When updating a theme or plugins, some WordPress users have reported of coming across the “Unable to Establish Secure Connection” error. Such errors are also common when you’re installing plugins or themes for your WordPress website.
By digging deeper, you can uncover the following error message:
“An unexpected error occurred. Something may be wrong with WordPress.org or this server's configuration. If you continue to have problems, please try the support forums. (WordPress could not establish a secure connection to WordPress.org. Please contact your server administrator.) in /home/username/public_html/wp-admin/includes/update.php on line 124”
In this article, we explain how you can solve this error in WordPress.
Fixing the Error
Going by the error message, you can conclude that the problem lies in the sever configuration or the WordPress.org. Here are the things need to check to solve this issue:
Check if Your Website is Suffering from DDoS Attacks
The first thing you should check if your website is under DDoS attack. In such events, the connections you try to establish to WordPress.org will result in timeout, thus leading to secure connection error.
The issue usually gets solved on its own the DDoS attacks are countered. But in some cases, you may have to contact the hosting provider to take necessary measures from their end. So contact them if you continue to see the error message.
Resolve DNS Errors
If you’ve hosted your website on VPS or cloud, you may run into DNS issues. In such cases as well, you’re likely to face the secure connection error.
To fix this issue, open SSH and then connect to server. Then open the Hosts file.
If you’re on Windows, use the Putty app for this. Apple users on Macintosh can employ the terminal.
Execute the following commands to connect to server:
Replace user and domain with the necessary details. Once you’re connected to the server, execute this command to open Hosts file:
Within the hosts file, you have to hardcode the wordpress.org’s IP address. If you have that address, execute this command:
It’s done so that the hosts file will be able to map Wordpress.org to the right IP address. Save the changes made and exit. Reload the website to check if the problem is solved.
Firewall Error
The problem can also happen if your web server or website is using a Firewall of some sorts. If it labels the traffic from your computer as dangerous, then the connection will be denied. So you need to check that Firewall isn’t causing the problem. Contact your hosting provider so they can confirm Firewall isn’t the culprit.
Incompatibility Issues
As you might know, WordPress is built using PHP. If you’re using an older PHP version that’s incompatible with other extensions or themes, you can also face this error.
To check if that’s the case, you can use cURL. With this tool, you can transfer files with the help of the CLI.
Open SSH and execute the following commands:
Users on Windows need to look for the following line of code
Linux users should look for this line of code
If you don’t find the lines in php.ini, you need to add them. Copy and paste the respective codes.
Save everything and restart the server. The file will load again and most likely fix the error.
So those are the ways you can fix the “Unable to Establish Secure Connection” error. If problem persists contact the hosting customer support.
By digging deeper, you can uncover the following error message:
“An unexpected error occurred. Something may be wrong with WordPress.org or this server's configuration. If you continue to have problems, please try the support forums. (WordPress could not establish a secure connection to WordPress.org. Please contact your server administrator.) in /home/username/public_html/wp-admin/includes/update.php on line 124”
In this article, we explain how you can solve this error in WordPress.
Fixing the Error
Going by the error message, you can conclude that the problem lies in the sever configuration or the WordPress.org. Here are the things need to check to solve this issue:
Check if Your Website is Suffering from DDoS Attacks
The first thing you should check if your website is under DDoS attack. In such events, the connections you try to establish to WordPress.org will result in timeout, thus leading to secure connection error.
The issue usually gets solved on its own the DDoS attacks are countered. But in some cases, you may have to contact the hosting provider to take necessary measures from their end. So contact them if you continue to see the error message.
Resolve DNS Errors
If you’ve hosted your website on VPS or cloud, you may run into DNS issues. In such cases as well, you’re likely to face the secure connection error.
To fix this issue, open SSH and then connect to server. Then open the Hosts file.
If you’re on Windows, use the Putty app for this. Apple users on Macintosh can employ the terminal.
Execute the following commands to connect to server:
Code:
ssh user@domain.com
#for mac users
Code:
sudo nano /etc/hosts
Code:
66.155.40.202 api.wordpress.orgFirewall Error
The problem can also happen if your web server or website is using a Firewall of some sorts. If it labels the traffic from your computer as dangerous, then the connection will be denied. So you need to check that Firewall isn’t causing the problem. Contact your hosting provider so they can confirm Firewall isn’t the culprit.
Incompatibility Issues
As you might know, WordPress is built using PHP. If you’re using an older PHP version that’s incompatible with other extensions or themes, you can also face this error.
To check if that’s the case, you can use cURL. With this tool, you can transfer files with the help of the CLI.
Open SSH and execute the following commands:
Code:
sudo nano
/etc/php.ini
Code:
;extension=php_curl.dll
Code:
;extension=curl.soSave everything and restart the server. The file will load again and most likely fix the error.
So those are the ways you can fix the “Unable to Establish Secure Connection” error. If problem persists contact the hosting customer support.
