Wordfence update maintenance mode issue

Do you see any error messages in the site’s error log? I haven’t heard of any sites getting stuck in maintenance mode in this release or prior releases.

I would recommend manually removing the “wordfence” folder (wp-content/plugins/wordfence/) and then trying to install the plugin again.

If needed, you can disable maintenance mode manually by removing the file “.maintenance” in the root of your site.

Is your server by chance running “LiteSpeed” instead of Apache? If you’re not sure, do you mind posting a link to the site here so I can check?

-Matt R

I’ve copied your reply from the announcement post, to keep this issue all together.

its not loading in for me, even tried to ftp it over. It’s still saying it’s on 6.0.21 on one page but in /wp-admin/update-core.php it says everything is now up-to-date.

Every time I’ve tried it sits in maintenance mode for a long time. Is this due to a large scan as it installs do you think?

3 times I have tried. Now I’m unsure if it’s resolved or not.

Getting stuck in maintenance mode probably means that the WordPress update process is actually getting stopped before it can finish. There are a number of reasons this can happen, between server settings and plugin conflicts. I don’t think it would be from a Wordfence scan running, but you can try using the link to kill a scan on the Scan page, if one is currently running.

If you’ve removed the original plugin folder and then copied in the new version by FTP (already unzipped) to wp-content/plugins/wordfence/, or if you upload the plugin zip file using the “Upload Plugin” button at the top of the installer, there shouldn’t be any way for the old version number to still appear. Maybe double-check the zip file to be sure the new version number appears in the readme.txt. (Once in a while, www.ads-software.com does strange things, so maybe the zip file is the previous version?)

If your site has any type of cache or reverse proxy, including any services like CloudFlare, you might want to temporarily disable them. Other caches like Varnish can be set to cache things that they shouldn’t. (CloudFlare is normally safe, but in case a combination of CloudFlare and some unrelated plugin are causing the problem, this still may help.)

If you can find the error log for your site, it may have messages in it that help, also. If you’re not sure where to find it, usually the host can help.

-Matt R

it seems to have gone in back-end I’ll wait for the next update and see what happens maybe uninstall first get rid of any cobwebs

Ok, let us know if it works when you try it next, or if you still have any trouble.

-Matt R

Having exactly the same issue trying to update Wordfence today.

Keeps putting WP into maintenance mode and the update fails:

“An error occurred while updating Wordfence Security: Could not create directory. /public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordfence/”

Pausing Cloudflare doesn’t help.

@atimes2015: If you did not already, can you check the permissions on the wordfence directory and the plugins directory, to make sure the web server can write to them? You can also remove the wordfence folder manually by FTP before trying to install again. If you can find the site’s error log, there might be other details there as well.

-Matt R

The Update closed my site with this message:

“Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.”

Removed WordFence from my FTP plugin folder and I’m up and running again. But now no WordFence installed.

Mike

@mikelev: You can probably reinstall Wordfence through the WordPress plugin installer. It should keep your settings since they are stored in the database. If it causes the same problem, can you check the site’s error log?

This post is getting a little crowded. ?? The www.ads-software.com forum rules ask us to keep posts separate for each person, so atimes2015 and MikeLev, if you are still having trouble, can create separate posts from the bottom of the forum page (here)? That will make it easier to keep track of what is happening on each site, in case the problems have some differences.

If you include a link to this original post too, that will be helpful. Thanks!

-Matt R

Tried changing permissions on plugins and WF folders to 777.

Same problem.

Seems to be everyone having the same issue so surely the solution should be the same.

OK here’s what’s happened my end today.

After trying to update WordFence yesterday and getting maintenance mode issues and having to delete the .maintenance back-end now none of my updates will install. Had 3 tonight and they all fail, it has never ever happened, the only one that has is a WordPress update which I just manually downloaded and then it installed.

I could be wrong but seems something with the install yesterday has screwed up other parts of WP. I have checked file permissions and even on group its 775 so not yet finding a reason for the issue.

Hoping my dev gets in touch (he is hard to speak to) maybe he can make sense of it, see where the logs are and get me some answers later in the morning.

oh and Matt if you want to come and take a look you can contact me on twitter @Gamin_Guys just post your username below so I know who I’m dealing with, maybe you can figure it out.

Could not create directory. …/wp-content/plugins/users-ultra/

…/wp-content/plugins/user-role-editor/ is the same

Could not create directory. …/wp-content/plugins/buddypress-media/

@neildee250: Was the manual WordPress update recent?

If so, check the group of the directory /wp-content/plugins/ itself — even if the permissions are right, it might be owned by a different user/group, making the permissions not apply, if it was overwritten during the manual WP update.

If you are not sure how to check or change the owner and group, the hosting company may be able to help.

Also, if anyone has error logs from when the issue happened, there may be additional messages that help. If you temporarily enable WP_DEBUG in wp-config.php, that may help as well. (Just remember to turn it off when finished testing.)

-Matt R

struck out on letting you find the issue then xD no idea this end I write the articles and list the store stuff. Guess Liam needs to come and look ??

If loads of people are having the same issue why do the software guys always blame the host?

For me anyway it happens on other plugins, not just WF indicating something changed with the latest WP update.

Of course that section of the forum is useless, have been waiting 2 days for a reply.