Moodle: Deployment Guide

Moodle
Moodle
Deployment Guide
VERSION: 6.0
UPDATED: MARCH 2016
Moodle
Copyright Notices
Copyright © 2002-2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc.. All rights reserved.. KEMP Technologies and the KEMP
Technologies logo are registered trademarks of KEMP Technologies, Inc..
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and documentation. The use of the LoadMaster Exchange appliance is subject to the license agreement.
Information in this guide may be modified at any time without prior notice.
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about the accuracy of this information. If any material errors or inaccuracies should occur in this document,
KEMP Technologies will, if feasible, furnish appropriate correctional notices which Users will accept as the
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KEMP Technologies cannot be held liable for any loss, injury or damage of any kind, present or prospective,
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Portions of this software are; copyright (c) 2004-2006 Frank Denis. All rights reserved; copyright (c) 2002
Michael Shalayeff. All rights reserved; copyright (c) 2003 Ryan McBride. All rights reserved.
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Portions of the LoadMaster software are copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc. -51
Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA- and KEMP Technologies Inc. is in full compliance
of the GNU license requirements, Version 2, June 1991. Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute
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Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

Moodle
Portions of this software are Copyright (C) 1988, Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice
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WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
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Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated
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CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,
ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
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Portions of this software are Copyright (C) 1995-2004, Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler
This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the authors be
held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software.
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WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Used, under license, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,473,802, 6,374,300, 8,392,563, 8,103,770, 7,831,712, 7,606,912, 7,346,695, 7,287,084 and
6,970,933

Moodle
Table of Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Document Purpose ................................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Intended Audience .................................................................................................................. 5
1.3 Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................... 5
2 Deployment Options ....................................................................................................................... 6
3 Recommended Configuration ......................................................................................................... 7
4 Moodle Template............................................................................................................................ 8
5 Configure the LoadMaster .............................................................................................................. 9
5.1 Create a HTTP Virtual Service ................................................................................................. 9
5.2 Create a HTTPS Virtual Service.............................................................................................. 11
5.3 Other Virtual Service Configuration Options ........................................................................ 13
5.3.1 Transparency and Non-Transparency ........................................................................... 13
5.3.2 Session Persistence ....................................................................................................... 14
5.4 Moodle Server Configuration................................................................................................ 15
5.4.1 Routing .......................................................................................................................... 15
5.4.2 Moodle SSL Configuration............................................................................................. 15
References ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Document History ................................................................................................................................. 18

Moodle
Introduction
1 Introduction
Moodle is a free open-source software e-learning platform. It is designed to provide educators,
administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create
personalized learning environments.
Moodle is designed to scale and can accommodate extremely large user communities. The KEMP
LoadMaster makes scaling Moodle simpler by load balancing user traffic and offloading the
security overhead.
1.1 Document Purpose

This document provides steps on how to configure the KEMP LoadMaster to load balance the
Moodle platform. This document does not address the deployment of Moodle clusters and
assumes a working knowledge of Moodle configuration editing and some basic LoadMaster
skills. For further information on LoadMaster configuration in general, refer to the
Documentation on the KEMP Support site: https://support.kemptechnologies.com.
1.2 Intended Audience

This document is intended to be read by anyone who is interested in learning about how to load
balance the Moodle platform using a KEMP LoadMaster.
1.3 Prerequisites
There are some requirements that must be met before configuring the LoadMaster to load
balance Moodle:
 The Moodle server(s) must be set up and configured correctly. For more information,
please refer to the Moodle documentation.
 The Active Directory server must be set up and configured correctly. For more
information, please refer to the Microsoft documentation.

Moodle
Deployment Options
2 Deployment Options
A number of options are available to deploy a load balancer in a Moodle environment. These are
described below:
 SSL offload and load balancing: The LoadMaster terminates the SSL session and
communicates with the appropriate server over HTTP. This approach ensures that all
content is SSL encrypted.
 SSL re-encrypt and load balancing: The LoadMaster decrypts incoming traffic and re-
encrypts when forwarding balanced traffic to the Moodle servers.
 Layer 4 SSL balancing: The LoadMaster balances SSL encrypted traffic between the
Moodle servers. All SSL processing is performed by the Moodle servers.
 Load balancing (without SSL offload): In some situations you may not want the
LoadMaster to handle SSL offloading.
This document provides step-by-step instructions for the first and last options above. For further
help on configuring the other methods, please contact KEMP Support.

Moodle
Recommended Configuration
3 Recommended Configuration
Figure 3-1: Example Moodle Topology
A one-arm or two-arm topology can be set up. It is also possible to have a High Availability (HA)
setup which will provide redundancy. For more information on HA and how to configure it, refer
to the High Availability (HA), Feature Description.

