How Moodle upgrades work

When a new Moodle release comes out, the Moodle card on your website's Software page says so. You can upgrade in one click, free, on every Moodle plan. If you would rather not think about it, automatic Moodle updates do it for you in a quiet hour you choose, for $50 a year per website (US dollars; the checkout shows the price in your currency, plus any tax).

Upgrading in one click

1. Open Sites, choose the Moodle website, then open Software.
2. The Moodle card shows the version you run and the newest one your server can run. Press

Check for updates to look again at any time.

3. Press Upgrade. The card shows each step as it happens.

While it runs we:

• switch on Moodle's maintenance mode, so nobody is part-way through a quiz when it starts;
• back up the website's files and its database;
• install the new release and run Moodle's own upgrade;
• check the result: the login page loads, Moodle's environment check passes and its scheduled

tasks run.

If any step fails, we put the backup back on our own, so the website returns to the version it had, and the card says what happened. If even that fails, our team is alerted at once and restores the website for you.

When a newer release is not offered

A release can need a newer database or PHP than the website's server has, or a plugin on your website may not support it yet. The card lists such a release with the reason instead of offering it, so an upgrade can never leave your website on a release it cannot run. When we upgrade our servers, the release is offered on the same card with nothing for you to change. For a plugin, update the plugin (or remove it), then press Check for updates.

Automatic Moodle updates

With the add-on, each new release is installed for you in the window you pick (an hour of the day, every day or one day of the week, in your time zone):

• the update is first tried on a private copy of your website; only if that works is it

applied to the real one, with the same backup and automatic rollback as a one-click upgrade;

• a plugin that does not support the new release holds the update, and nothing changes;
• you get an e-mail report after each update, held update or rollback.

Turn it on from the same Moodle card: press Get automatic updates, pay in the same window, then choose your window.

Stopping automatic updates

On the Moodle card, press Stop renewing. Automatic updates keep running until the end of the year you paid for, and we do not charge for them again. One-click upgrades stay free. Stopping needs the permission to manage payments on your account.

If a payment is missed

Automatic updates pause while a payment is overdue and start again on their own once it is paid. You can still upgrade in one click at any time.

Which websites can have them

Moodle websites we host on our own servers.