The Platform

Open edX is a very complicated platform. edX.org lists several methods of hosting Open edX yourself. We strongly do not recommend installing yourself from the edX source code. Consider using a containerized version that makes setting it up and hosting it easy! Knowledge of Docker, containers, and virtualisation is helpful, but not required if you already have a strong technical background in cloud computing.

Open edX Tutor

We have chosen a Docker-based Open edX installation called Tutor. In short, Tutor is a wrapper program that uses Docker to manage Open edX.

Why did we choose Tutor?

1. It is easy to set up, configure and update. Docker does most of the work for us!
2. It generates and renews SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt automatically.
3. Tutor makes it easy to migrate an instance to another server or to create and restore backups.
   • Docker separates the software and services from the data.
4. The installation of Open edX is not limited inside of the Docker images. All Open edX functionality is available.
   • The services are divided using different containers (platform code, database, memory caching, etc.)
   • Tutor maintains the complete functionality of Open edX.
   • Tutor uses a simple plugin system to configure Open edX and expand the functionality.

Expected knowledge and skills

At a minimum, you should have:

• working knowledge of using bash in a Debian-based distribution
• an understanding of virtualisation and Docker
• basic knowledge of Python

Server Requirements

Tutor's documentation site shows the specific requirements. Our guides assume the following:

• Debian based VPS (Ubuntu 20.04 or newer)
• 8GB RAM, 4 CPU, 80GB disk space