Wordpress Database Upgrade Fails Improperly when tables can't be created

[elharo]

When upgrading from 2.2 to 2.5 (probably 2.3 or later) the upgrade will fail if the user does not have database permissions to create and drop tables. However:

1. Wordpress does not notice this problem, and attempts to upgrade anyway; thus breaking the blog. It should realize it doesn't have permissions and not attempt the upgrade, while giving the end user an appropriate error message.

2. WordPress reports success with the upgrade, despite its obvious failure.

3. The upgrade seems to be ignoring SQL errors generated during the process. If any SQL errors occur, WordPress should roll back the database to its original state.

This has been discussed on the mailing list and verified as a real problem that does occur in practice, despite many devs beliefs that it is impossible for this to occur.

I am not suggesting that Wordpress should be able to upgrade when tables cannot be created or dropped. However its error behavior in these and similar circumstances needs to be cleaned up.

[Scott H]

See also #4027

[ryan]

Milestone 2.5.2 deleted

[mrmist]

Much more discussion in #4027 than here.