11.14. Installing an XBlock¶

The XBlock framework allows developers to expand the Open edX platform by building different learning experiences and deploying them as XBlocks. Before course teams can use an XBlock in courses running on an instance of the Open edX platform, both of the following tasks must be completed.

• A system administrator installs the XBlock in the instance of the Open edX platform.
• Course teams enable the XBlock in the specific courses that will use it.

To install an XBlock, follow these steps.

1. Obtain the Github location and commit for the XBlock.

2. Run pip with a Github link to the XBlock.

   An example that installs the Oppia XBlock follows.

   pip install git+https://github.com/oppia/xblock.git@9f6b95b7eb7dbabb96b77198a3202604f96adf65#egg=oppia-xblock==0.0.0
   

The course teams that want to include components that use the XBlock can then enable the XBlock for their courses. To do so, they add the name specified in the XBlock’s setup.py file to each course’s advanced module list. For more information, see Enabling Additional Exercises and Tools.