catalina_pid was set but the specified file does not exist error when stopping or starting Confluence with a script

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products 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

Summary

When running the ./stop-confluence.sh or ./start-confluence.sh, Confluence is not reacting to the script, it refuses to stop or start.

Environment

Linux server
Confluence not installed as a service

Diagnosis

The terminal will show the following message when stopping Confluence running <installation-directory>/bin/stop-confluence.sh script

$catalina_pid was set but the specified file does not exist

Cause

The permissions of the user that is starting and stopping Confluence are not sufficient.

Solution

Try to run su -u <confluence_user_name> before running shutdown or startup script
Adjust the permissions of the user that will start and stop Confluence with the below commands:

sudo chown -R <confluence-user> <confluence-install-folder>
sudo chown -R <confluence-user> <confluence-home-folder>
sudo chmod -R u=rwx,g=rx,o=rx <confluence-install-folder>
sudo chmod -R u=rwx,g=rx,o=rx <confluence-home-folder>

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