Dual Base URL in Moodle - moodle

Question

I have installed the XAMPP and Moodle 2.5 inside it.
Along side, I've also installed No-ip client to convert this to a webserver.
Now my question is, I woud like to have this server reacheble from my intranet and from outside.
My config.php file have base url like:
$CFG->wwwroot = 'http://172.16.1.1/exam';
$CFG->dataroot = 'H:\\xampp\\moodledata';
$CFG->admin = 'admin';
But not limited to local ip address, I want to use it as webserver to access it from internet. Please suggest me how to set the base url to use it from internet and also from my intranet.

Answer 1

The simplest solution is use a domain name which can be accessed from both internet and internal machines.
Failing that, the Moodle config file is simply a PHP file so you can do something like this:
if (access_via_internet()) {
$CFG->wwwroot = WEBROOT_FOR_INTERNET_ACCESS;
} else if (access_via_intranet()) {
$CFG->wwwroot = WEBROOT_FOR_INTRANET_ACCESS;
} else {
throw new Exception("Ye cannae change the laws of physics");
}
function access_via_internet() {
// Do something to detect access via the internet.
// Probably parse $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']
return (did_we_detect_the_internet() ? true : false);
}
function access_via_intranet() {
// Do something to detect access via the intranet.
// Probably just negate the value of access_via_internet()
return !access_via_internet();
}
Another option is to just rely on the server address by which the user came to you:
$CFG->wwwroot = $_SERVER['REQUEST_SCHEME'].'://'.$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].'/exam';
One potential issue, if you do allow access from different addresses: do not copy and paste Moodle URLs into course content. It's easy to forget, but the URLS will only work for users also accessing from the same route.