You will need to be able to run SQL against the database, and run CLI commands on the server, and edit the config.php used by the server, to carry out this test. The tests here include a selection of the possible permutations (upgrade/install, debugging on/off, CLI/web) rather than every possible one. I don't think it's necessary to test all of them. As part of this test we uninstall the 'big blue button' module which will remove all data from that module , so make sure you don't have any data you care about in that module. The test is still valid if you pick any other (uninstallable) module, so feel free to change it. A) Test upgrade (CLI) This fun SQL will make all parts of the system (all plugins + core) upgrade, hopefully without breaking it much: update mdl_config_plugins set value = (value::integer - 1) where name='version'; update mdl_config set value = (value::integer - 1) where name='version'; update mdl_config set value='0' where name='allversionshash'; 1 Set the Debug messages (debugging) admin setting under Site administration > Development > Debugging to 'ALL: ...' (not 'DEVELOPER: ...') 2 Run the SQL above to subtract 1 from all version numbers 3 Run these at the command line to purge cache and do the upgrade: php admin/cli/purge_caches.php --muc php admin/cli/upgrade.php --non-interactive --allow-unstable 4 Check the log output is as expected: There should be no errors Each plugin should be listed like this (exactly the same as before): -->logstore_standard ++ Success (0.30 seconds) ++ There should be no upgrade_noncore section heading at the end. 5 Set the Debug messages (debugging) admin setting under Site administration > Development > Debugging to 'DEVELOPER: ...' 6 Run the SQL above to subtract 1 from all version numbers 7 Run the same command as in step 3 8 Check the log output is as expected: There should be no errors. Each plugin should be listed like this (the same as before): -->logstore_standard ++ 2022053000: Success (0.04 seconds) ++ ++ Success (0.30 seconds) ++ It's possible, but not very likely, that some plugins will show additional lines apart from those two (there is a proper test of this later). At the end there should be an upgrade_noncore section heading, with a 'Success' time. This might or might not contain any additional lines. Here's an example which does have an extra line: -->upgrade_noncore() ++ external_update_services: Success (1.38 seconds) ++ ++ Success (2.70 seconds) ++ B) Test fresh install (CLI) 1 In your config.php, change the $CFG->prefix to a previously-unused value so that Moodle will install new database tables. 2 Also in your config.php, add this line to enable debug display during install: $CFG->debug = 32767; 3 Run the CLI install using a command like this (no I have not revealed my password, I just made that one up): php admin/cli/install_database.php --agree-license --adminuser=admin --adminpass=secret0_frog --adminemail=lies@email.invalid --fullname=JUNK --shortname=JUNK --summary=JUNK 4 Look at the output log. There should be detail entries within the initial 'System' install, like this: == Setting up database == -->System ++ install.xml: Success (19.51 seconds) ++ ++ xmldb_main_install: Success (63.66 seconds) ++ ++ admin_apply_default_settings: Success (81.25 seconds) ++ ++ Success (166.90 seconds) ++ Each installed plugin should show the time taken: -->antivirus_clamav ++ Success (0.45 seconds) ++ Some plugins might show a detail entry (probably for update_capabilities), but this depends on your system performance. 5 You should put back the changes in your config.php at this point (change back the prefix, remove the debug line). 6 Optionally, go into your database and delete all the tables created with the temporary prefix you used. C) Test plugin installs, displaying all data (CLI) This test simulates adding plugins to an existing system. Because there is different upgrade code for blocks, modules, and everything else, we do one of each. To show all timing information regardless of performance, we will temporarily turn the display threshold down by editing code. 1 Edit the file lib/upgradelib.php, search for THRESHOLD = 1.0, and change the 1.0 to 0.0. 