Implementation guide
How to integrate BigBlueButton with Moodle
Moodle can be the front door to BigBlueButton: teachers create activities in a course, students join with the right context, and recordings return to the place learning already happens.
Executive brief
What matters
- 01
Moodle 4.0 and later include the BigBlueButton activity in core, normally disabled until configured.
- 02
The integration needs the BigBlueButton endpoint and shared secret; protect both as production credentials.
- 03
Pilot role mapping, recording visibility and scheduled activities with a real teacher and student account.
01
Prepare the BigBlueButton endpoint
Deploy a supported BigBlueButton server—or a Scalelite endpoint for a pool—with trusted HTTPS, reachable media ports and monitoring. Obtain the API URL and shared secret with the server’s administrative tooling. Never expose the secret in browser code or course content.
02
Enable and configure the activity
In Moodle administration, enable the BigBlueButton activity and enter the service URL and secret. Moodle’s plugin documentation and your installed version are authoritative because settings and capabilities evolve. Confirm the server connection before making the activity available site-wide.
- Use a staging course first.
- Review default presentation and welcome-message settings.
- Restrict which roles can create, moderate and manage recordings.
03
Design the course experience
Teachers can add a BigBlueButton activity, control availability and choose room or recording-oriented behaviours. Decide whether students may enter before a moderator, how scheduled sessions appear in calendars and who can see recordings. Avoid granting moderator privileges merely to solve an attendance problem.
04
Test the complete lifecycle
Join as teacher and student, exercise audio, webcam, screen share, polls and breakouts, end the meeting correctly, then wait for recording processing and verify publication in Moodle. Test course backup/restore and user removal. For a cluster, verify that Scalelite consolidates recording discovery.
Evidence base
Sources and further reading
We prefer project documentation and first-party product guidance. Community links are included where they reveal recurring operational questions rather than establish product guarantees.
Practical answers
Questions teams ask
Do I need to install a plugin in Moodle 4?+
The certified BigBlueButton activity has been included in Moodle core since Moodle 4.0, but it is typically disabled until an administrator configures it. Check the documentation for your exact Moodle release.
Do I need Greenlight with Moodle?+
No. Moodle can be the frontend and call BigBlueButton directly. Greenlight is useful only when you also need rooms outside Moodle.
Should Moodle run on the BigBlueButton server?+
No. Keep Moodle’s web/database workload separate and connect over the BigBlueButton HTTPS API.
Continue the research
Related guides and infrastructure
Integrating with the BigBlueButton API
Build a secure BigBlueButton integration for meeting creation, role-based joins, callbacks and recording management.
Read next → InfrastructureKeep Moodle and BigBlueButton on the right kinds of servers
Self-managed infrastructure for Moodle integrations with BigBlueButton, including isolated media nodes, Greenlight, storage and cluster components.
Read next → Planning & architectureHow to size a BigBlueButton server
Size BigBlueButton servers using concurrent meetings, participants, webcams, screen sharing, recordings and measured headroom.
Read next →