Can't pull dev database from WP Engine

Support
,
1

What issue or error are you experiencing?

I am trying to Pull the Database from a WP Engine Dev instance fails. This has worked previously. I can Pull files just fine.

What steps can be taken to replicate the issue? Feel free to include screenshots, videos, etc

  1. Select Pull
  2. Ensure Database is selected
  3. Select Pull

Uh-oh! We ran into an issue when pulling from WP Engine.

I do see in the logs these messages, I’m not sure how to fix that though:

{"class":"WPEPullService","level":"error","message":"WPEPullService:pull; User did not grant permission to pull site on Windows non-System drive.","thread":"main","timestamp":"2026-02-19T18:44:18.447Z"}
{"class":"WPEPullService","error":{},"level":"error","message":"Error in WP Engine connect","sentryEventId":"7141f1003a8c40ec8b364d6801632f58","stack":"Error: Error: User did not grant permission.\nundefined\nundefined\nexitCode: undefined\n    at %%appPath%%\\main\\_helpers\\sudo.js:31:31\n    at %%appPath%%\\node_modules\\@vscode\\sudo-prompt\\index.js:479:35\n    at ChildProcess.exithandler (node:child_process:410:7)\n    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:519:28)\n    at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1101:16)\n    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:304:5)","thread":"main","timestamp":"2026-02-19T18:44:18.449Z"}

System Details

  • Local Version: Version 9.2.9+6887

  • **Operating System (OS) and OS version:**
    Edition Windows 11 Pro
    Version 25H2
    Installed on ‎6/‎11/‎2025
    OS build 26200.7840
    Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.291.0

Local Logs

Attach your Local Logs here (Help Doc - Retrieving Local’s Log)

local-logs.zip (495.8 KB)

Security Reminder
Local does a pretty good job of scrubbing private info from the logs and the errors it produces, however there’s always the possibility that something private can come through. Because these are public forums, always review the screenshots you are sharing to make sure there isn’t private info like passwords being displayed.

2

Hey @travis!

Are you getting the pop up box from Local to allow it to proceed?

Are you using an external drive at all?

How large is this site/DB overall?

As a workaround in the meantime you should be able to download a backup and direct import it if you need to get going:

3

Hi @Nick-B !

There will sometimes be a pop-up to authenticate with WP Engine, but no other prompt to allow it to proceed.

The drive isn’t external but is a Windows 11 Dev Drive. It is my D drive and has 154GB free space. It has worked previously to pull/push files and DB.

In WP Engine it says files are 1.25GB and database is 0.097GB.

I’ll try the workaround and report back, thanks!

4

Well the size of the install certainly shouldn’t be an issue. It seems however that based on the errors in your original post and log that some permission isn’t getting updated somewhere. On the drive possibly?

If you’re able to manually import, you might still be able to push it back up but if that doesn’t work then the WPE free migration plugin can be an alternative there as well.

5

Well, I was never able to get the Pull Database working again but I did find a workaround:

  1. Download the /wp-content/mysql.sql file
  2. Start site and go to Database > Open AdminNeo
  3. Go to Import > File upload, select the mysql.sql file and click Execute
  4. Click on SQL Command and run:
    UPDATE [DB prefix]_options SET option_value = replace(option_value, 'https://[some domain].wpengine.com', 'http://localhost:[port]') WHERE option_name = 'home' OR option_name = 'siteurl';
    UPDATE [DB prefix]_posts SET guid = replace(guid, 'https://[some domain].wpengine.com', 'http://localhost:[port]');
    UPDATE [DB prefix]_posts SET post_content = replace(post_content, 'https://[some domain].wpengine.com', 'http://localhost:[port]');
    UPDATE [DB prefix]_postmeta SET meta_value = replace(meta_value, 'https://[some domain].wpengine.com', 'http://localhost:[port]');
  5. The site can now be run locally with new content from DB.

It’s not as easy as clicking “Pull” but at least it is functional.

1 Like
6

Thank you for the update @travis! Glad you were able to get it manually loaded.

1 Like