The problem was caused by about 8 wordpress files in the root directory with a filesize of 0 bytes. Uploading fresh copies of these files (from the latest version downloaded from wordpress.org) solved the initial problem. The subsequent problem has since cleared without any indication of what steps solved it.
Upgrading Across Multiple Versions
Upgrading from 3.2.1 to current
Try adding all of the following: define(‘FS_METHOD’, ‘ftpext’); define(‘FTP_BASE’, ‘/path/to/wordpress/’); define(‘FTP_CONTENT_DIR’, ‘/path/to/wordpress/wp-content/’); define(‘FTP_PLUGIN_DIR ‘, ‘/path/to/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/’); #define(‘FTP_PUBKEY’, ‘/home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.pub’); #define(‘FTP_PRIKEY’, ‘/home/username/.ssh/id_rsa’); define(‘FTP_USER’, ‘username’); define(‘FTP_PASS’, ‘password’); define(‘FTP_HOST’, ‘ftp.example.org’); define(‘FTP_SSL’, false); This is sourced from the official wp-config document here.
The issue is that the files cannot be written to by the web/php process due to permissions. This is: Good! Those files can’t be updated with malware and other nasty surprises Bad! The updater cant update them either So, I’d advise you do the following: Follow these chmod settings religiously What is true chmod for … Read more
You say you included class-wp-upgrader.php, but the Codex page for request_filesystem_credentials() indicates that the function is defined in /wp-admin/includes/file.php. That’s the file you’d need to require() before you can use it. Looking at the source of class-wp-upgrader.php, the request_filesystem_credentials() function is part of the WP_Upgrader_Skin class, not a standalone function. There’s no guarantee that WP_Upgrader_Skin::request_filesystem_credentials() … Read more
Eventually after confirming that the database had been updated I rebooted the server I tried moving the file wp-admin/upgrade.php to be wp-admin/411.upgrade.php. This got the site out of its death spiral. Given that I had manually updated all the files using Upgrading_WordPress_Extended and had also managed to get the database upgrade installer to run as … Read more
In a nutshell – GUID is not supposed to hold meaningful data and the fact that at this moment the data in it happens to be meaningful is coincidental. WordPress does no verification whatsoever that GUIDs mean anything. They are not guaranteed to stay immutable if you rely on that and they are not changed … Read more
Short answer – who knows. Will probably work, maybe something will explode. Behavior is undefined for backwards direction. Long answer – from quick look at code 3.8 upgrade doesn’t seem to do anything specific to database, so likely it will be pretty painless. For any serious site – make a staging copy and test it … Read more
If you have access to your files via ftp, you should be able to upgrade WordPress manually. According to WordPress.org, you can do so by swapping out a few folders and files: Step 1: Replace WordPress files Get the latest WordPress zip (or tar.gz) file. Unpack the zip file that you downloaded. Deactivate plugins. Delete … Read more