Upgrading WordPress Manually in Centos 7

Post Date: September 21, 2018
Last Updated: September 28, 2026

Introduction

WordPress is one of the most widely used content management systems (CMS) for building websites and blogs. Keeping your WordPress installation up to date is essential for maintaining security, improving performance, fixing bugs, and ensuring compatibility with the latest themes and plugins.

Although WordPress provides an automatic update feature, there may be situations where a manual upgrade is required. For example, automatic updates may fail due to file permission issues, server restrictions, or customized hosting environments. In such cases, manually upgrading WordPress ensures that your website remains secure and up to date.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to manually upgrade WordPress on a CentOS 7 server running a LAMP stack. We will demonstrate the process of upgrading WordPress from version 4.8.7 to 4.8.9 while preserving your website content, themes, plugins, and database.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure that you have the following:

Basic knowledge of WordPress and MySQL
Root or sudo access to the server
A working LAMP stack installed on CentOS 7
A complete backup of your WordPress files and database

Assumptions

For this tutorial, we assume the following:

CentOS 7 is installed and running on your server.
Current WordPress version: 4.8.7
Target WordPress version: 4.8.9
WordPress installation path: /var/www/html/wordpress

Note: You can replace the paths used in this guide with the paths applicable to your environment.

Create a Backup Before Upgrading

Before upgrading WordPress, create a complete backup of your website files and MySQL database. This backup allows you to restore the website quickly if anything goes wrong during the upgrade process.

Backup Website Files

cd /var/www/html
tar -czvf wordpress-backup.tar.gz wordpress

Backup WordPress Database

mysqldump -u root -p wordpress_db > wordpress_db_backup.sql

Replace wordpress_db with your actual WordPress database name.

Implementation

Upgrading WordPress Core Manually

Step 1: Download the Latest WordPress Release

Download the latest WordPress package from the official WordPress website:

Release Archive

You can also download it directly using wget:

wget https://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz

Step 2: Extract the Downloaded Package

Extract the downloaded WordPress archive:

tar -xzf latest.tar.gz

This will create a directory named wordpress.

For this example, the extracted files are located in:

/root/wordpress

Step 3: Remove Existing Core Directories

Navigate to your WordPress installation directory and remove the old core directories.

cd /var/www/html/wordpress
rm -rf wp-admin wp-includes

These directories contain WordPress core files and will be replaced with the updated versions.

Step 4: Copy New Core Directories

Copy the new wp-admin and wp-includes directories from the extracted package to the existing WordPress installation.

mv /root/wordpress/wp-admin /var/www/html/wordpress/
mv /root/wordpress/wp-includes /var/www/html/wordpress/

Verify that both directories have been copied successfully.

Step 5: Replace Remaining Core Files

Copy all remaining files from the extracted WordPress package to your existing installation directory.

cp -rf /root/wordpress/* /var/www/html/wordpress/

This process overwrites existing WordPress core files with updated versions while preserving your content.

Important: Do not delete the wp-content directory because it contains your themes, plugins, and uploaded media files.

Step 6: Review Configuration Changes

Your existing wp-config.php file will remain intact because WordPress only includes a sample configuration file named:

wp-config-sample.php

Compare the new sample configuration file with your existing configuration to determine whether any new settings need to be added.

Step 7: Run the WordPress Upgrade Script

Open your web browser and visit:

http://your-domain.com/wp-admin/

http://your-server-ip/wp-admin/

If a database update is required, WordPress will automatically prompt you to update the database.

Click Update WordPress Database and wait for the process to complete.

Step 8: Verify Website Functionality

After the upgrade completes:

Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard.
Check website pages and posts.
Verify that themes are loading correctly.
Confirm that plugins are functioning as expected.
Review the WordPress version from Dashboard → Updates.

Step 9: Clear Browser and Website Cache

Clear your browser cache and any caching plugins to ensure that the latest files are served to visitors.

If you are using a CDN such as Cloudflare, clear the CDN cache as well.

Post-Upgrade Checklist

After successfully upgrading WordPress, perform the following checks:

Verify website accessibility.
Check plugin compatibility.
Test contact forms and login functionality.
Review Apache and PHP logs for errors.
Confirm that SSL certificates are working correctly.
Ensure media files and uploads are accessible.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

White Screen After Upgrade

Check PHP errors:

tail -f /var/log/httpd/error_log

Increase PHP memory limit if required.

Plugin Compatibility Issues

Disable all plugins and enable them one by one to identify incompatible plugins.

Permission Errors

Set appropriate ownership and permissions:

chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/wordpress
find /var/www/html/wordpress -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /var/www/html/wordpress -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Unable to Access Admin Dashboard

Clear browser cookies and cache, then try logging in again.

Conclusion

Manually upgrading WordPress on CentOS 7 is a reliable method when automatic updates are unavailable or fail due to server-related issues. By carefully replacing the WordPress core files while preserving the wp-content directory and existing configuration, you can safely upgrade your website without affecting content, themes, or plugins.

Always create a complete backup before performing any upgrade and thoroughly test your website afterward. Regular updates help improve security, enhance performance, and ensure compatibility with the latest WordPress ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Why should I upgrade WordPress regularly?

Regular WordPress updates include security patches, bug fixes, performance improvements, and compatibility enhancements for themes and plugins. Keeping WordPress updated helps protect your website from vulnerabilities.

2. Will a manual WordPress upgrade delete my posts, pages, or media files?

No. A manual upgrade does not affect your website content if you preserve the wp-content directory and wp-config.php file. However, creating a backup before upgrading is strongly recommended.

3. What should I do if the upgrade fails?

If the upgrade fails, restore your website using the backup files and database backup created before the upgrade. Check Apache, PHP, and WordPress logs to identify the root cause before attempting the upgrade again.

Talk to our experts

Looking for the right technology solution for your business?. Our experts can help with web hosting, domain registration, DevOps and cloud, software development, web applications, mobile applications, and enterprise solutions. Get in touch with our team here.

Post Views: 197