This document outlines the steps to upgrade a standard Moodle installation on a Windows server, noting that the process for other operating systems is similar.

1. Set your Moodle site to maintenance mode.
2. Download the desired Moodle 2.5 zip file from https://download.moodle.org/windows/.
3. Unzip the downloaded package.
4. Create a temporary folder.
5. Copy the config.php file from the Moodle web root directory into the temporary folder.
6. Copy all image files from the Moodle web root’s local folder into the temporary folder.
7. Delete the contents of the Moodle web root directory.
8. Copy the contents of the unzipped Moodle package into the now empty web root directory.
9. Copy the config.php file from the temporary folder to the web root directory containing the new Moodle files.
10. Copy the images from the temporary folder to the local folder within the new Moodle files directory.
11. Open the Moodle site in a web browser.

You should see a screen similar to the following image:

Click “Continue” to proceed to the server checks screen:

After clicking “Continue” again, you’ll see plugin notifications:

These notifications indicate the activity modules scheduled for an upgrade in the database.

Finally, the Moodle home page will load, fully upgraded and displaying existing data, passwords, and configurations:

After logging in with existing credentials, a final step might require approving changes to the Moodle environment:

The entire upgrade process, including downloading and unzipping the new Moodle files, takes approximately 30 minutes for a small Moodle site with a limited number of users, courses, and activities.