WP asking for FTP login

jeffersonpowers
(@jeffersonpowers)

11 years, 9 months ago

On some installations of WordPress, when I try to download a new theme or plugin or even update an existing plugin, I get the following message:

To perform the requested action, WordPress needs to access your web server. Please enter your FTP credentials to proceed. If you do not remember your credentials, you should contact your web host.

It then asks for my FTP info.

On other installations, I’m able to download themes and plugins without this screen coming up. I imagine it’s a server issue, so I would like to know what that server issue is. Why does WordPress ask for this when installed on some servers but not others? What are the server settings I should be asking my hosting providers about?

As an aside, when I do enter my FTP info, the theme or plugin download goes as normal, but it takes a really long time (it took almost an hour to download one theme, where installing it manually took minutes).

I understand that manual installation is a common workaround for this problem, but I am setting up sites for clients, and they aren’t going to want to manually install anything. One of WordPress’s main points of favor is that you can manage your site from within the CMS, without having to know how to manually install themes and plugins via FTP.

At the very least, is there a way for WordPress to save the FTP info so I (and my clients) don’t have to enter it every time we want to update a plugin?

I realize that this topic has been posted elsewhere, but I have been unable to find a satisfactory answer on any of the other threads I have seen. If anyone out there knows anything about this, I would really appreciate some information.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

Johnb81
(@johnb81)

11 years, 9 months ago

Hi,

WordPress will ask for FTP information if the user under which the Web server service is running does not have access to write to the website (public_html). So in this case, since WordPress is using such user and when trying to add files to the website it is failing, it asks for the FTP details to connect to the server via FTP instead and still be able to upload the files to the website.

That is why it also takes longer. FTP is much slower as a protocol, and the way it works.

It is also possible to save FTP details in a WordPress installation, mainly in the wp-config.php file. You can read more about it here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php

Hope the above explains it all.

Thread Starter jeffersonpowers
(@jeffersonpowers)

11 years, 9 months ago

Thank you so much for your help.

Do you know if there is a way to change those user credentials, either within WordPress or on the server, so that WordPress can write to the site’s public_html?

Thanks again!

Johnb81
(@johnb81)

11 years, 9 months ago

Yes it is possible. Please read the section “WordPress Upgrade Constants” in the document I’ve linked to. I.e. http://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php

aRauf
(@arauf)

11 years, 1 month ago

So like many before me, I have struggled with WordPress on my personal VPS. Its not the hosting service’s fault, nor the servers fault. Everything works just as it should. WordPress, however, will not be able to make changes to files and directories unless you have (a) modified user permissions and potentially compromising security, (b) Go through extraneous efforts to search and modify configuration files, or (c) set your PHP Execution mode to “CGI Wrapper” [or other terminological exquivalents] instead of using apache to execute. Yes; that’s all you have to do.

Hope this helps for you future lost souls that find this thread 😉

fmlisboajr
(@fmlisboajr)

10 years, 10 months ago

Hi, i have the same issue, bit i can not resolved, try tu put user and password in php file but with no sucess, if i conecct by browser like ftp://localhost, and put user “nobody”and password “xampp”, ok, i get connection, in sameway in filezilla, but in wordpress NOT,

any sugestion?

esmi
(@esmi)

10 years, 10 months ago

@fmlisboajr: As per the Forum Welcome, please post your own topic. Posting in an existing topic prevents us from being able to track issues by topic. Added to which, your problem – despite any similarity in symptoms – is likely to be completely different.

fmlisboajr
(@fmlisboajr)

10 years, 10 months ago

ok