Linode Forum

[daveporter]

Hi All,

I have a fair grip on using a LAMP stack on my Linode, but the one thing that I can't work out is how to get WordPress do it's updates from within WordPress Admin.

I've done a fair bit of browsing here and Googling, but can't seem to come up with an answer.

I've read about using 'chown', but I'm not sure where to use it or how ?

My installation is:
Linode 512
ISPConfig

I can FTP to my Linode using user root, but can't using an FTP user I create in ISPConfig! So that is confusing me!

Any help appreciated!
Dave

[kswan]

For Wordpress to update itself, the files need to be owned by the webserver user. On Ubuntu/Debian, Apache is run as user www-data. I think the webserver user on Centos is httpd.

So, you can change the owner of all files using this command (if you are using Ubuntu or Debian).
Code: sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/

[daveporter]

Thanks for your reply!
OK, I tried that & now get this message when I access the site:
>>>>>>
ERROR 500 - Internal Server Error!
The following error occurred:
The requested URL caused an internal server error.
If you get this message repeatedly please contact the webmaster.
<<<<<<<

Any thoughts ?
(This is the first time I accessed the site since yesterday, so it may not have been the chown command !)

Dave

[hybinet]

Check Apache error logs. They will contain more detail about the 500 Internal Server Error. If there aren't any details, check your php.ini and make sure "log_errors" is On. (If you change anything in php.ini, you need to restart Apache.) Refresh the error page a couple of times to make errors appear at the bottom of the current log file.

I'd also check twice before following any generic advice in this thread, since you're using a control panel (ISPConfig). Control panels have a tendency to make its own customizations, and they don't always play nicely with generic fixes. For example, if your control panel expects website files to be owned by each site's user and group, @kswan's one-liner could wreak havoc with your setup.

[daveporter]

Thanks I'll try that !

Can I reverse the chown command to see if that fixed it ?
If so, what would the syntax be ?

Dave

[hybinet]

In order to reverse the chown command, you need to know which user and group each folder was owned by. This can be tricky, and I can't help you there because I don't know how ISPConfig works.

If you're still stuck after checking the error logs, go to your control panel's user community and ask them how you can (1) reverse a botched chown and/or (2) make WordPress update itself. They'll probably be able to give you more specific advice that is compatible with your control panel. Most people on Linode don't use control panels, so this might not be the best place to ask.

[daveporter]

Gotcha!
Thanks so much for your prompt help !
Dave