Restore a Course Backup

These instructions assume you have already created a Course Backup File (.MBZ) for the course you wish to restore.

There are two main methods you can use to restore a course:

  • In your Staging Area – This is typically done when you are creating a course for a student finishing up an incomplete, you need to view student grades or coursework, or when you are developing a new course for future use.
  • In an existing Course – This is typically done when you are using a past course in a current course. You only want to use this method if you do not have access to the past course in Moodle still.

Restoring a Course into a Staging area

You will need a staging area for this process, if you do not have one or are not sure, submit a Moodle Help Support Ticket and we can provide you with a staging area.

Login to Moodle and navigate to your Staging Area.

From the red bar at the top of any Moodle page click the Home link.

Click on Faculty Workspace from the STAFF: MANUAL COURSE ACCESS block

Use the arrows next to Course Staging Area (For Faculty) or the drop-down menu to locate your staging area under your division and then department.

NOTE: If you can’t find your staging area listed please contact the OLET department by placing a ticket at Online Learning/Moodle Support, or by emailing us at online@clackamas.edu.

Click the More item from the Secondary Navigation.

Select Restore course.

NOTE: There may be another More drop-down menu (grey) listed below, but it will not have the restore course option. Please make sure you are using the one on the Secondary navigation. 

Drag and drop your Moodle Course Backup file into the dashed box.
OR
Click the Choose a file… button and select the Moodle Course Backup file you wish to restore.

Click the Restore button.

Confirm step page will be your chance to preview some details and go back to try a different file if needed.

Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Continue button.

Destination in the Restore in a new course select the radio button to the left of your Staging Area.

NOTE: You will probably only have a single option here, but if you have too many you can type your last name, first name into the search box to find the proper staging area.

Click the associated Continue button directly below.

Settings You may wish to restore the content only or with student data

To restore content only (for development courses)

    • Uncheck Include enrolled users

To restore with student data (for incomplete courses, grade challenges, etc…)

    • Check Include enrolled users
    • Set Include enrollment methods to No, restore users as manual enrollments

Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Next button.

Schema page you’ll want to double-check at least the following:

Confirm Course Name and Course Short Name. You might want to edit to be able to distinguish from original course.  (check our course naming conventions).

Confirm the course Start date. This will result in course opening to students/guests automatically on that date. Other dates within the course will update in relation to this start date.

Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Next button.

Review page is exactly what it says it is, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Perform restore button if everything looks good.

Process The size of your backup will determine your wait for this step.

Click the Continue button when it appears.

Restore a Course into a newly provisioned course

This would be used if you want to use a previous course that is no longer available in Moodle in your current course. If the course is still available in Moodle we recommend using the Import method to copy the course content as it is easier and creates fewer issues.

Start on the course page that you want to backup

Scroll to the top of the main page of your course.

Click the More item from the Secondary Navigation.

Select Course reuse.

NOTE: This page will default to the Import option in the drop-down menu which is not what we’re after.

Select Restore from the drop-down menu

Leave all the settings in their default

Drag and drop your Moodle Course Backup file into the dashed box.
OR
Click the Choose a file… button and select the Moodle Course Backup file you wish to restore.

Click the Restore button.

Confirm step page will be your chance to preview some details and go back to try a different file if needed.

Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Continue button.

Destination in the Restore into this course box select the Merge the backup course into this course option.

Click the Continue button directly below.

Settings you will want to uncheck Include enrolled users since the users will automatically be enrolled in your provisioned courses.

Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Next button.

Schema you will want to confirm with weeks, topics, activities, resources you would like to include in your current course.

Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Next button.

Review page is exactly what it says it is, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Click the Perform restore button if everything looks good.

Process The size of your backup will determine your wait for this step.

Click the Continue button when it appears.