Moodle
Moodle Template
4 Moodle Template
KEMP have developed a template containing our recommended settings for Moodle. This
template can be installed on the LoadMaster and can be used when creating each of the Virtual
Services. Using a template automatically populates the settings in the Virtual Services. This is
quicker and easier than manually configuring each Virtual Service. If needed, changes can be
made to any of the Virtual Service settings after using the template.
Released templates can be downloaded from the KEMP documentation page:
http://kemptechnologies.com/documentation.
If you create another Virtual Service using the same template, ensure to
change the Service Name to a unique name.
For more information and steps on how to import and use templates, refer to the Virtual
Services and Templates, Feature Description.
For steps on how to manually add and configure each of the Virtual Services, refer to Section 5.

Moodle
Configure the LoadMaster
5 Configure the LoadMaster

Either a HTTP or HTTPS service can be set up, depending on the requirements. Follow the
instructions in the relevant section below to set up the relevant Virtual Service.
5.1 Create a HTTP Virtual Service

In the main menu of the LoadMaster Web User Interface (WUI), follow the steps below:
1. Select Virtual Services.
2. Click Add New.
Figure 5-1: Virtual Service Parameters
3. Enter a valid Virtual Address.

4. Enter 80 as the Port.
5. Enter a recognizable name, for example HTTP_Moodle.
6. Click Add this Virtual Service.
7. Expand the Advanced Properties section.
Figure 2: Advanced Properties
8. Select 302 Found as the Error Code.

9. Enter https://%h%s and click Set Redirect URL.
10. Expand the Standard Options section.

Moodle
Figure 3: Standard Options
11. Remove the tick from the Transparency check box.

12. Expand the Real Servers section.
13. Click Add New.
Figure 5-4: Real Server Parameters
14. Enter the IP address of the back-end servers in the Real Server Address text box.
16. Click Add this Real Server.
17. Click OK.
18. Repeat the last four steps to add the other Real Servers.

Moodle
5.2 Create a HTTPS Virtual Service
Figure 5-5: SSL offload and load balancing
With this option, all client traffic is encrypted using SSL with the SSL being terminated on the
LoadMaster. The LoadMaster balances the unencrypted traffic between the Moodle servers and
re-encrypts the server replies to the client.
In the main menu of the LoadMaster WUI, follow the steps below:
1. Select Virtual Services.
2. Select Add New.
Figure 5-6: Virtual Service Parameters
3. Enter a valid Virtual Address.

5. Enter a recognizable Service Name, such as HTTPS_Moodle.
6. Click Add this Virtual Service.
7. Expand the SSL Properties section.

Moodle
Figure 5-7: SSL Properties
8. Select Enabled.
9. Click OK.
10. In the Certificates section, select the relevant certificate and click the right arrow to
move it to the Assigned Certificates box.
The self-signed certificate should be replaced with a proper certificate/key

pair before deployment into a production environment. A single certificate
secures all communications regardless of the number of Moodle servers
deployed.
If there are no certificates listed, one will need to be uploaded. For further
information on certificates, including steps on how to import and generate
one, refer to the SSL Accelerated Services, Feature Description.
11. Click Set Certificates.

12. Expand the Standard Options section.
Figure 5-8: Standard Options

Moodle
13. Select Super HTTP as the Persistence Mode.

14. Expand the Real Servers section.
Figure 5-9: Real Servers Section
15. Click Add New.
Figure 5-10: Real Server Parameters
16. Enter the IP address of the Moodle server in the Real Server Address text box.
18. Click Add This Real Server.
19. Click OK.
20. Repeat steps 16 to 19 to add other Real Servers as needed.
5.3 Other Virtual Service Configuration Options

There are other Virtual Service configuration options to consider, such as transparency and
session persistence which are referred to in the sections below.
5.3.1 Transparency and Non-Transparency

A LoadMaster can be deployed in transparent or non-transparent mode. Transparent mode
provides detailed client IP address information in the logs but it requires more configuration
than non-transparent mode. Non-transparent mode requires no changes on the Moodle servers,
but the Moodle logs will show all traffic as coming from the LoadMaster. The table below
outlines some differences between transparent and non-transparent mode.

Moodle
Transparent Non-Transparent
The Moodle server sees the client IP address as the The Moodle server sees all requests as coming from the
source of a HTTP request. LoadMaster.
The Moodle server must route all responses to the The Moodle server replies directly back to the
client IP address via the LoadMaster. This requires LoadMaster without any routing changes.
a routing change on the Moodle Server to either:
 Set the default route (gateway) to be
the LoadMaster, or;
 Create static routes for each client
subnet
In practice, setting the default route to be the
LoadMaster is the easiest option.
The Moodle logs contain the source IP address of The Moodle logs show all traffic as coming from the
the client. LoadMaster.
Figure 5-11: Standard Options
Transparency can be enabled/disabled in the Standard Options section of the Virtual Service
modify screen.
5.3.2 Session Persistence

Depending on the configuration of the Moodle cluster, it may be desirable for a user to be
continually served from the same Moodle server. By default, the LoadMaster will not use any
persistence mechanism and a client request may be serviced by any of the Moodle servers in the
cluster. Setting the Persistence Mode to Super HTTP will ensure that a client is serviced by the
same server until the timeout period is reached. When using persistence, the Persistence
Timeout value must match the inactivity timeout set in Moodle.

