Moodle migration into LMS Advisor, in our cloud or on your server
Move your Moodle courses and learners into LMS Advisor, in our cloud or on your own server. Upload each .mbz course backup, check every imported course before learners see it, and archive the history that stays behind.
LMS Advisor is our own product. We migrate off Moodle, and we do not upgrade, host or customize Moodle sites.
- Imports .mbz backupsMoodle course backups import directly, one course file at a time.
- Cloud or self-hostedWe run the server, or you install it on your own.
- Gaps planned, not hiddenWe map what moves and what gets rebuilt before you commit.
What a move off Moodle covers
- Course backups imported as .mbz files
- SCORM packages re-uploaded as lessons
- Accounts through SSO, SCIM or HR sync
- Certificates set up in the designer
- Grades and history exported and archived
- Moodle kept read-only until records are checked
What replaces your Moodle plugins
Most Moodle sites we see lean on plugins for certificates, sign-in and proctoring. In LMS Advisor these are part of the product, so there is one release to keep current instead of a plugin list.
Move to our cloud, or to your own server
Both run the same product, and the importer works the same way in each. The choice is about who looks after the server once Moodle is gone.
Cloud suits you if
Server upkeep is the reason you are leaving Moodle.
- Nobody wants to own patching and backups any more
- You want updates applied for you
- You would rather not run PHP and MySQL servers
- Your IT team has no time for another server
Self-hosted suits you if
You left Moodle for the platform, not the server, and want to keep the data in-house.
- A policy says the data stays on your infrastructure
- You already run PHP and MySQL servers
- You want updates on your own calendar
- Your security team wants its own backups and logs
Our self-hosted vs cloud LMS comparison works through the choice in more detail.
How a Moodle migration runs with us
Inventory and export
List courses, plugins and question types. Back up each course in Moodle and export the grades, completions and certificates you must keep.
Test import
Import two or three real .mbz files, one of them quiz-heavy, and compare each imported course with the original in Moodle.
Import and fill the gaps
Import the rest. Re-upload SCORM packages, rebuild questions and activities with no match, and set up certificates and exams.
Connect sign-in
Set up SAML 2.0 SSO or SCIM 2.0 so accounts match your directory, or create them with the CSV upload in HR sync.
Cut over and archive
Freeze Moodle, take the final exports, switch links and sign-in, and keep Moodle read-only until your records are checked.
Upgrading Moodle versus migrating off it
If you are weighing a Moodle 4 to 5 upgrade against a move, these are the questions that usually decide it.
| Question | Migrate to LMS Advisor | Stay and upgrade Moodle |
|---|---|---|
| What happens to your plugins? | Certificates, SSO, SCIM and proctoring are built in. There is no plugin directory. | Each plugin needs a release that supports the new version, or a replacement. |
| Who handles server upgrades? | We do in the cloud. Self-hosted, your admin runs them from inside the app. | Your team or a hosting partner, including PHP and database upgrades. |
| What happens to course content? | Imported from .mbz backups, then checked course by course. | Stays in place, and gets tested after each upgrade. |
| What happens to grade and completion history? | Plan to keep it in Moodle. Export and archive it. | Stays in place. |
| What about Workshop or Database activities? | No built-in equivalent. Rebuild them another way or retire them. | Keep working as before. |
| Can you change the source code? | No. It is commercial software. | Yes, under the GNU GPL. |
| Where does it run? | Our cloud, or your own server. | Your server, MoodleCloud or a partner. |
| Best fit | Corporate training, certification and exams, run by a small team. | Teams with Moodle skills in house and teaching built on Moodle activities. |
Not sure yet? Keep Moodle for teaching and add LMS Advisor to it as an LTI 1.3 tool, with grades passed back to Moodle.
What we do not do for Moodle sites
We help people leave Moodle. If you want to stay on it, we are the wrong team, and we would rather tell you now.
No Moodle upgrades or hosting
We do not upgrade Moodle sites, move them to new servers, migrate their databases or host them. MoodleDocs covers those tasks, and Moodle Certified Partners sell them as a service.
No Moodle customization
We do not build Moodle plugins, themes or custom features. Our development work is on LMS Advisor and WordPress LMS platforms.
