Storage Space Error with WP Engine as Hoster

  • alhelor

    (@alhelor)


    3 months, 2 weeks ago

    Someone already made a similar post in the past (9 months ago, related to 6.3): https://wordpress.org/support/topic/disk_free_space-php-function-disabled-by-host/

    I am new to WP Engine and have that issue in 6.5.4. Under Site Health / Security / “Disk space available to perform updates”, it states “Could not determine available disk space for updates.”

    Does anyone else here use WP Engine and have the same issue? If it’s due to the fact that WP Engine disables “disk_free_space”, and everyone has it there, fine. But I’m sure that case was fixed.

    Support just says that it doesn’t really impact anything, just a WordPress code issue that may be fixed at some point. However, it’s not plugin or theme-related. A fresh installation throws the same issue, so it’s likely a server problem (or everyone has it for real). Since I’m paying 600 bucks a month, it would be nice to know I’m not sitting on a misconfigured server.

    Any input is appreciated! 🙂

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • George Appiah

    (@gappiah)

    3 months, 2 weeks ago

    Support just says that it doesn’t really impact anything,

    That’s true: and all that this means is that WordPress cannot tell you the available disk space. But it doesn’t affect the performance of your website in any way.

    … just a WordPress code issue that may be fixed at some point. However, it’s not plugin or theme-related. A fresh installation throws the same issue, so it’s likely a server problem (or everyone has it for real).

    There’s nothing to fix here, as the previous post you referenced made clear.

    WordPress uses various software on your server to do its work. If the function it needs from the server software is not available (disabled in this case), then WordPress simply cannot do its job. There’s no “WordPress code issue” to fix here.

    But in this case, the job that WordPress cannot do (tell you how much space you have available) is an inconsequential one and does not affect the performance of your website in any way. In any case, your disc space usage would be displayed in your hosting control panel or whatever tool you use to manage your server.

    Since I’m paying 600 bucks a month, it would be nice to know I’m not sitting on a misconfigured server.

    I’m sure your host has their own reason for disabling the PHP function, especially as the service is “managed” (meaning they are managing the server for you).

    If that does not sit well with you, my recommendation is to move to a hosting provider that gives you 100% full control over the server you’re paying for.

    Good luck!

    Thread Starter alhelor

    (@alhelor)

    3 months, 1 week ago

    Thank you for your reply. It’s a bit more complex though.

    1. The fact WP Engine support says it’s a problem with WordPress code kind of shows incompetence from their side.
    2. I believe the thread from 9 months ago referenced in my post came with the same symptoms, but the reason (disk_free_space disabled, leading to this message) has since been fixed. Thus, the current Site Health (as of WP 6.5.4) does not throw this message if disk_free_space has been purposefully disabled. It’s pretty much the same as it doesn’t tell you an event is late when you disable WP_Cron. It just trusts that if you’ve done it on purpose, you know what you’re doing.

    Thus, would be nice to know if there’s anyone here using WP Engine, getting the same message.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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