How to install Moodle CMS in XAMPP Windows 11

Moodle is a learning platform or course management system (CMS). It is very useful when it comes to blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other online learning projects in schools, universities and workplaces. Moodle was first developed by Martin Dougiamas. And for this tutorial, we are going to create a website out of it. But first, you need to download the XAMPP file and Moodle installer. I already provided the download links below.

Requirement:

• XAMPP 5.6.x, download here [via Mediafire]
• Moodle-2.6.1, download here [via Mediafire]

After downloading all the files, continue doing the listed tutorials below.

Table of Content

• XAMPP installation on Windows 11
• Running XAMPP Control Panel's Apache and MySQL
• Copying Moodle installer to HTDOCS folder
• Creating Moodle Database on XAMPP phpMyAdmin
• Moodle installation via Localhost or 127.0.0.1
• Accessing Moodle website home page
• Accessing Moodle website ADMIN account

Here are the steps on how to install Moodle in XAMPP using Windows

XAMPP installation on Windows 11

1. Open the XAMPP file that you downloaded earlier. If a "Warning" message about User Account Control appears, just click OK.

2. Under Setup - XAMPP, just click NEXT.

3. In the Select Components, leave it and press NEXT again.

4. For Installation folder, leave it also and press NEXT.

5. In the Bitnam for XAMPP, click NEXT again.

6. You are now ready to install XAMPP. Click NEXT to proceed.

7. Wait for the installation to finish.

8. When done, click Finish to exit installer.

Running XAMPP Control Panel's Apache and MySQL

1. To open XAMPP, you can either click its shortcut located in your desktop or go to Start and search for "xampp" and press ENTER. Inside XAMPP Control Panel, click the two Start buttons for Apache and MySQL.

2. You should now see two Stop buttons. Meaning, Apache and MySQL are both running now.

3. If you also see a "Windows Security Alert" just click on Allow access to exit.

Copying Moodle installer to HTDOCS folder

1. Back to the Moodle zip file that you downloaded earlier. Extract it and rename your extracted folder as "moodle". Make sure the contents of the extracted folder are not inside a sub-folder. When done, copy your moodle folder. Now, go to Start and search for "this pc" and press ENTER.

2. Inside This PC, click on your C drive.

3. Inside C drive, find and open xampp folder.

4. Now, open htdocs folder.

5. And inside your htdocs folder, paste here your moodle folder.

Creating Moodle Database on XAMPP phpMyAdmin

1. We need a database to install our moodle website. Open your internet browser. In the address bar, type 127.0.0.1 and press ENTER.

2. Inside, click on phpMyAdmin.

3. Inside phpMyAdmin, click on Databases.

4. In the Create database, name it as moodle_db, next to it change the value to utf8mb4_unicode_ci and press Create to confirm.

5. In the Create table, name it as moodle_table. Leave 4 as it is and press Go.

6. For the next one, just name it as moodle and INT for Type (which is pre-selected).

7. For Collation, select utf8_unicode_ci and leave all the other fields blank.

8. Lastly, save your work.

Moodle installation via Localhost or 127.0.0.1

1. We are now ready to install our moodle website. Open your internet browser again. In the address bar, type 127.0.0.1/moodle or 127.0.0.1/moodle/install.php and press ENTER.

2. In the Moodle Installation - Choose a language, just leave it as English and press NEXT.

3. In the Confirm paths, you can change the path for "Data directory" but for this tutorial, I will leave it as it is. When done, press NEXT.

4. In the Choose database driver, just leave it as "Improved MySQL (native mysqli)" and press NEXT.

5. In the Database settings, do the following: Database host - localhost, Database name - moodle_db, Database user - root, Database password - blank or none, Database port - 3306. Press NEXT to proceed.

6. In the "Have you read these conditions and understood them?" just press Continue.

7. In Server checks, just press Continue again.

8. The moodle website installation is underway. Wait for the installation to finish, it might take a while.

9. When done, you will then need to setup your administrator username and password. Do not forget this credentials, because you will need it later to access your administration page. For Username, just type admin. Enter your desired password, confirm it. Enter also your First and Surname as well as a valid email address. When done, click on Update profile.

10. In the "New settings - Front page settings" name your moodle website, type also the short name for it. And lastly, describe your moodle site. Press Save changes when done.

Accessing Moodle website home page

1. To access your moodle website home page, just go to 127.0.0.1/moodle.

Accessing Moodle website ADMIN account

1. To access your moodle website administrator account, just click the Log in link located at the upper-right corner of your website.

2. Type your username and password, and press Log in to proceed.

3. And you have accessed your administration account. Only you can see and modify the settings and configurations inside it.

Done! You have successfully created a moodle website for free. You can now start adding a "Test course" and make your website look more professional.

If you have a question, you can leave a comment below. Thank you!