chrisgriffith

Fixing the missing gzopen() and gzread() function errors in WordPress on a Synology NAS when restoring using UpdraftPlus was simpler than I thought, which is great news as it would have taken me months to fully rebuild my entire website https://chrisgriffith.com – which may not have been possible. I will explain the fix for the benefit of other Synology/Wordpress users, many of whom have encountered the same problem in other posts.

Go to the NAS menu, load the “Web Station” app, and select “script language settings” in the left hand column. Click on the current PHP version you are using in WordPress, select the “Extensions” column, tick the “zlib” option found at the bottom of the list, click save and you’re good to go.

Zlib is a library that enables reading and writing of gzip files used by the WordPress database.

Frankly, I am somewhat miffed that Updraft does not make it more prominently clear that it uses external libraries to compress and decompress the WordPress database, as there is some risk that users who have backed up their files for years may not have access to that library when restoring. Zlib is usually associated with Unix.

It would have been a huge loss not being able to restore my (journalists’) website, given the work I had put into it.

Activating those functions also solve a problem I was having with backups which would stall when trying to write the plugins or themes files. That works efficiently now.

I’d say to users that they should attempt a trial restore when they look at using a backup plugin so that they know it works and they won’t have the anxious time believing my website was gone for good, which I had thought was the case.

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by chrisgriffith.
• This reply was modified 7 months ago by chrisgriffith.

Here is another reference to this error but no easy solution yet.

When uploading wordpress backup I’m getting the error “Your web server’s PHP installation has these functions disabled: gzopen, gzread. Your hosting company must enable these functions before restoration can work. Failed to open database file.” – WordPress Questions – Local Community (localwp.com)