WordPress 5.0 Updating Problem

Any error message?

No, it just stays at the same page saying that its preparing to install the latest version. It has said that now for the last 3 hours without anything else happening.

Updates can fail for a large number of reasons and it is often hard to diagnose the failure due to specific configurations present on each server running the update. So,there’s no good way to track down why a partial update occurred, we can only recommend what to do if one does occur.

Since auto updating does not work for you, try MANUALLY updating. Download WordPress again and unzip it. Access your server via SFTP or FTP, or a file manager in your hosting account’s control panel (consult your hosting provider’s documentation for specifics on these), and delete then replace your copies of everything on the server except the wp-config.php file and the /wp-content/ directory with fresh copies from the download. This will effectively replace all of your core files without damaging your content and settings. Please read the Manual Update directions first.

Backup: If you haven’t already done, always backup everything (including your database) before doing any actions, just in case something really goes wrong. You can never have enough backups!

So if I were to manually update this, would the media files and customizations stay, or would I have to start almost everything all over again.

NOTE: do not delete the wp-content directory or your wp-config.php file) Read the Manual Update directions first.

He said that he has a multi-site network, and I would just mention that because the directions listed above appear to be directed at a single location wordpress site. I would recommend doing a FULL backup of everything, including any supporting site admin configuration files outside of the wordpress directories.

Was having the same problem while recently updating 4.9.x sites to 5.0.3 for a client of mine.

Here’s what fixed the update failure:
– A default WP theme was not installed alongside the active theme. So I installed Twenty Seventeen as WP should always have a fallback theme to go to in case there’s any problems with the active/custom theme.
– I disabled all plugins except the Fix Another Update In Progress plugin which was needed to disable the previous update lock.

I cleared the update lock using FAUIP, then tried the update again and Voila! The update went without a hitch.

So the moral of the story is, first check to make sure a default WP theme such as Twenty Seventeen/Sixteen/Fifteen etc is installed when a core update fails. If that doesn’t help, disable all plugins prior to updating.

My solution was to go to the Cpanel. My hosting environment includes Softaculous, which is a software install and maintenance package. After backing up, I pushed the upgrade button and it did the WordPress upgrade on the server. That did not require any downloads / uploads or worries about site content. The plugins can all be updated from the Plugins menu at the wordpress site admin area. I wonder when WordPress will fix the upgrade problem. It seems to have started with 5.xxx.