Fix WordPress "Briefly Unavailable" Error

Understanding the Error

WordPress creates .maintenance file during updates. Failed updates leave it behind.

Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.

Fix 1: Delete .maintenance File

# Navigate to WordPress root
cd /var/www/wordpress

# Delete the file
sudo rm .maintenance

# Refresh your site

Fix 2: Via WP-CLI

wp maintenance-mode --off

Fix 3: Fix Failed Update

After removing .maintenance, complete the update:

wp core update
wp plugin update --all
wp theme update --all

Prevent Future Issues

# Increase PHP limits before updates
# Use WP-CLI instead of browser updates
wp core update
wp plugin update --all

# Take manual backup first
wp db export backup.sql

Check File Permissions

Ensure web server can write to WordPress root:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/wordpress
sudo chmod 755 /var/www/wordpress

After deleting .maintenance, your site should load normally.