Copying / Transferring ILIAS Installations

If you want to create a copy of an existing ILIAS installtion you basically need to perform the following steps:

1. Install an empty ILIAS Installation

For your copy you can install ILIAS following the usual installation procedure, without setting up an ILIAS client in the ILIAS setup. You must not choose a lower ILIAS release version for your copy than your source installation has. However you can install a newer release.

2. Copy data directories

There are two data directories that you need to copy.

• ILIAS webspace data directory:  This is found in data subdirectory of your ILIAS installation. Just copy this from the source installation to the target.
• ILIAS data directory outside of the webspace: This is configured in the ILIAS setup under "Basic Settings". Please check the paths within the setups of both installations and copy the directory from the source installation to the target one.

3. Copy the databases
 
We assume that you create the copy on a different machine, so that the names of the databases can be the same on both installations. The way you copy the database depends on your DBMS. E.g. the MySQL ISAM engine allows you to simply copy the files of the mysql data directories. You also may use the mysqldump tool. Please shutdown the source DB when creating dumps or copies, to have the copy in a consistent state.

4. Adapt the ilias.ini.php

This file is found in the main ILIAS directory. Please make a copy of it and move it to the target. Open the file on your target installation and update all paths.

5. Adapt the client.ini.php files

On your target installation each client has an own data subdirectory within the webspace data directory data/[client_name]. Within these directories you will find a file called client.ini.php. You must open and edit all these files and update the database settings to point to the databases on your new machine, especially the [db] host setting. This step is extremely important, because these files still point to your source databases.

6. Copy the Customizing directory

If you made any use of the Customizing directory on your source system (found in the ILIAS main directory), copy its content to the target system.

7. Update the target clients

This step is especially needed if your target installation is based on a newer release. Open the setup and run through the DB update for all clients. Afterwards, update all languages in the ILIAS administration ("Administration" > "Languages").