Database Update Required – Error on updating wordpress

Recently I moved one of the wordpress website from one web host to other. While migrating the website I found that the files were injected with javascript malware. On wp-content the injections were in the theme files and a few plugins, which I removed manually. For cleaning other files and folders I thought of a easy way, I downloaded the latest wordpress and replaced all files and folders. Except the wp-content and wp-config.php as I had cleaned them manually.

Guess what the website was working great with no malware. But when I tried to login to wordpress admin dashboard at yourdomain.com/wp-admin. I got the below error message.

Database Update Required
WordPress has been updated! Before we send you on your way, we have to update your database to the newest version.

The database update process may take a little while, so please be patient.
Update WordPress Database

I clicked on the “Update wordpress database” button but it did not fix the error. I searched through google and was lucky to find a solution.

The error message is due to database version mismatch, the db version on your mysql database “wp_options” table does not match with the version mentioned on /wp-includes/version.php. WordPress is not able to update the version as your version.php file does not have write permissions.

Here are the steps to fix the error – Database update required

You need access to your website’s wordpress database and version.php file to fix the error. The steps are for a beginner, you can skip the steps you already know.

1. Login to your cpanel (Usually the url is yourdomain.com/cpanel)
2. Under databases click on phpMyAdmin > Your site database > wp_options
3. Browse the wp_options table to find db_version (option_name), note down the opton_value against db_version
4. As an advanced user you can skip the above step and use the below sql query, to directly retrieve the db_version. Note down the db_version value.

5. SELECT option_value FROM yourdatabase.wp_options WHERE option_name = ‘db_version’;

   Note: you should change yourdatabase to your actual database name and if you’ve changed your db prefix during WP installation you should change wp_options to your prefix_options.

6. Go to cpanel > filemanager > public_html > wp-includes > version.php
7. Open the file version.php to edit
8. Find the following “$wp_db_version” and replace the number to match it with what you noted at step 3 or 4.
9. Save the file and visit yourdomain.com/wp-admin

Your issue must have been fixed

Note: You can also fix this by changing the version.php file on your local system and replacing the file via FTP, rather than cpanel.

Hope this helped you fix the db update issue. Write on the comment section if this did not fix your problem. Also is there any other fix for this error.