If you have shell access to your webserver, upgrading to the latest WordPress build can be a matter of painless seconds. As usual there is more than one way to do it, and here is one of these ways — the script I am using.
- #!/bin/bash
- CURDIR=$(pwd)
- SITE="http://yoursite.com/blog"
- echo Updating Wordpress in $CURDIR
- echo 1. downloading latest build
- wget -q http://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
- echo 2. unpacking latest build
- tar zxf latest.tar.gz
- cd wordpress/
- echo 3. replacing old files with fresh ones
- tar cf - . | (cd $CURDIR; tar xf -)
- echo 4. updating your blog
- wget -q -O - ${SITE}/wp-admin/upgrade.php?step=1 > /dev/null
- echo 5. removing unneeded files and directory
- rm -f ../latest.tar.gz
- echo 6. all done !
Modify line 3 to reflect your blog URL and here you go. The script downloads the latest build, unpacks it, overwrite your files and keeps file attributes, update your blog with the often forgotten /wp-admin/upgrade.php step, and removes temporary files. Literally takes seconds to upgrade.
Newbie how-to:
- Go to the wordpress root, where wp-config.php sits
- Using your favorite editor (pico ?) create a new file named updatewp
- Paste the code in the newly created file, save, exit
- chmod +x updatewp
- To upgrade WordPress: just type ./updatewp in the root dir
Note: this is based on a script I found a couple of years ago, which introduced me to the wicked tar piped line (step 3). I completely forgot where I found this originally, so if you have the feeling you might be the original coder, feel free to raise your hand in the comments :)
