ILIAS 11.5

Subscribe to the listing, choose ILIAS 11.5 on Ubuntu 24.04 as the version, and launch with your key pair and security group.

Wait for the instance status checks to pass, then give first boot a minute to mint your credentials.

aws ec2 run-instances \
  --image-id <ami-id> \
  --instance-type m5.large \
  --key-name <your-key> \
  --security-group-ids <your-sg> \
  --block-device-mappings 'DeviceName=/dev/sda1,Ebs={VolumeSize=20,VolumeType=gp3}' \
  --metadata-options 'HttpTokens=required' \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=ilias}]'

ssh -i <key.pem> ubuntu@<public-dns>

The login user is ubuntu.

First boot writes your instance's credentials to a root-only file:

sudo cat /root/ilias-credentials.txt

It looks like this (your values differ):

ilias.admin.user=root ilias.admin.pass=<generated-per-instance> ilias.client.id=ilias

The administrator username is root. This is ILIAS's own administrator login name, not the Linux root user.

First boot takes the site address from /etc/sac/ilias-hostname if that file exists. Otherwise it reads the address from IMDSv2: the instance's public DNS name, else its public IPv4 address, else its private IPv4 address.

If you keep credentials centrally, copy them into AWS Secrets Manager.

systemctl is-active apache2 php8.3-fpm mariadb ls /var/lib/sac/data/ilias-firstboot.done

All three services print active, and the first-boot marker exists. First boot runs once, so after a reboot its unit shows as skipped, which is expected.

Only 22, 80 and 443 listen on a public address. MariaDB is on 127.0.0.1:3306:

sudo ss -Hltn | awk '{print $4}' | sort -u

Confirm that the HTTPS front end answers on the configured name and that port 80 redirects to HTTPS:

SITE=$(cat /var/lib/sac/data/ilias-address)
curl -sk -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" --resolve "${SITE}:443:127.0.0.1" "https://${SITE}/login.php?client_id=ilias&cmd=force_login"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code} %{redirect_url}\n" --resolve "${SITE}:80:127.0.0.1" "http://${SITE}/"

MariaDB holds no password. Every account uses socket authentication or is locked. ILIAS's own connections arrive over the socket as www-data:

sudo mariadb -e "SELECT User, Host, plugin FROM mysql.global_priv;"
sudo -u www-data mariadb -u www-data -N -e "SELECT CURRENT_USER();" ilias

The application cannot reach the instance metadata service. This command runs the same request from inside php8.3-fpm.service and from your shell. The first request prints 000 (blocked), and the second prints 200:

CG=$(systemctl show -p ControlGroup --value php8.3-fpm.service)
sudo bash -c "echo \$\$ > /sys/fs/cgroup${CG}/cgroup.procs; exec curl -s -m 5 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' -X PUT -H 'X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 60' http://169.254.169.254/latest/api/token" curl -s -m 5 -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' -X PUT -H 'X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 60' http://169.254.169.254/latest/api/token

• Open the site address (the public DNS name or IP from Step 4) in a browser. Plain http:// redirects to HTTPS.
• The certificate is self-signed and unique to your instance, so the browser warns you the first time. Accept the warning, or install a trusted certificate (Step 8).
• The ILIAS sign-in form opens. Enter root as the username and the ilias.admin.pass value, then choose Login.

You land on the ILIAS dashboard. The main menu opens Repository, Dashboard, Achievements, Communication and the administration tools.

ILIAS answers only on its configured name, the instance's own IP addresses and localhost. It refuses a request that names any other host.

ILIAS builds the links in notification email from its base URL, which this image sets from configuration.

To serve the platform on your own DNS name, point a DNS record (for example in Amazon Route 53) at the instance's public IP. An Elastic IP keeps the address stable. Then run this command on the instance:

sudo ilias-set-hostname learn.example.org

The helper writes the name to /etc/sac/ilias-hostname and issues a new self-signed certificate for it. It rewrites Apache's server name and ILIAS's allowed-hosts list and base URL, then reloads Apache.

An instance without an Elastic IP gets a new public DNS name when it is stopped and started. Run the helper with the new name so that links and the certificate follow it. Run it with --auto to return to the EC2 public DNS name.

The site certificate is /etc/ssl/ilias/ilias.crt and its key is /etc/ssl/ilias/ilias.key (mode 600, root).

To use Let's Encrypt, first set your DNS name (Step 7) and open port 80 to the internet. Then run:

sudo apt-get install -y certbot
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d learn.example.org \
  --pre-hook "systemctl stop apache2" --post-hook "systemctl start apache2" \
  --deploy-hook "install -m 644 \$RENEWED_LINEAGE/fullchain.pem /etc/ssl/ilias/ilias.crt && install -m 600 \$RENEWED_LINEAGE/privkey.pem /etc/ssl/ilias/ilias.key"

certbot keeps the hooks for every renewal. Running ilias-set-hostname again replaces the certificate with a self-signed one, so run sudo certbot renew --force-renewal afterwards.

