Theme update error ('unable to copy some files')

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply. Here are my follow-ups:

A big issue is that I just logged in to my site again. The theme version is still 4.5.7, but now the ‘Update Now’ link is gone–there is absolutely no indication that a new theme version is available. Yesterday, that notification/link was present. Any ideas how to resolve that?

>> you could check your file permissions which would not hurt, but they are probably correct

Well I configured this server myself, and set folder permissions to 775 and file permission to 664 (with wp-config.php set to 660). Those were suggested to me in this article. I realize the article you linked specifies different permissions. Do you think I should try those? If so, we would first have to resolve the issue of the missing link/notification that I described above.

>> from your screenshot I see that you have two security plugins, perhaps the encrypted update link set off a false positive and they tried to protect you?
>> Maybe not but you could try disabling them and try again.

I don’t have a problem deactivating those to see if they are the culprit. But first, we would first have to resolve the issue of the missing link/notification that I described above.

>> I would recommend updating via ftp, like this:

The last time I updated the theme, it was required that I do so manually. I did so, and at that time I was promised that all future theme updates could be done automatically. So I hope we can spend some time getting that to work. As an absolute last option I would be willing to update manually. But I really want to resolve the issue with automatic updates.

Thanks.

>> When I look at the source code for your site it looks like the updates are disabled:

OK interesting. I was not aware of that. I did not build this website, but recently took over admin duties. One of the first things I did as admin was update the site to version 4.5.7–it had not been updated in several years. I am now trying to update again.

>> do you have your token code added the theme update page?

I do. That was one of the first things I did after updating to 4.5.7. I just re-checked and it is still there.

>> Please include admin login in the Private Content area so we can be of more assistance.

OK I will do so. Let me know if you have issues.

>> Perhaps it would be a good idea to see if your webhost has the one click staging site option, this is a option in most cPanels to create a staging clone of your site so we can test on it and you site will stay up and running.

The site in-question is indeed my private development site. It is a clone of my live site. After I update the theme on my dev site, I will do the same on my live site.

>> Now it’s stuck in the “google_authenticator_user_page”.

When I gave you access to my site, several plugins–including Google Authenticator–were already deactivated. There was a reason they were deactivated.
But you re-activated *all* plugins, including Google Authenticator. As you can see, that is now causing login issues. I will deactivate it via FTP. But please be more mindful in the future.

What about the previous message in this thread, from Mike on 24 September? He say,

>> When I look at the source code for your site it looks like the updates are disabled:

and provides a screenshot. Do you think that might be causing the issue?

>> Sorry about that. I’m not familiar with that plugin, and I might have missed that it’s initially disabled.

OK no worries.

>> It won’t affect the auto update, but I’ve asked one of our developers to confirm.I’ll let you know once he responds. For now, you will have to update the theme manually via FTP.

OK. But as I mentioned before, I paid for a theme that promises auto updates, and when I last updated the theme, the developer promised that I would be able to auto-update in the future. So if possible, I would very much like to resolve this issue, rather than turn to the workaround of a manual update. If it requires more time with second tier support, I am happy to wait. If for some reason you cannot resolve the issue, would you be able to carry out the manual update, on both my dev site and live site?

Thanks.

>> Where is the site hosted?

It is hosted on an AWS virtual server I setup.

>> It’s possible that your server is rejecting the requests or the source files from Envato.

It could very well be that my server is not configured as it should be for this purpose. But I cannot fix that until you tell me exactly how it needs to be fixed.

>> We’ll forward this thread again to the dev team.

OK thanks. Do you have a rough estimate as to when they might reply?

>> Yes, we can help you with the update this time but it will be very inconvenient for you to look for us every time you needed to update.

I agree that it is very inconvenient for both of us to spend time on this. That’s why I have been saying throughout this ticket that we should get automatic updates working, rather than simply move forward with a manual update. If we do not fix automatic updates, I will have to manually update the theme every time a new version is released, which will be quite tedious. Why don’t we wait another week for the dev team to reply, so we can hopefully fix the automatic update issue. If it helps, I am happy to speak directly with the dev team. I can give them access to my site if need be.

>> We are pretty sure that is not an issue with the theme, but rather an issue related to the server configuration or something else.

Instead of making assumptions, let’s allow the dev team to confirm the cause of the issue. That is the only way anyone will be able to fix it.

Thanks.

I will check on the values of those PHP settings. Give me a day or two and I will report back here.

I changed allow_url_include to on and tried to update the theme again. But there is a new issue preventing me from doing so. WordPress–>Appearance indicates an update is available for the Enfold theme. But it also indicates, “Automatic update is unavailable for this theme.” What’s going on here?

>> We validated the token again to get the latest info about the theme. The update is now available in theme options,

When I open the page, I see the same error message, “Automatic update is unavailable for this theme.”

>> Can we have access to the file server? We would like to enable the debug mode and error logs, and see if anything comes up.

OK stand by, I’m working on obtaining FTP credentials for you. I’ll post back here when I obtain them. FYI I already have error logging enabled (errors write to debug.log, but do not print to the screen).

Hello. Any update to this? I can troubleshoot this on my end, but it would be very helpful if your second tier support could answer my previous three questions, especially #3.

Thanks.

>> Please read https://wordpress.org/support/article/hardening-wordpress/#file-permissions and https://wordpress.org/support/article/hardening-wordpress/#regarding-automatic-updates

OK I will do so.

But the main issue right now is the absence of the auto-update link. Specifically, when I opened this ticket, WordPress–>Appearance indicated an update available for the Enfold theme, and also an ‘Update Now’ link. But after I opened this ticket, and Enfold agents made some changes to my site, that “Update Now” link was replaced by, “Automatic update is unavailable for this theme.” I raised this issue earlier in this ticket. The agent said it was fixed, but I still see the issue. How can we resolve that?

Earlier an agent in this thread asked for access to my file server. I sent him instructions on how to connect via SFTP. Were you able to do so?

>> Best would be to get in contact with your hoster/system administrator to check and set the rights according to these articles. Maybe your hoster has experience with WordPress installs and can help you to configure your site.

In this case, I am the hoster, sys admin, and have experience with WordPress installs. But it is my first time configuring a server from scratch. I’m hoping you can bear with me as we troubleshoot this issue. Hopefully it’s just a permission/owner issue. But in the meantime, I need your help getting the ‘Update Now’ link to re-appear.

Thanks.

>> Please provide another account.

OK I have done so in the private reply area. To be clear, please do not update the theme right now. Simply fix the issue in which the ‘Update Now’ link is not displaying on the Appearance–>Themes page.

Thanks.