Convert a Moodle backup

Converting a Moodle course backup

A Moodle backup (.mbz) can become one of three things, depending on where the course is going: a course in another Moodle, a course rebuilt by your new LMS’s own importer, or a SCORM package that runs in any LMS.

Which is right depends on the destination, and on whether you want to edit the course there. Here is how to choose.

Your options

Staying on Moodle: restore it

Another Moodle site, or a platform built on Moodle, can restore the backup directly: Course reuse, then Restore. No conversion needed.

Your new LMS has a Moodle importer: try it

Some platforms, Canvas among them, can import a Moodle course backup and rebuild it as their own pages and quizzes. If yours can, try it first: you get a course you can edit in the new LMS.

How much survives depends on the importer. Check the result before you rely on it.

Any other LMS: convert it to SCORM

A SCORM package runs in essentially every LMS, which is why it is the format courses move between platforms in. mbz2scorm converts your backup into a SCORM 1.2 package: your pages, files, videos and quizzes, in the same order, with the quiz score reported to the LMS.

One thing to know: a SCORM package is played by the LMS, not edited in it. To change the course later, change it in Moodle and convert it again.

What about IMS Common Cartridge? Moodle can also back a course up as an IMS Common Cartridge, which some LMSs import. How much of the course survives depends on both ends. It is a different format from an .mbz, and mbz2scorm does not read it.

Which one is right for you?

If…	Then
the course is staying on Moodle	Restore the backup
your new LMS imports Moodle backups, and you want to edit the course there	Try its importer
your LMS takes SCORM, or the course has to run in more than one LMS	Convert it to SCORM
you want the course redesigned, not just moved	Rebuild it in the new LMS or an authoring tool

Converting to SCORM

Drop the .mbz in. It is read on your computer first, and you get a report of every activity: what converts intact, what converts with something lost, and what cannot come across, with the reason for each. Then play the finished course, free, in a stand-in LMS, and download it only if it is what you need. Most courses take a few minutes.

Converting and previewing are free; you pay $29 to download a course, or $19 a course when you convert several at once.

Check your backup, free Convert it