Plan for history to stay behind
We do not promise that grades, quiz attempts, completion records, logs or issued certificates import. Export and archive them before you switch the old site off.
Some activities have no equivalent
Workshop, the Database activity and plugin activities have no built-in match. Check Moodle-specific question types such as Cloze and calculated against our quiz types before you plan around them.
What a Moodle migration covers on this page
A Moodle migration, as we use the term here, means moving your courses, learners and training records off Moodle and into another LMS, in our case LMS Advisor, in our cloud or on your own server. LMS Advisor is our own product, so read our advice with that in mind. Our team spent years fixing and migrating Moodle sites before we built it, and that is why it reads Moodle course backups directly.
Plenty of people who search for Moodle migration want something else: moving a Moodle site to a new server, changing its database, or upgrading from Moodle 4 to Moodle 5. We do not do that work. The MoodleDocs page on moving a site to a new server covers the server route (database dump, moodledata copy, an updated site address in config.php), and the MoodleDocs upgrade guide covers version upgrades. If you want to stay on Moodle with someone else running it, Moodle Certified Partners offer hosting, support and customization.
What moves from Moodle, and what does not
Course backups move through the .mbz importer. SCORM packages, accounts and your history each need their own route. This is how we plan each piece of a typical Moodle site:
| On your Moodle site | Route into LMS Advisor | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Courses | Import each .mbz course backup directly. | Compare every imported course with the original in Moodle before learners see it. |
| Quizzes with Cloze, calculated, drag-and-drop or random questions | Check each type against our quiz question types, and rebuild what has no match. | Run one quiz-heavy course through first, because quizzes are where most rebuild work hides. |
| SCORM packages | Upload the original zips as SCORM 1.2 or 2004 lessons. | Retest each package, and keep the original zips. |
| Workshop, Database and plugin activities | No built-in equivalent. Rebuild with interactive modules, assignments or the discussion forum, or retire them. | Decide course by course before the import, not after. |
| Learner accounts | SAML 2.0 single sign-on, SCIM 2.0 provisioning, the CSV upload in HR sync or the REST API. | Pick the identifier (email, username or employee number) that matches people across both systems. |
| Grades, attempts and completion history | Plan to keep them in Moodle exports. | Export them and keep the files as your archive. |
| Issued certificates | Export the list and the PDFs. New certificates come from the built-in designer. | Match certificate numbers and issue dates before Moodle goes offline. |
| Themes, site settings, authentication setup | Site-level Moodle configuration that does not move. | Write it down before anything is switched off. |
We go through this table with you before you commit, using your own backups, so the rebuild list is known up front rather than discovered after cutover.
Are you ready to leave Moodle?
Answer yes or no to each statement. The more yes answers, the less a move will surprise you.
- You can list every plugin your courses depend on and what would replace each one.
- Most of your courses are built from pages, files, standard quizzes and SCORM, not Workshop, Database or Cloze-heavy quizzes.
- You have an .mbz backup of each course you plan to keep.
- Grades, completions and issued certificates you must keep are exported and stored outside Moodle.
- You still have the original SCORM zip files, or know which courses you need to download them from.
- You have decided how people will sign in after the move and which identifier (email, username or employee number) matches their accounts.
- Your Moodle site is on a release that still gets security fixes, so you are not migrating under pressure.
- One named person owns the migration and has time to review each imported course before it goes live.
- You have chosen between a cloud install and a self-hosted one.
- You know which courses you will retire instead of moving.
Not yet: start with an inventory. Export your records, list your plugins and get every Moodle course backed up before you talk to any vendor, us included.
Nearly there: run a test import with two or three real courses, one of them quiz-heavy, and list the gaps you find in each one.
Ready: book a call with a sample .mbz file and your sign-in plan, and we can walk through the import and the cutover with you.
Do you have to upgrade Moodle before you migrate?
No. You can leave from the release you are on, because the importer reads course backups rather than a live site. Test a backup from your own release first. What you do need is a site that stays safe while the move runs.
