How to set up and manage Open edX on a cloud platform?

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Setting Up and Managing Open edX on a Cloud Platform

Deploying Open edX on a cloud platform provides scalability, reliability, and performance optimization for online learning. You can set up Open edX on cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or DigitalOcean using various deployment methods.

1. Choosing a Cloud Platform

Cloud ProviderRecommended Services
AWSEC2 (Compute), RDS (Database), S3 (Storage), CloudFront (CDN), ELB (Load Balancer)
Google CloudCompute Engine, Cloud SQL, Cloud Storage, Cloud CDN, Load Balancing
AzureVirtual Machines, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Blob Storage, Azure CDN
DigitalOceanDroplets, Managed Databases, Spaces (Storage), Load Balancers

2. Deployment Options

Option 1: Using Tutor (Recommended)

Tutor is the easiest way to deploy Open edX. It uses Docker and is actively maintained.

Step 1: Install Tutor

  1. SSH into your cloud server: ssh ubuntu@your-server-ip
  2. Install dependencies: sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip
  3. Install Tutor: pip install tutor-openedx

Step 2: Configure and Start Open edX

  1. Set up the Tutor environment: tutor config save
  2. Start Open edX: tutor local launch

Step 3: Access Open edX

  • Open http://your-server-ip in your browser.
  • Default admin credentials:
    • Username: admin
    • Password: admin

Option 2: Native Installation (For Customization)

For full control, you can install Open edX manually.

Step 1: Provision a Cloud Server

  • Choose a Ubuntu 20.04 LTS VM with 8GB RAM, 4 vCPUs, 50GB SSD (minimum).

Step 2: Install Dependencies

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y python3.8 python3-pip git curl

Step 3: Clone Open edX Repository

git clone https://github.com/openedx/edx-platform.git
cd edx-platform

Step 4: Run Ansible Playbook

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openedx/configuration/master/util/install/native.sh
chmod +x native.sh
./native.sh

This will install Open edX and all its dependencies.

Step 5: Start Open edX

sudo /edx/bin/supervisorctl restart all

3. Configuring Open edX

After installation, configure Open edX for production use.

1. Secure Open edX with HTTPS

Use Let’s Encrypt for SSL:

sudo apt install certbot
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d yourdomain.com

Update NGINX to use the SSL certificate.

2. Set Up a Custom Domain

  • Create an A Record pointing to the server IP.
  • Update /etc/nginx/sites-available/lms: server_name yourdomain.com;

3. Configure SMTP for Emails

To send user registration emails, configure SMTP in lms.env.json:

"EMAIL_HOST": "smtp.gmail.com",
"EMAIL_PORT": 587,
"EMAIL_USE_TLS": true,
"EMAIL_HOST_USER": "your-email@gmail.com",
"EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD": "your-app-password"

Restart Open edX:

sudo /edx/bin/supervisorctl restart all

4. Managing Open edX

1. Monitoring and Logs

Check logs:

sudo tail -f /edx/var/log/lms/edx.log

Use Prometheus + Grafana for real-time monitoring.

2. Scaling Open edX

  • Horizontal Scaling: Use multiple EC2 instances behind a load balancer.
  • Database Optimization: Use RDS (AWS) or Cloud SQL (GCP) for PostgreSQL.
  • Caching: Use Redis to improve performance.

3. Backups

Automate backups using:

pg_dump -U edxapp -h localhost edxapp > edx_backup.sql

5. Upgrading Open edX

To upgrade Open edX:

tutor local stop
tutor local upgrade
tutor local start

6. Conclusion

Setting up Open edX on a cloud platform requires choosing a cloud provider, installing Open edX (via Tutor or native setup), and managing scalability and security.