Unable to update Wordpress: WordPress version requires PHP version 5.6.20 or newer

Mikhail Shport

Updated October 29, 2021 14:18

kb: fixed kb: bug ext: wptk ABT: Group B Plesk Obsidian for Linux

Applicable to:

Unable to install Wordpress core/plugins/themes updates via WordPress Toolkit with the following error:

PLESK_ERROR: Unable to update WordPress because WordPress version 5.X.X requires PHP version 5.6.20 or newer. Change PHP settings on the target domain to use a newer PHP version and run the update again.
The domain has a PHP version over 5.6.2 selected at Domains > example.com > PHP Settings
The domain shares the same document root with 2 + domains:

# plesk db "select domains.name, hosting.www_root from hosting join domains where www_root like '%example.com%' and domains.id=hosting.dom_id;"
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| name | www_root |
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| example.com | /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs |
| example2.com | /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs |
+----------------------------------+-----------------+

Product issue:

#EXTWPTOOLK-5566 "WordPress installations accessible via several domains with the same docroot can now be updated properly."
Fixed in:
- WordPress Toolkit 4.10.2 16 September 2020

Please consider updating your server:

As a workaround, update Wordpress Core/Themes/Updates for instances affected via CLI.

Connect to the server via SSH
Find instance ID (in the case below it is 2):

# plesk ext wp-toolkit --list
ID Main Domain ID Main Domain's Path Owner ID Alive Site URL Name Version
2 1 /httpdocs/wordpress 1 true https://example.com/wordpress My CMS 5.5.1
Update Wordpress Core/Theme/Updates:

To update Wordpress Core version

Run the following command:

# plesk ext wp-toolkit --wp-cli -instance-id 2 -- core update

To update Wordpress Plugins

Find installed plugins:

# plesk ext wp-toolkit --wp-cli -instance-id 2 -- plugin list
+-------------------------+----------+--------+---------+
| name | status | update | version |
+-------------------------+----------+--------+---------+
| akismet | inactive | none | 4.0.3 |
| autoptimize | active | none | 2.3.4 |
| hello | inactive | none | 1.7 |
| hummingbird | active | none | 1.8.0.4 |
+-------------------------+----------+--------+---------+
Update the plugin desired using the the plugin_name:

# plesk ext wp-toolkit --wp-cli -instance-id 2 -- plugin update plugin_name

To Update Wordpress Themes

Find installed themes for the desired instance:

# plesk ext wp-toolkit --wp-cli -instance-id 1 -- theme list
+-------------------------+----------+--------+---------+
| name | status | update | version |
+-------------------------+----------+--------+---------+
| twentynineteen | active | available | 1.5 |
| twentyseventeen | active | available | 2.3 |
| twentytwenty | inactive | available | 1.2 |
+-------------------------+----------+--------+---------+
Update the theme using the theme_name:

# plesk ext wp-toolkit --wp-cli -instance-id 2 -- theme update theme_name