That depends on your release. The Moodle releases calendar shows security fixes for 4.1 LTS and 4.4 ended on December 8, 2025, 5.0 lost security support on October 5, 2026, and 4.5 LTS is patched until October 4, 2027. A 4.5 site can migrate on its own schedule, and our post on Moodle 4.5 end of support sets out that deadline. A site on 4.1 to 4.4 or 5.0 is already unpatched, so either keep the migration short and limit who can reach the old site, or apply a supported upgrade first. Upgrading only to leave is often wasted effort when the move fits in a few weeks. It makes sense when the migration will run for months. Our post on Moodle 5.0 end of support covers the upgrade side.
How much downtime does a Moodle migration need?
Very little for learners, because Moodle stays live while you import and test. You build and check courses in LMS Advisor in parallel, then pick a cutover day.
- Freeze changes. Stop editing courses in Moodle a few days before cutover so your backups are final.
- Take the final exports. Grades, completions, certificates and a user list, dated the day before you switch.
- Switch sign-in and links. Point your SSO app, intranet links and emails at LMS Advisor.
- Set Moodle to read-only. Keep it for reference until your records are archived and checked, then switch it off.
The learner-facing gap is usually the time it takes to change links and sign-in. Do not count on in-progress attempts or SCORM progress carrying over, so finish or close open assessments before the cutover rather than in the middle of a course.
How long does a move off Moodle take?
We do not quote a standard figure, because the time sits in your content and your records rather than in the import itself. What takes longer:
- The number of courses and how many use activities with no direct match.
- Quizzes with Cloze, calculated or drag-and-drop questions that need rebuilding.
- SCORM packages you have to find, re-upload and retest.
- Single sign-on and provisioning, which depend on your identity team's calendar.
- Years of history that someone has to export, check and file.
Our LMS implementation timeline lays out a week-by-week plan that fits most migrations.
What drives the cost of a Moodle migration?
Two things set the price: the LMS Advisor license itself, and how much of the migration work you want us to do. The license is quoted from cloud or self-hosted, learner numbers and modules. Migration help from Moodle is its own line on the quote, so you can do the work yourselves, hand it to us, or split it. The cost moves with:
- Course count, and the share that needs rebuilding after import.
- The number of SCORM packages to retest.
- Whether enrollments and learner accounts come across, and how sign-in is set up.
- How much history you archive and how it is indexed.
- Cloud or self-hosted, and who prepares the server.
See pricing for what a quote depends on. We do not publish prices.
What to export from Moodle before you switch
Tick each item once the file is saved somewhere you control, outside the Moodle server.
Courses
- An .mbz backup of every course you will keep (Course reuse, then Backup)
- A second set of backups without users (files ending -nu.mbz) for testing
- The original SCORM zip files for every SCORM activity
- A list of plugin activities and question types with no match, course by course
People
- A user download from Bulk user actions (text, ODS or Excel)
- Group and cohort membership, if you will rebuild groups
- The identifier each account uses (email, username or employee number) and how SSO will match it
Records
- Gradebook exports for each course (Excel, ODS, text or XML)
- Course completion reports with dates
- Every issued certificate as a PDF, plus a list of certificate numbers, learners and issue dates
- Course logs for any course with a retention rule
Site
- Screenshots or notes of your authentication, enrollment and theme settings
- The list of installed plugins and their versions
- A full backup of code, moodledata and the database, kept until your archive is signed off
Start with one real backup
The quickest way to know what your migration involves is to run a real course through the importer. Pick one that uses quizzes and one that uses SCORM, import the backups, and compare each result with the original. Our LMS Advisor vs Moodle comparison covers where Moodle remains the better fit, and the LMS migration checklist covers the parts of a move that have nothing to do with Moodle.
Moodle migration questions
Can LMS Advisor import Moodle courses?
Do Moodle grades and completion records move to LMS Advisor?
What happens to SCORM packages in a Moodle migration?
Do I need to upgrade Moodle 4 to Moodle 5 before migrating?
Do you offer Moodle server migration or database migration?
How do learner accounts get into LMS Advisor?
How much does a Moodle migration cost?
Can we run Moodle and LMS Advisor side by side?
Before you move
Bring a Moodle backup to the call
Send us one or two .mbz files and your sign-in plan. We will run them through the importer with you, show what comes across and what needs rebuilding, and quote the migration as its own line.
- Walkthrough built around your programs
- Cloud or self-hosted, priced for your numbers
- Reply within one business day