Hi @wafwaf, thanks for getting in touch.
This possibly sounds like a communication issue between our server and your site, although there are a few things you can try first.
Using your FTP or hosting file manager, navigate to your wp-content/wflogs folder and check for your rules.php file. What is the last modified date on this file? If it’s 0kb or the last updated time matches what Wordfence is saying, you can actually delete the wflogs folder or its contents altogether and Wordfence should try to repopulate it within 30 minutes.
It’s also worth checking that permissions on your WordPress site’s directories are 755 and that the owner on your WordPress root directory (and all contained directories) is www-data. Web servers such as Apache, Nginx, etc will require www-data to be an owner so that WordPress and plugins can update and run functions required to do so.
If you continue to have persistent problems with this file/folder after trying the above, you can bypass this entirely by setting Wordfence to write to the MySQLi storage engine instead of a file if you prefer: https://www.wordfence.com/help/firewall/mysqli-storage-engine/
Let me know how you get on!
Thanks,
Peter.
Thread Starter
wafwaf
(@wafwaf)
Wow, my head is spinning just from reading your response 🙂
The error says:
“The last rules update for the Wordfence Web Application Firewall was unsuccessful. The last successful update check was October 28, 2021 3:04 am, so this site may be missing new rules added since then. You may wait for the next automatic attempt at November 11, 2021 2:04 am or try to Manually Update by clicking the “Manually Refresh Rules” button below the Rules list.”
I guess the solution is to wait for your next update. That’s the same exact solution that was given two years ago when a new update from you guys solved the issue for many. Will there be an update soon? 🙂
Hi @wafwaf,
Thanks for the extra information regarding the last successful date, I certainly was trying to be as comprehensive as possible but apologize if this came across a bit advanced in places. It would certainly be fine to wait until the next update which looks like it happens weekly on Thursdays for you, but if this also fails then manually deleting the file itself using the instructions above would prompt Wordfence to recreate a fresh one.
If you have no luck with your next automatic update and are unable to manually kick it into action, let me know and we’ll take a more detailed look into your configuration.
Peter.
Thread Starter
wafwaf
(@wafwaf)
Hi @wfpeter,
When is the next Wordfence update planned?
Hi @wafwaf,
On the free version of Wordfence this should be updating weekly, so the message you originally posted with a successful update on 28 October, then the next one scheduled for 11 November would suggest every Thursday. Did your update yesterday go as planned on 11th or are you seeing a new failure message?
If you’re referring to plugin updates, we can’t comment on exact release dates on the forums as they can change while everything is being fully tested.
Peter.
Thread Starter
wafwaf
(@wafwaf)
The failure message dissappeared after Thursday. Thank you.
Thread Starter
wafwaf
(@wafwaf)
The failure message disappeared after Thursday. Thank you.
Wonderful news @wafwaf and thank-you for the update!
If you have any further Wordfence questions in future please start a new topic and we’ll always be glad to help out.
Peter.
