Update WordPress Using WP-CLI

WP-CLI is useful for managing your WordPress Hosted website(s) from the command line. You can use the wp core command to download, install, delete, and update WordPress. In this guide, you will learn how to use WP-CLI to check for an update and update WordPress from the command line.

Check for Updates

    1. SSH into your server as the cPanel user that owns the website you are installing WordPress on.
    2. Use the cd command to switch to the document root directory of your website.

      Example: cd public_html/my_website

    3. Run the following command to check if there is an available update for WordPress.

      wp core check-update

The output from that command will either indicate the available updates:

+---------+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+ | version | update_type | package_url                                                   | +---------+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+ | #.#.#   | minor       | https://downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-#.#.#.zip   | | #.#.#   | major       | https://downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-#.#.#.zip   | +---------+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+

or else, the output will indicate that no update is available:

Success: WordPress is at the latest version.

Update WordPress

  1. SSH into your server as the cPanel user that owns the website you are installing WordPress on.
  2. Use the cd command to switch to the document root directory of your website.

    Example: cd public_html/my_website

  3. Run the following command to update WordPress:

    wp core update

    The following output confirms the update was successful:

    Updating to version #.#.# (en_US)... Downloading update from https://downloads.wordpress.org/release/wordpress-#.#.#-no-content.zip... Unpacking the update... Cleaning up files... No files found that need cleaned up. Success: WordPress updated successfully.

Congratulations! You now know how to update WordPress from the command line, using the WP-CLI core command

Learn more about WP-CLI, the command-line interface for WordPress, and how to streamline your WordPress maintenance workflows!

JB
John-Paul Briones Content Writer II

John-Paul is an Electronics Engineer that spent most of his career in IT. He has been a Technical Writer for InMotion since 2013.

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