Can I install/update WordPress plugins without pro

Question

I am using WordPress on my live server which only uses SFTP using an SSH key.

I want to install and upgrade plugins, but it appears that you are required to enter your FTP login to install the plugins. Is there a way to install and upgrade plugins by manually uploading the files instead of having WordPress handle the entire process?

Answer 1

Just a quick change to wp-config.php

define('FS_METHOD','direct');

That’s it, enjoy your wordpress updates without ftp!

Alternate Method:

There are hosts out there that will prevent this method from working to ease your WordPress updating. Fortunately, there is another way to keep this pest from prompting you for your FTP user name and password.

Again, after the MYSQL login declarations in your wp-config.php file, add the following:

define("FTP_HOST", "localhost");
define("FTP_USER", "yourftpusername");
define("FTP_PASS", "yourftppassword");

Answer 2

If you're on Ubuntu, a quick solution that worked for me is giving ownership to the Apache user (www-data by default) like so:

cd your_wordpress_directory
sudo chown -R www-data wp-content
sudo chmod -R 755 wp-content