Can I install/update WordPress plugins without providing FTP access?

I am using [WordPress][1] on my live server which only uses [SFTP][2] using an [SSH][3] 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?

[1]:

[To see links please register here]

[2]:

[To see links please register here]

[3]:

[To see links please register here]

WordPress 2.7 lets you upload a zip file directly (there's a link at the bottom of the plugins page) -- no FTP access needed. This is a new feature in 2.7, and it works for plugins only (not themes yet).

It is possible to use SFTP or SSH to auto update Plugins in WordPress, but you need to have ssh2 pecl extension. You can find out how to do it, using the following [tutorial](

[To see links please register here]

)

The answer from stereointeractive covers all the options. Just wanted to mention an alternate way of using FTP. I'm guessing that the reason you are not allowing FTP access is for security. One way to address those security concerns is to run your FTP server listening only on 127.0.0.1

This allows you to use FTP from inside WordPress and you will be able to install plugins while not exposing it to the rest of the world. This can also be applied to other popular web applications such as Joomla! and Drupal. This is what we do with our [BitNami appliances][1] and [cloud servers][2] and works quite well.


[1]:

[To see links please register here]

[2]:

[To see links please register here]

Resurrecting an old thread, but there's a fantastic new plugin called [SSH SFTP Updater Support][1] that adds in SFTP capabilities without needing to edit your `wp-config.php` file. Also, Wordpress's SFTP implementation relies on some somewhat obscure PHP modules that are often not enabled on servers; this plugin packages a different PHP SFTP plugin so you don't have to configure anything on the Apache side.

I had run into tons of problems getting SFTP support to work - this plugin solved all of them and is just fantastic.

[1]:

[To see links please register here]

As stated before none of the perm fixes work anymore. You need to change the perms accordingly AND put the following in your `wp-config.php`:

define('FS_METHOD', 'direct');