Hostinger WP-CLI: How to Use the WordPress Command Line Interface

WP-CLI (WordPress Command Line Interface) lets you manage WordPress from the terminal instead of the web browser admin. It's faster, scriptable, and essential for developers and agencies managing multiple sites.

Common WP-CLI use cases: update all plugins in one command, reset admin passwords without email access, search-replace URLs in database after migration, bulk manage posts, run database optimizations, install WordPress in seconds, and automate maintenance with cron jobs.

Hostinger includes WP-CLI on shared hosting plans via SSH access:

1. Enable SSH in hPanel → Advanced → SSH Access → Enable
2. Get your SSH details (hostname, port, username) from hPanel
3. Connect: ssh username@hostname -p port
4. Navigate to your WordPress directory: cd public_html (or your WordPress subdirectory)
5. Test WP-CLI: wp --info

WP-CLI is pre-installed on Hostinger's servers — no manual installation needed. On VPS plans, you have full control and can install/update WP-CLI manually.

Plugin Management:

# Update all plugins
wp plugin update --all

# Install a plugin
wp plugin install yoast-seo --activate

# Deactivate all plugins (useful for debugging)
wp plugin deactivate --all

User Management:

# Reset admin password
wp user update admin --user_pass=NewSecurePassword123!

# List all users
wp user list --fields=ID,user_login,roles

Database Operations:

# Search and replace URLs (migration)
wp search-replace 'https://oldsite.com' 'https://newsite.com' --all-tables

# Optimize database
wp db optimize

# Export database
wp db export backup.sql

Set up automated maintenance using Hostinger's Cron Jobs (hPanel → Advanced → Cron Jobs):

Weekly plugin updates:

0 2 * * 1 cd /home/username/public_html && wp plugin update --all --quiet

Daily database optimization:

0 3 * * * cd /home/username/public_html && wp db optimize --quiet

Monthly core updates:

0 4 1 * * cd /home/username/public_html && wp core update --quiet

Replace username with your Hostinger account username and adjust the WordPress path if your installation is in a subdirectory.

WP-CLI simplifies the database URL replacement that's often the trickiest part of WordPress migration:

# After importing database to new host:
# Replace all instances of old URL with new URL in all tables
wp search-replace 'https://old-domain.com' 'https://new-domain.com' --all-tables --report-changed-only

# Verify WordPress is working
wp post list --post_status=publish
wp option get siteurl
wp option get home

# Flush cache
wp cache flush
wp litespeed-purge --all

The search-replace command handles all database tables including serialized data — something phpMyAdmin's find-and-replace feature cannot do safely.