2 You should already be in DEVELOPER debugging mode, but if not, enable it. 3 Run this CLI command to uninstall 3 existing plugins: php admin/cli/uninstall_plugins.php --plugins=mod_bigbluebuttonbn,block_accessreview,datafield_checkbox --run 4 Run this at the command line to do the upgrade, which should install the 3 plugins again php admin/cli/upgrade.php --non-interactive --allow-unstable 5 Check the log output is as expected, showing lots of detail lines: -->mod_bigbluebuttonbn ++ install.xml: Success (0.29 seconds) ++ ++ insert_record: Success (0.08 seconds) ++ ++ install.php: Success (0.10 seconds) ++ ++ update_capabilities: Success (5.77 seconds) ++ ++ log_update_descriptions: Success (0.05 seconds) ++ ++ external_update_descriptions: Success (0.05 seconds) ++ ++ \core\task\manager::reset_scheduled_tasks_for_component: Success (0.03 seconds) ++ ++ \core_analytics\manager::update_default_models_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ message_update_providers: Success (0.12 seconds) ++ ++ \core\message\inbound\manager::update_handlers_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ upgrade_plugin_mnet_functions: Success (0.03 seconds) ++ ++ core_tag_area::reset_definitions_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ Success (6.56 seconds) ++ -->block_accessreview ++ insert_record: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ update_capabilities: Success (1.31 seconds) ++ ++ log_update_descriptions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ external_update_descriptions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core\task\manager::reset_scheduled_tasks_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core_analytics\manager::update_default_models_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ message_update_providers: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core\message\inbound\manager::update_handlers_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ upgrade_plugin_mnet_functions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ core_tag_area::reset_definitions_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ Success (1.46 seconds) ++ -->qbank_customfields ++ 2022041900: Success (0.04 seconds) ++ ++ update_capabilities: Success (0.22 seconds) ++ ++ log_update_descriptions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ external_update_descriptions: Success (0.03 seconds) ++ ++ \core\task\manager::reset_scheduled_tasks_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core_analytics\manager::update_default_models_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ message_update_providers: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core\message\inbound\manager::update_handlers_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ upgrade_plugin_mnet_functions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ core_tag_area::reset_definitions_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ Success (0.42 seconds) ++ -->datafield_checkbox ++ update_capabilities: Success (0.37 seconds) ++ ++ log_update_descriptions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ external_update_descriptions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core\task\manager::reset_scheduled_tasks_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core_analytics\manager::update_default_models_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ message_update_providers: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ \core\message\inbound\manager::update_handlers_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ upgrade_plugin_mnet_functions: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ core_tag_area::reset_definitions_for_component: Success (0.01 seconds) ++ ++ Success (0.52 seconds) ++ -->upgrade_noncore() ++ external_update_services: Success (0.61 seconds) ++ ++ cache_helper::update_definitions: Success (0.06 seconds) ++ ++ core_component::get_all_versions_hash: Success (0.35 seconds) ++ ++ cache_helper::purge_all: Success (0.08 seconds) ++ ++ purge_all_caches: Success (0.55 seconds) ++ ++ Success (1.66 seconds) ++ After this there is more log about new default values, which wasn't changed in this MDL. D) Test plugin installs, displaying all data (web) This test confirms that it looks OK on the web interface when displaying all data. 1 The lib/upgradelib.php should already have THRESHOLD hacked to 0.0, but if not, do that. 2 You should already be in DEVELOPER debugging mode, but if not, enable it. 3 Run this CLI command to uninstall 3 existing plugins: php admin/cli/uninstall_plugins.php --plugins=mod_bigbluebuttonbn,block_accessreview,datafield_checkbox --run 4 In your web browser, visit the admin screen, which should trigger the upgrade process. 5 Continue through the screens (current release information, plugins check) to do the actual upgrade. 6 When the upgrade completes, look at the screen: Underneath each plugin heading, there should be a final 'Success (5.51 seconds)' notification, currently shown in a green box. This is the information that will still show if you have debugging lower than 'DEVELOPER'. Because debugging is on DEVELOPER and we turned off the threshold, there should also be lots more notifications (the same green boxes) above the 'Success' one. These should correspond to the lines seen in the CLI run, although obviously the times might be slightly different. 7 Put back the code change in lib/upgradelib.php (set THRESHOLD back to 1.0). Note: The attached screenshots show this last sequence with and without the fake threshold setting.