Download failed – name lookup timed out – Installation Failed – (HART’s fix)

Download failed – name lookup timed out – Installation Failed – (HART’s fix)
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March 26th, 2009HARTHmmmm Things, Quickies

Have you been receiving this error message?

Downloading update from wordpress.org/extend/some-plugin.zip
Download failed.: name lookup timed out
Installation Failed

Ever since I upgraded all my blogs to WordPress 2.7.1 .. I have been getting this error message. I was seeing it sometimes on a few 2.6+ upgrades except the error message said:

Downloading update from wordpress.org/extend/some-plugin.zip
Download failed.: Could not create Temporary file
Installation Failed

This also occurs when I was searching for NEW plugins with the new Plugin Browser/Installer functionality. What I have been doing since 2.7.1 is just keeping all the plugins current on my hard drive in a folder called .. c:\2009-latest-wordpress\wp-content\plugins\ and using FTP to just upgrade all the various blogs that I have. I suppose you can still do it this way, but it’s nice to be able to upgrade from within your wordpress without an FTP program.

You can really get frustrated trying to find the solution in the wordpress forums because the moderators really suck in their ability to communicate with people who are really having problems – not too mention you are lucky if you can even find a solution from a moderator because they are so under-manned….

But – I did find one possible solution

wordpress.org/support/topic/225437?replies=10
– venik4 –

WP 2.7 has a bug that has to do with DNS name resolution. As a workaround, add the following to your local /etc/hosts:

72.233.56.139 downloads.wordpress.org

Unfortunately for me – I personally tried to add this to my local /etc/hosts file and this did NOT work for me. So, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

However … this did work for me – and I am using Firefox:

Top Menu
– TOOLS
— OPTIONS
— PRIVACY
—- EXCEPTIONS (where you allow cookies)
And I added this line in the field:
downloads.wordpress.org
—- Click Allow

I am now able to automatically upgrade my plugins and older versions of WordPress and this worked as a fix for me. I would normally add a disclaimer like “I hope this doesn’t screw anything up for me” but, it’s just too annoying NOT to be able to upload and upgrade plugins at will – so I don’t care.
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Tags: errors, troubleshooting, upgrade

18 responses to “Download failed – name lookup timed out – Installation Failed – (HART’s fix)”

Filipino Nurse March 26th, 2009 at 09:15

I tried and it doesn’t work so far. Do I have to restart or something? Any other work around?

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HART (1-800-HART) March 26th, 2009 at 10:53

It worked for me as soon as I allowed the download.wordpress.org location – that’s all I can suggest – that it worked for me.

Perhaps – try the /etc/hosts thingie … it’s in your c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ I believe and add
72.233.56.139 downloads.wordpress.org

Good Luck! Grr – I know it must be annoying for you, as I was annoyed

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Kaiser April 27th, 2009 at 20:23

Worked for me instantly. Thanks

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HART (1-800-HART) April 27th, 2009 at 23:05

Glad this has helped you! thanks for letting me know

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Paul May 19th, 2009 at 20:00

It worked for me in IE. Go to

– Tools
— Internet Options
— Security tab

Click on “Trusted sites”, then the “Sites” button, then “Add”. Add “http://downloads.wordpress.org”, and clear the “require server verification…” checkbox.

I was able to update two plugins automatically, though one did give me a “failed” message initially – hitting refresh took care of it.

I think the above instructions will work for IE7 as well.

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HART (1-800-HART) May 20th, 2009 at 08:37

Thanks Paul for passing that on about I.E. 🙂

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Carlton Bale June 1st, 2009 at 09:49

This is an intermittent server-side problem. I think making those changes to your browser settings probably wasn’t the solution, but it just happened to concieded with the problem temporarily resolving itself.

The problem can be resolved by by disabling cURL using the Core Control plugin. Here are the details:

Download and install this plugin manually: wordpress.org/extend/plugins/core-control/ Once you’ve activated it, Load the “Core Control” settings page and activate the “HTTP Module”. Go to the new tab fore the “HTTP Module” and test cURL. You will most likely receive the following error message “An Error has occured: name lookup timed out” Now click the “Disable Transport” link in for cURL. You should now be able install plugins and plugin updates.

Here is the WordPress.org bug report: core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/9998

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HART June 1st, 2009 at 11:41

Thanks for that fix Carlton .. I will have to check out that plugin, and that ticket

HART

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Shrewdy June 17th, 2009 at 08:38

Thanks HART, it worked great for me, and a lot simpler than the tech support / Core Control solutions.

Actually, it worked OK for a few plugins, then stopped. I deleted all wordpress cookies and tried again. Perfect, and I have had no problems since.

If it is a coincidence, I don’t care – it worked!

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Holly July 10th, 2009 at 10:17

I tried all of the fixes listed on this site including Carlton’s and editing the /etc/hosts file, adding downloads.wordpress.org to Firefox and even cleared the cookies. Nothing is letting me automatically update my plugins. Any other suggestions?

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HART (1-800-HART) July 10th, 2009 at 11:36

Holly .. are you using an anti-virus program? check to see if that URL is marked or something. I don’t know if that would be the case, but I did have a similar thing with my ZoneAlarm and tinyURLs being blocked – (under anti-virus section/spy site blocking .. then grant access)

have you upgraded to the new version 2.8.1 and tested this out?
.-= ** Check out HART (1-800-HART)Â´s last blog .. How People Count Cash Around The World =-.

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PetLvr November 19th, 2009 at 10:51

@Themelis_Cuiper Well, I hope you meant you were on tinyurl.com/ygt94a7 and didn’t receive that error while on my site! Did it help?

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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Themelis_Cuiper November 19th, 2009 at 11:03

Yes @PetLvr on tinyurl.com/ygt94a7 it is a general cURL error:name lookup timed out. ?? have my NSlookup open on Centos linux

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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Bad Bone May 14th, 2010 at 10:03

Kaspersky

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Carpet Extractor August 16th, 2010 at 22:22

Kaspersky is one of the best antiviruses that you can get. I also use Avast;”:

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Sarah Clark October 4th, 2010 at 09:49

Kaspersky and Avast are both great antiviruses and anti-malware*;*

Reply
Diabetic Neuropathy October 19th, 2010 at 01:28

Kaspersky will definitely get two thumbs up from me when it comes to killing all those pesky viruses and spywares:’-

Reply
Health and Medicine Forum Â· November 8th, 2010 at 21:37

Kaspersky and Avast have much better heuristic detection capability compared to Trend Micro antivirus ::

Reply