Autoupdates Failing on WordPress? FTP Failing?

Douglas KarrDec 31, 2010

1 minute read

Recently, we had a client that configured their own servers for use with WordPress. When the recent 3.04 security update came through, there was some sense of urgency to getting this version installed on all of our clients. However, this particular client always required that we upgrade WordPress manually… a process not for the faint of heart!

We wouldn’t get the typical “can’t write files” error on this blog. Instead we were provided a screen with FTP login. The problem was that we would fill in the FTP credentials and it would still fail… this time based on good credentials!

I got in touch with our friends at Lifeline Data Centers, Indiana’s largest data center, since they have some Apache geeks and have configured their own servers. They provided me with a simple solution – adding the FTP credentials directly within the wp-config.php file to hardcode the FTP credentials:

define('FTP_HOST', 'localhost'); 
define('FTP_USER', 'username'); 
define('FTP_PASS', 'password');

For some reason, the identical credentials that did not work in the form, worked perfectly when put in the configuration file! As well, it makes WordPress act just like it would without the need for FTP…. just click update and go!