“Database Update Required”: version mismatch

  • jeffstaf

    (@jeffstaf)


    8 years, 7 months ago

    This past weekend (Saturday afternoon) we attempted to update our WordPress installation from 4.1.19 to the latest 4.8.2 and this produced a fatal error message on both the front and back end of our site. We also lost access to our backups so we ended up having to ask our hosting provider to revert our site to an earlier state. They informed us that they reverted it to a state from Saturday morning and the site came back up… sort of.

    The front end of the site is functioning normally, but on the back end we encountered the “Database Update Required” screen. What I’ve read here (and elsewhere on the web) suggested that there may be a version mismatch with version.php / wp_db_version and wp_options / db_version. This turned out to be case, but not in the way I expected.

    In all the other cases I’ve read about, the version in version.php is *higher* than the version in the database value db_version. And that adjusting the value in version.php to match the database value fixes the situation. However, we have the opposite situation — the version in version.php is *lower* than the version in the database. Specifically:

    [version.php]
    $wp_db_version = 30135;

    [wp_options]
    db_version = 38590

    And, indeed, 30135 is associated with 4.1.19 and 38590 is associated with 4.8.2 and these are the versions involved in our failed upgrade.

    So my question is this: is the solution to decrease the value of wp_options / db_verison so that it matches the version in version.php / wp_db_version? Or should the version in version.php be increased to match? Or are both solutions incorrect and this type of mismatch is indicative of a completely different problem?

    I’m very new to WordPress, so apologies if I’m missing something obvious. The people who set up our site are long gone and I’ve inherited its maintenance since I’m the only person available in our organization that has an IT background. Though I basically know just enough to know that one wrong step could trash our site all over again.

    Any help would be *greatly* appreciated!

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    8 years, 7 months ago

    No, you should not edit any files or that value in the database.

    On the “Database Update Required” screen encountered, there is a button to update the database. Simply click that button to fix the issue.

    Thread Starter jeffstaf

    (@jeffstaf)

    8 years, 7 months ago

    Thanks for the feedback, James.

    So the “Database Update Required” page is not in error and we actually really do need to just update our database? And the conflicting version values in db_version and wp_db_version are indicative of this?

    Though why are we being prompted to update the database when our host provider reverted our site to a point where we weren’t being prompted to do so?

    I’m really concerned since I’ve read of other people reverting their site after a failed upgrade, being prompted to update their database and, after clicking the update button, having the front end of their site end up being totally scrambled or just go completely blank.

    We absolutely can’t afford another site outage as we’re in the middle of our biggest fundraising drive of the year… but we desperately need to get back in and update our site’s content.

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    8 years, 7 months ago

    So the “Database Update Required” page is not in error and we actually really do need to just update our database?

    That is a normal part of upgrading WordPress: https://codex.wordpress.org/Upgrading_WordPress#Step_2:_Update_your_installation

    Though why are we being prompted to update the database when our host provider reverted our site to a point where we weren’t being prompted to do so?

    It’s likely that your WordPress files are still the current version of WordPress, and are identifying correctly that your database reflects an older version of WordPress.

    As long as you already have a backup of the database and files, push the button that WordPress is asking you to push.

    Thread Starter jeffstaf

    (@jeffstaf)

    8 years, 7 months ago

    That is a normal part of upgrading WordPress

    Wait… our host provider reverted our site to a point prior to the upgrade… so I’m having trouble understanding why we’re dealing with upgrade issues when our site was rolled back to a point before the upgrade even came into play.

    It’s likely that your WordPress files are still the current version of WordPress, and are identifying correctly that your database reflects an older version of WordPress.

    Again, how could the WordPress files be the current version of WP if our site was reverted to a point before upgrading WP occurred?

    Moderator James Huff

    (@macmanx)

    8 years, 7 months ago

    Wait… our host provider reverted our site to a point prior to the upgrade… so I’m having trouble understanding why we’re dealing with upgrade issues when our site was rolled back to a point before the upgrade even came into play.

    Maybe your hosting provider didn’t revert the files, or maybe you’re running an aggressive caching system. These are the only reasons that message would appear:

    1. If the version of the WordPress files is higher than the version of the WordPress database.

    2. If item 1 happened as described, but was cached, and the cached content is still being served despite reverting all of the WordPress files.

    Again, how could the WordPress files be the current version of WP if our site was reverted to a point before upgrading WP occurred?

    If that happened, it’s something your hosting provider, or the person who claims to have reverted the files, will need to investigate explain.

    WordPress itself doesn’t backup or revert anything, so we would have no clue why your revert didn’t go as planned.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

The topic ‘“Database Update Required”: version mismatch’ is closed to new replies.