Moodle Admins – How to increase file upload size?

Moodle LMS is used by more than 360 million users around the world. It is one of the most popular open source Learning Management System (LMS) in the world. After initial configuration many Moodle users often ask the question “How to increase the file upload size limit” in Moodle. Today, we will see in detail how you can update the file upload size limit for your Moodle LMS.

To begin with, you need to understand the following chronology to understand how these limit affects the Moodle LMS. The sequence of file size limit is as follows:

1. Server level
2. Moodle site level
3. Course level
4. Activity level

It means that as a Moodle Administrator you can increase the file size limit maximum up to the limit which is set at the Server Level. Similarly, the course limits are restricted by the limit defined at the Moodle LMS site level and so on.

Now, since Moodle LMS can be running on different types of servers e.g. Apache, Nginx etc. So, we will see just basic ways which will be similar across difference server environments.

Before updating the file size upload limit, first of all you should visit the Site administration > Security > Site security settings > Maximum uploaded file size to check the current limit set at the server level. In case, it is lesser that your requirements you need to access your server to increase that.

Edit the PHP.ini file

Since most of the servers are using Apache so we will be modifying the PHP.ini file. First visit the phpinfo and locate the php.ini file running on your Moodle server. Then you need to edit that file and update the following fields and increase the limit:

• post_max_size
• upload_max_filesize
• max_execution_time

Once you have saved the file, you need to restart Apache/MySQL instance on your server.

Moodle LMS Level

In case the limit is higher on your server level but still you are seeing a lower limit on your courses, then its time to check the limit on Moodle level. In order to do that, you need to visit Site administration > Security > Site security settings > Maximum uploaded file size  and increase the limit.

Course Level

In case you need to update the settings at your course level, you need to visit the Course Settings page and increase the limit under the section – Files & Uploads.

Activity Level

For each activity, you can also define the maximum file upload limit e.g. Assignment you can increase it under the Submission settings section. For Forums, you can increase it under the Attachments & Word Count section.

I hope you will be able to set the file upload size limits after following this guide. In case you are still facing any problems, please feel free to post them in the comments section below.

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