Inconsistent file permissions during upgrade – confused

  • I’m trying to upgrade to WP 4.3.1 on a Linux server. The web server runs as the user “webserver”. The WP files in the apache VirtualHost are owned by ftpuser.ftpgroup. I’m told everywhere that file permissions should be 755 for directories and 644 for files. This includes wp-admin and wp-includes which is what this update wants to change.

    In the WP admin I try to update and get this error.
    “Downloading update from https://downloads.www.ads-software.com/release/wordpress-4.3.1-no-content.zip…

    Unpacking the update…

    The update cannot be installed because we will be unable to copy some files. This is usually due to inconsistent file permissions.: wp-admin/includes/update-core.php

    Installation Failed”

    WHY? Because webserver needs to be able to change and write to these files which are owned by ftpuser.ftpgroup correct? It can’t So if I change the file ownership to “webserver” and leave it like that so this one-click update works without error in the future does that not make my ENTIRE web site world-writeable? I mean all the WP core files are changeable by the webserver. Thats a massive security risk isn’t it?

    Is this what the rest of the world actually does? Allow the webserver to change wp-admin and wp-include files on demand? I’m trying to figure out if its common practice to do this because I’m completely confused.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    – For some reasons, if the auto updating does not work on your server, then try MANUALLY updating. Download a fresh copy of the WordPress .zip file to your computer, unzip it, and use that to copy up all files and folders EXCEPT the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory. You may need to delete the old wp-admin and wp-includes folders and files on your server before uploading the new ones. Read the Manual Update directions first.
    –Backup: If you haven’t already done, always backup everything (including your database) before doing any actions, just in case something really goes wrong.

    Thread Starter kenw232

    (@kenw232)

    I can’t update manually anymore. I need this simple feature to work consistently. How can I make that happen? Does everyone 100% of the time make all WP files writable by the web server? Thats acceptable practice then?

    Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Changing_File_Permissions

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • The topic ‘Inconsistent file permissions during upgrade – confused’ is closed to new replies.