Automatic Update Failed_Several Methods to Manually Update WordPress Version

WordPress is an open-source website building program. It continuously releases new versions over time. For website security, we also need to perform WordPress update and upgrade operations. This article introduces several methods for updating WordPress, divided into automatic updates and manual updates. Details are as follows:

Automatic WordPress Update

Automatic WordPress update is very simple; just click the update button in the admin dashboard. If you are using foreign shared hosting, usually you don't even need to click the update button. When a new version is available, the system will automatically update to the new version for you. Of course, it's also possible that your hosting provider has not enabled the automatic update function for you, so you just need to click the update button once yourself.However, with domestic servers, due to network issues, update failures often occur. At this time, we need to perform a manual update to solve this problem.

WordPress Update Failed with Prompt „Another update is currently in progress“

If the automatic WordPress update fails, then you can only update manually. The most common prompt for a failed WordPress update is „Another update is in progress” When you encounter this prompt and search online, the basic solution is to have you delete a table file named core_updater.lock from the database. The common method online is to have you enter your website database (via phpMyAdmin or SSH using command-line methods).Search for core_updater.lock in the wp_options table; you will find an entry. Delete it and then try updating again.However,this method is not 100% effective for domestic hosting in China, because the connection speed from domestic hosts to WordPress servers is unstable.It's likely the download will fail, causing the upgrade to fail.Therefore, at this point, you need to manually upgrade WordPress. Additionally,if the automatic update fails on a domestic server, it can easily result in a white screen or error messages.At this point, you just need to manually update once more to resolve the issue.

Methods for Manual WordPress Upgrade

Method 1: Download Offline Package for Manual Update

You can download the new version of the WordPress installation package yourself and then manually update it. For downloading the offline installation package of the new WordPress version, you can refer to this article:WordPress New Version Simplified Chinese Local DownloadAfter downloading,the method for manually updating WordPress is:：

• ①. Extract the downloaded installation package and delete the wp-content folder inside;
• ②. Use FTP to deletethewp-admin and wp-includes folders on the server;
• ③. Upload the remaining local files to the server, overwriting all files;
• ④. Log in to the WordPress website Admin Dashboard to see if there is a request to update the database. If there is, update it; if not, the update is already complete.

1. Extract the downloaded zip file, then enter the WordPress folder,delete the wp-content folder.。 2. Then use FTP softwareto connect to the server, navigate to your website's root directory,and delete the wp-admin and wp-includes folders.。 3. Then upload all the remaining files to the server, overwriting the original files. Next, go to the WordPress website Admin Dashboard. If a database update is needed, you will be prompted; click to update. If no database update is needed, then this manual WordPress update is complete.

Method 2: Update Using a Plugin

Due to poor network speed from domestic servers when accessing WordPress, automatic upgrades often fail. We can install the 'wp china yes' Plugin to help us achieve automatic WordPress upgrades.WP China Yes DownloadFirst, download the Plugin, then upload and install it via the Plugins section in the WordPress Admin Dashboard. After installation, activate the Plugin, then go to the updates interface and click to update. Additionally, if you need to install an older version of WordPress, you can useWP Downgrade.

Method 3: Update Using Code + Compressed Package

This method comes from the Longxiao Tianxia blog. The specific usage is as follows:

1. Download the WordPress installation package file and rename it to wordpress.zip
2. Upload wordpress.zip to your website's root directory
3. Copy the code below into the Theme's functions file
4. Click Update in the Admin Dashboard
5. After the update is complete, delete the function code

/**
 * 临时更改WordPress程序包地址以便WP在线更新成功 - 龙笑天下
 * https://www.ilxtx.com/how-to-update-wordpress-successfully.html
 */
function lxtx_site_transient_update_core( $value ){
    foreach ($value->updates as &$update) {
        $update->download = home_url( 'wordpress.zip' );
        $update->packages->full = home_url( 'wordpress.zip' );
    }
    return $value;
}
add_filter('site_transient_update_core', 'lxtx_site_transient_update_core');

If you don't know how to add code to the Theme's functions file, you can use the following Plugin for assistance.Safe method to add code to the functions.php file: Code Snippets

Method 4: Baota Panel Manual WordPress Update Tutorial

First, enter the Baota Panel backend (What to do if you forget the Baota Panel backend login URL) From the left navigation bar, enter your website's root directory via 【File】, then click Remote Download,Download the new version of the WordPress installation package. Click OK directly.After the download is complete, click Extract on the downloaded compressed package.Keep the extraction settings default and click the Extract button directly.In the website root directory, select the wp-admin and wp-includes folders, then delete them.Click on the WordPreess folder to enter it, and delete the wp-content folder inside (actually, this folder contains just a few default Themes and default Plugins; if you are not using the default Theme, deleting this step has little impact)Then select allWordPressthe contents inside the folder, choose 【Cut】Return to your website's root directory and paste everything.Then visit the Admin Dashboard to check. The tutorial for manually updating WordPress using Baota Panel is now complete.

Method 5: Manual WordPress Update via SSH Command

Operating via SSH commands is also simple, but beginners may not be very proficient, so proceed with caution. The following demonstration uses an environment installed with the LNMP one-click package. The specific commands are as follows:

cd /home/wwwroot/website

Replace 'website' above with your own website's folder.

wget https://wordpress.org/latest.zip
unzip latest.zip
rm -rf wp-admin
rm -rf wp-includes
cd wordpress
rm -rf wp-content
mv -f * ..

The above commands will have upgraded WordPress. You can directly go to the Admin Dashboard to see the result. However, you may encounter the issue shown in the image below during future use.During the next automatic WordPress update or Plugin installation, you may be prompted: „To perform the requested action, WordPress needs access to your web server. Please enter your FTP login credentials to proceed. If you have forgotten your login credentials (such as username, password), please contact your web hosting provider.“ This is because we used the root account during the SSH upgrade of WordPress, while the website uses the www user. Therefore, we need to use the following command to change the permissions. (The command follows the previous command operation)

cd ..
chomd -R 755 *
chown -R www:www *

Alright, this tutorial on manually upgrading WordPress is now complete. It should be the most comprehensive tutorial on WordPress upgrades on the entire internet.