracking to it is enabled. Otherwise, checkmarks will NOT appear to students and you cannot change any completion tracking for activities.
Click Edit settings in the Administration block.
Click Save and display when finished making the editing changes.