Unrecoverable - Unable to import site

Support
,
1

What issue or error are you experiencing?

For a long time we will get this error while syncing. It is random, and happens on different networks. It has become more frequent recently and the only way to resolve is to remove the site then do a fresh sync from WPEngine. Leaving the site alone and syncing later does not recover it on future syncs. Would love some help on debugging this.

Error has been redacted with template data:

{
  "class": "ImporterWPE",
  "level": "warn",
  "message": "Unable to import site.",
  "stack": "Error: Command failed: %%userDataPath%%/lightning-services/php-8.2.23+0/bin/darwin-arm64/bin/php %%resourcesPath%%/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar --path=/Users/REDACTED_USER/Local Sites/example-site/app/public --require=%%resourcesPath%%/bin/wp-cli/local-wpcli-error-reporting.php --skip-plugins --skip-themes --url=www.example.com search-replace --all-tables-with-prefix http://www.example.com http://example.local\nError: There has been a critical error on this website.Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress. There has been a critical error on this website.\n\n    at genericNodeError (node:internal/errors:984:15)\n    at wrappedFn (node:internal/errors:538:14)\n    at ChildProcess.exithandler (node:child_process:422:12)\n    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:518:28)\n    at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1104:16)\n    at Socket.<anonymous> (node:internal/child_process:456:11)\n    at Socket.emit (node:events:518:28)\n    at Pipe.<anonymous> (node:net:343:12)",
  "thread": "main",
  "timestamp": "2025-05-05T17:21:31.974Z"
}

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

Sync from WPEngine to local machine. It happens at random.

System Details

  • Local Version:
    Version 9.2.3+6776

  • Operating System (OS) and OS version:
    Apple M4, Sequia 15.4.1, but also happens on windows dev machines

Local Logs

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

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

Hi @DanCodes

When you say “we” are you working with some kind of dev team? I’m assuming you are all in different places since you mentioned other networks but do you all share any kind of network proxy, VPN or use employer issued hardware with any kind of additional security or filtering?

Are any of these sites on the larger side as far as a massive DBs, massive tables, media libraries, etc?

3

Hi Nick, yes there is a team of 4 who all experience this and it will happen at different time on the same and different networks (Home,Work, VPN, Cell Tethering). It is not an issue that we all experience in unity.

Our current site is 6287.00 MB Files and 346.00 MB Database. I am not sure what is large by definition on your end.

We use employer issued Macs and PCs, it happens on both.

4

Hi @DanCodes

Are there other sites you experience problems with or only this one?

6.2 GB definitely could be problematic. We don’t have a hard limit on sites that can push or pull with Local Connect but we tend to see more issues arise above the 5 GB range. That’s not to say larger sites than that won’t work but sometimes it can take multiple attempts, a strong connection, and some patience. Since it seems this problem is more sporatic or random for your team, I’m thinking that might be the issue.

Is there any bloat on the site that could be cut down? Media that could be offloaded for example?

For workarounds, you can always download a backup and direct import instead of pulling.

For an alternative to pushing, WPE’s free migration works going from Local to the platform.

5

Thanks for these other options, I would hope that we could figure out the core issue so we can resolve it and prevent in the future making Local WP more awesome than it already is.

The issue happened to us twice today two different Macs.

  • On one machine we updated Local WP php from 8.2.23 to 8.2.27 then pulled without issue.
  • On another machine we tried the same PHP update on local, did not work, then disconnected and reconnect to WP Engine, pulled and it worked

If we dig deeper into the original error in initial post we get on Local WP while syncing it mentions Error: There has been a critical error on this website.Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress. There has been a critical error on this website.