Moodle
5.4 Moodle Server Configuration
Please ensure you have a restorable backup of any configuration before

making these changes.
5.4.1 Routing
If using transparent mode in the LoadMaster, each Moodle server needs a routing update to
provide a route back to the client via the LoadMaster. This can be implemented as a default
route that points to the LoadMaster IP address or routes for the client subnet(s).
If using non-transparent mode on the LoadMaster, no routing changes are required.
5.4.2 Moodle SSL Configuration

The Moodle environment needs to be configured to support SSL proxies and to ensure that all
URLs are HTTPS rather than HTTP. This configuration is stored in config.php which is located in
the moodle/htdocs directory. Two changes are required to this file, as follows:
1. Configure Moodle to not do any SSL processing because that is being performed by the
LoadMaster.
$CFG->sslproxy = 1;
2. Tell Moodle to rewrite all URLs with HTTPS (as this is not done in the LoadMaster in a
Moodle configuration). The config.php file usually selects the reply protocol based on
the client request protocol. Update the code to ensure that all replies are HTTPS.
Before:
if ($_SERVER['HTTPS'] == 'on') {
$CFG->wwwroot = 'https://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/moodle';
} else {
$CFG->wwwroot = 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/moodle';
};
After:
if ($_SERVER['HTTPS'] == 'on') {
} else {
};

Moodle
The only change in the code is to add an s to the end of http in the else part of the if statement.
Changing the http:// to https:// ensures that all URLs are prefixed by the correct protocol.

Moodle
References
References
Unless otherwise specified, the following documents can be found at
http://kemptechnologies.com/documentation.
High Availability (HA), Feature Description
SSL Accelerated Services, Feature Description
Virtual Services and Templates, Feature Description
Web User Interface (WUI), Configuration Guide

Moodle
Document History
Document History
Date Change Reason for Change Version Resp.
Nov 2014 Initial draft First draft of document 1.0 LB
April 2015 Updates made Updated to reflect new template 1.1 LB
Oct 2015 Release updates Updates for 7.1-30 release 3.0 LB
Dec 2015 Release updates Updates for 7.1-32 release 4.0 LB
Jan 2016 Minor change Updated Copyright Notices 5.0 LB
Mar 2016 Release updates Updates for 7.1-34 release 6.0 LB

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Moodle

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4

1.1 Document Purpose

1.2 Intended Audience

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6

Figure 3-1: Example Moodle Topology

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8

5 Configure the LoadMaster

5.1 Create a HTTP Virtual Service

Figure 5-1: Virtual Service Parameters

3. Enter a valid Virtual Address.

Figure 2: Advanced Properties

8. Select 302 Found as the Error Code.

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 9

Figure 3: Standard Options

11. Remove the tick from the Transparency check box.

Figure 5-4: Real Server Parameters

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10

5.2 Create a HTTPS Virtual Service

Figure 5-5: SSL offload and load balancing

Figure 5-6: Virtual Service Parameters

3. Enter a valid Virtual Address.

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 11

Figure 5-7: SSL Properties

The self-signed certificate should be replaced with a proper certificate/key

11. Click Set Certificates.

Figure 5-8: Standard Options

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12

13. Select Super HTTP as the Persistence Mode.

Figure 5-9: Real Servers Section

15. Click Add New.

Figure 5-10: Real Server Parameters

5.3 Other Virtual Service Configuration Options

5.3.1 Transparency and Non-Transparency

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13

Figure 5-11: Standard Options

5.3.2 Session Persistence

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 14

5.4 Moodle Server Configuration

Please ensure you have a restorable backup of any configuration before

5.4.2 Moodle SSL Configuration

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 15

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 16

High Availability (HA), Feature Description

SSL Accelerated Services, Feature Description

Virtual Services and Templates, Feature Description

Web User Interface (WUI), Configuration Guide

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17

Nov 2014 Initial draft First draft of document 1.0 LB

April 2015 Updates made Updated to reflect new template 1.1 LB

Oct 2015 Release updates Updates for 7.1-30 release 3.0 LB

Dec 2015 Release updates Updates for 7.1-32 release 4.0 LB

Jan 2016 Minor change Updated Copyright Notices 5.0 LB

Mar 2016 Release updates Updates for 7.1-34 release 6.0 LB

Copyright © 2002 - 2016 KEMP Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 18

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