Note: Unlike WordPress which can be updated from the backend of the site without going through the host CPanel, Moodle must be manually updated.
To update Moodle, use the following steps:
- Log into the Moodle site as an administrator. This is not through your web host but using the domain name your students will use to log into their classes.
- Go to Site Administration → Notifications → click “Check for Available Updates”
- Download a recent but stable version of Moodle to your computer. It appears as a zipped folder. Some people advise not using the most recent stable version because some bugs may not have been sorted out yet. They advise using a slightly older version that is still supported. Never use an unsupported version. Note, you don’t need to go to Moodle.org to download the recent version of Moodle. You can do it right there in Notifications. However, if you want, you can also download it from Moodle.org. I prefer to download it from Notifications in my website as above.
- Download and save a version of config.php to your computer. This will help you later. To do that, Go To to the CPanel of your webhost. Navigate to the File Manager. Make sure you choose the option that allows you to see hidden files. If your Moodle site is stored on the primary domain and pulls files from public_html, you need to navigate to that folder.
- Upload the zipped file of the recent version to the right folder in the File Manager.
- Find and select the uploaded zipped folder and click Extract at the top of the screen (on Bluehost Cpanel).
- When extracted, you get a folder called “moodle“. Look for it.
- Open that folder, select all the files in there. On Bluehost, you can check the Select All radio button or manually select the first and scroll to select the last one.
- At the top of the screen, click Move File and in the dialog box, edit the destination to show say, public_html, if that’s where your old site is located. The new files will replace the old ones in there to update your site.
- Delete the config.php and upload the old one back to the folder to replace the new one that you have deleted.
- Go back to the Moodle site and login in as an administrator.
- Go to Notifications and follow the instructions to complete the update.
See this link
https://docs.moodle.org/35/en/Upgrading#Install_the_new_Moodle_software
