Can't check base URL warning in Confluence 6.6 or later

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian apps on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Problem

Confluence displays the following message to administrators:

Tomcat config is incorrect

The Tomcat server.xml has an incorrect configuration:

scheme should be '<recommended scheme>'

proxyName should be '<recommended proxyName>'

proxyPort should be '<recommended proxyPort>'

(Auto-migrated image: description temporarily unavailable)

Quick triage — answer this first:

Is your Confluence site behind a reverse proxy (Apache, NGINX, IIS, AWS ALB, etc)?

  • No reverse proxy → Skip to Solution "If you are not using a reverse proxy". The fix is to remove the proxyName and proxyPort attributes from server.xml.

  • Reverse proxy in use → Skip to Solution "If you are using a reverse proxy". The fix is to ensure proxyName, proxyPort, and scheme in server.xml match the values shown in the warning message.

Cause

This message appears when Confluence attempts to check that the URL you are using to access Confluence is the same as Confluence's base URL, but cannot complete the check because of a problem with your proxy configuration. This is usually because:

  • a proxyName and proxyPort are present in your <install-directory>/conf/server.xml file but you are not using a reverse proxy.

  • you are using a reverse proxy, but the values for proxyName and proxyPort are incorrect in your <install-directory>/conf/server.xml file.

Solution

If you are not using a reverse proxy, make sure the proxyName and proxyPort attributes are not included. Your connector should look similar to the example below if you are not using a reverse proxy:

<Connector port="8090" connectionTimeout="20000" redirectPort="8443" maxThreads="48" minSpareThreads="10" enableLookups="false" acceptCount="10" debug="0" URIEncoding="UTF-8" protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol" />

If you are using a reverse proxy, make sure the the proxyName and proxyPort attributes have correct values for your reverse proxy. Your connector should look similar to the example below, and the recommended settings will be displayed in the warning.

<Connector port="8090" connectionTimeout="20000" redirectPort="8443" maxThreads="48" minSpareThreads="10" enableLookups="false" acceptCount="10" debug="0" URIEncoding="UTF-8" protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol" proxyName="www.example.com" proxyPort="80" scheme="http"/>

Verify the fix:

  1. After editing server.xml, restart Confluence.

  2. Log in as administrator and visit any admin page.

  3. The "Tomcat config is incorrect" warning should no longer appear.

  4. If the warning persists, your reverse-proxy configuration itself may be incorrect (not Confluence's server.xml). Check the reverse-proxy guidance links in the Solution section.

If you still see this error after checking your server.xml, check your proxy configuration is also correct. The following pages provide example configurations.

Workaround

Workaround availability:

The Base URL plugin can only be disabled on Confluence 7.13 and earlier. On Confluence 7.14 and later, this plugin is a required system app and cannot be disabled. If you are on a supported version (7.19+), you must fix the underlying server.xml or reverse-proxy configuration — disabling the check is not an option.

If the Base URL check continues to detect a problem, you can disable the check in your site:

  1. Go to

    (Auto-migrated image: description temporarily unavailable)

    > Manage Apps > System

  2. Disable the Confluence Base URL plugin system add-on.

The base URL warning should no longer appear.

Updated on May 28, 2026
Platform
Data Center only
App
Confluence Data Center
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