Today we looked at the error logs of our local wordpress, and saw this. (redacted some path and theme info)

[06-May-2025 21:12:06 UTC] PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Failed opening required '/Users/REDACTED_USER/Local Sites/example-site/app/public/wp-includes/block-supports/aria-label.php' (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/www/wp-content/pear') in /Users/REDACTED_USER/Local Sites/example-site/app/public/wp-settings.php:390
Stack trace:
#0 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(1375): require()
#1 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/eval-command/src/Eval_Command.php(36): WP_CLI\Runner->load_wordpress()
#2 [internal function]: Eval_Command->__invoke(Array, Array)
#3 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Dispatcher/CommandFactory.php(100): call_user_func(Array, Array, Array)
#4 [internal function]: WP_CLI\Dispatcher\CommandFactory::WP_CLI\Dispatcher\{closure}(Array, Array)
#5 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Dispatcher/Subcommand.php(497): call_user_func(Object(Closure), Array, Array)
#6 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(441): WP_CLI\Dispatcher\Subcommand->invoke(Array, Array, Array)
#7 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(464): WP_CLI\Runner->run_command(Array, Array)
#8 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(136): WP_CLI\Runner->run_command_and_exit()
#9 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(1229): WP_CLI\Runner->do_early_invoke('before_wp_load')
#10 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Bootstrap/LaunchRunner.php(28): WP_CLI\Runner->start()
#11 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/bootstrap.php(83): WP_CLI\Bootstrap\LaunchRunner->process(Object(WP_CLI\Bootstrap\BootstrapState))
#12 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/wp-cli.php(32): WP_CLI\bootstrap()
#13 phar:///Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar/php/boot-phar.php(20): include('phar:///Applica...')
#14 /Applications/Local.app/Contents/Resources/extraResources/bin/wp-cli/wp-cli.phar(4): include('phar:///Applica...')
#15 {main}
  thrown in /Users/REDACTED_USER/Local Sites/example-site/app/public/wp-settings.php on line 390

If we look at the root of the error, this was seen on both machines failing to find:
'/Users/REDACTED_USER/Local Sites/example-site/app/public/wp-includes/block-supports/aria-label.php'

We did not see the before state, while it was failing to know if this file was missing or if permission issue, but will keep an eye out next time.

Now that we can narrow down to the file we believe causing the issue in today’s scenario what is the next thing that would help you and the team isolate this issue when it happens again so we can resolve it proper? What information can we collect?

6

A critical error makes me think it’s a conflict with a plugin, theme or something else within the site’s configuration and not necessarily a problem with the sync itself. For that I’m still apt to believe it’s an issue with the site’s overall size.

If you’d still like us to take a deeper look, we’d like to view the full Local Logs for any users running into errors. There are some different ways to access and share Local Logs. For us to be able to troubleshoot thoroughly, please click the Download Local Logs button from the Support tab in Local. This will generate a zip archive that contains the Local log along with some other diagnostic information to help quickly zero in on any issues that Local is encountering.

I understand these Forums are public, and it seems you’d prefer to keep some details protected. If you reach out to WP Engine support directly and share your account information, they can spin up a ticket and collect those Local Logs there. They can also add themselves to your account with your permission and test to see if they can replicate any of the same issues.

7

Thanks, I will create a support ticket. Hopefully we can get a meaningful error that can be used to improve the tool so site size does not matter, and the experience is more reliable.

We did a little more research and the aria-label.php file looks to be new to WordPress 6.8.x.

Our hunch is this, Production is 6.7.x, we sync to Local WP. Local WP auto updates to 6.8.x while production remains on 6.7.x (we have emails confirming the auto update on local). When we do the next sync, pulling the “DB” and “All Modified Files”, somehow the sync is not aligned fully. When the Local WP restarts the site and runs the command with the error, its still looking for arial-label.php which does not exist on WordPress 6.7.x. If we truly did a full sync of all files and DBs, the file should not be getting called by Local WP.

Since the plugins should be covered by the DB and File Sync, and it should be a 1:1 of our Prod to Local environment, I still think this is a sync issue and things aren’t actually aligned, fully synced at the time of restart, or some race condition that puts the environment in a bad state that can be hard to recover from.