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WP Engine NOT Supporting Background Updates

Updated

Written by

Dave Warfel

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2 minutes

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With the imminent release of WordPress 3.7, some of you are wondering how it will affect your site. One of the biggest changes is the background updates for the WordPress core. For minor version changes & security releases (ex: 3.7 to 3.7.1), WordPress will automatically update itself.

WordPress has identified a few scenarios where it won’t automatically update: if you’re using Subversion or Git for version control.

For WP Engine customers, you should be aware that your sites will also NOT support WordPress background updates. WP Engine stated this on their blog recently.

One of the selling points of WP Engine is their “managed” WordPress hosting. Part of their definition of “managed” is updating your WordPress site for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. They test the updates on their infrastructure first, before updating their client’s sites. And even with the addition of background updates to WordPress core, WP Engine will continue to manage your updates for you.

I’m not sure exactly how WP Engine has disabled this feature, but you can see below that our site “is not” able to apply updates automatically. And we are not using any version control software.

WordPress Background Updates Eligibility
Check if your site is able to receive automatic WordPress updates.

To check if your site is receiving background updates, hover over the WordPress icon in the top-left corner of the admin bar, and click “About WordPress.”

Does anyone know what WP Engine’s plan are for the future, once background updates have been around for a while, and have proven to be stable? Is the extra day or two lag time—that it takes WP Engine to apply the update—a concerning security risk? Or do you like the fact that they’re testing it out first?

Dave Warfel

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Dave has been working with WordPress since 2011. He's built 100s of client sites and almost a dozen of his own. He's tested almost every plugin you can think of, hosted with at least 10 different companies, and gone down every SEO rabbit hole you can imagine. When's he's not tinkering with new software, you'll find him in the mountains of Colorado, trail running, summiting peaks, and rippin' downhills on his mountain bike. 🏔️🏃🚴🤸

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