• Open the main menu and choose Repository, which is the top of the ILIAS content tree. Use the Add New Item control to add a Course, then set its title, availability and enrollment.
• Inside the course, add content objects: files, web links, wikis, exercises, tests, learning sequences and SCORM/xAPI learning modules.
• Create user accounts under Administration > Users, or import them from a file. Self-registration is disabled by default. To allow public sign-up, enable it under Administration > User Services.
• Set your administrator's email address and configure outgoing mail under Administration before you rely on notifications or password resets.

• ILIAS 11.5: github.com/ILIAS-eLearning/ILIAS, GPL-3.0, installed in /var/www/ilias
• PHP 8.3 (FPM): Ubuntu 24.04 packages (>= 8.3.6-0ubuntu0.24.04.13)
• Apache 2.4: TLS front end on 80/443, with PHP over FPM
• MariaDB 10.11: localhost only, utf8mb3, socket authentication and no password

The image updates the PHP libraries that ILIAS vendors to the releases that fix their published advisories (league/commonmark 2.10.4, Symfony 6.4.48). A build-time dependency audit fails closed on any remaining reachable advisory.

sudo mariadb ilias -N -e "SELECT value FROM settings WHERE module='common' AND keyword='ilias_version';" php -v | head -n 1 mariadb --version

The key paths and their purposes are:

• /var/www/ilias: the ILIAS application code (public/ is the web docroot)
• /var/www/ilias/public/data/ilias/client.ini.php: the client configuration (mode 640, and the DB password is empty because of socket authentication)
• /var/www/files: the ILIAS data directory, which holds uploaded content and files
• /var/www/logs: the ILIAS application logs
• /var/lib/mysql: the MariaDB database
• /etc/ssl/ilias/: the site certificate and key
• /root/ilias-credentials.txt: your credentials (mode 600, root)
• /var/lib/sac/data/ilias-firstboot.done: the first-boot marker. Apache and PHP-FPM start only when it exists.

ls -ld /var/www/ilias /var/www/files /var/www/logs; df -h /

systemctl status apache2 php8.3-fpm mariadb --no-pager -n 0

Restart PHP-FPM with sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm and reload Apache with sudo systemctl reload apache2.

Logs are in /var/log/apache2/ilias-*.log and /var/www/logs/. The Amazon CloudWatch agent can ship them to CloudWatch Logs.

ILIAS's scheduled jobs run from ilias-cron.timer every five minutes. Run them by hand with:

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/ilias/cli/cron.php run-jobs root ilias

Dump the database as root over the socket (no password), and archive the data directory with it:

sudo mariadb-dump --single-transaction --routines --triggers ilias > ~/ilias-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
sudo tar -czf ~/ilias-files-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz -C /var/www files

Copy both files to an Amazon S3 bucket or another durable destination. An EBS snapshot of the root volume is a simple whole-platform backup:

aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id <root-volume-id> --description "ilias $(date +%F)"

The browser cannot connect, or the connection is dropped. Browse to the configured name, which is the site address. ILIAS refuses other host names by design. Check that ports 80 and 443 are open in the security group.

Apache or PHP-FPM is not running after launch. Both start only after first boot completes. Check the first-boot marker and log:

ls -la /var/lib/sac/data/ilias-firstboot.done
sudo journalctl -u ilias-firstboot --no-pager | tail -n 20

If the marker is missing, first boot did not finish. Fix the cause, then run first boot again:

sudo systemctl restart ilias-firstboot
sudo systemctl start php8.3-fpm apache2

Confirm the administrator login works. ILIAS must reject the published default root/homer and accept your per-instance password. The stored hash never verifies homer:

sudo mariadb ilias -N -e "SELECT passwd FROM usr_data WHERE login='root';" | php -r '$h=trim(fgets(STDIN)); echo password_verify("homer",$h)?"homer STILL VALID\n":"homer rejected (good)\n";'

• Keep port 22 limited to your management network.
• Change the administrator password from the ILIAS user settings if you share it, and give instructors their own accounts rather than the administrator login.
• Keep MariaDB on socket authentication. If a reporting tool must connect over the network, create a separate read-only account with its own password, bind it to the tool's address, and keep port 3306 closed in the security group.
• Apply Ubuntu security updates regularly (sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade). Unattended security upgrades are enabled.

ILIAS is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPL-3.0). Its source is at github.com/ILIAS-eLearning/ILIAS.

You are responsible for the data protection of the learner records you enter. ILIAS is a trademark of the ILIAS open source e-Learning society. SecureAnyCloud is not affiliated with or endorsed by the society.

SecureAnyCloud provides 24/7 technical support by email and live chat: sales@secureanycloud.com. Every product in this listing is on the Hardened Moodle & E-Learning Platforms AMIs guide hub.

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