A Step-by-Step Guide to Automatically Updating WordPress SALT Keys

Step 2: Write a Custom PHP Script

Create a PHP script to fetch new SALT keys and update the wp-config.php file automatically.

Here’s an example script:

php

Copy code

<?php

function update_salt_keys() {

    $url = ‘https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/’;

    $response = file_get_contents($url);

    if ($response) {

        $wp_config_file = ABSPATH . ‘wp-config.php’;

        if (is_writable($wp_config_file)) {

            $config_content = file_get_contents($wp_config_file);

            // Replace existing SALT keys

            $pattern = “/define\(‘AUTH_KEY’,(.+?)\);/”;

            $new_content = preg_replace($pattern, $response, $config_content);

            file_put_contents($wp_config_file, $new_content);

            echo ‘SALT keys updated successfully!’;

        } else {

            echo ‘wp-config.php is not writable!’;

        }

    } else {

        echo ‘Failed to fetch new SALT keys!’;

    }

}

update_salt_keys();

?>

Step 3: Automate the Script

You can schedule this script to run periodically using cron jobs on your server.

1. Access Your Server’s Cron Job Panel:
   • For cPanel users: Go to Cron Jobs.
   • For others: Use SSH to access your server.
2. Set Up the Cron Job:
   • Command: php /path-to-your-script/update-salt-keys.php
   • Schedule: Choose how often the script should run (e.g., daily or weekly).