Confluence does not start due to 'Error deploying configuration descriptor'

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

Problem

Confluence does not start. The following appears in catalina.out:

1 "SEVERE: Error deploying configuration descriptor" in

This is more likely to happen in an EAR/WAR deployment.

Cause

The context descriptor is malformed, when Installing the Confluence EAR-WAR Edition. Usually it's because the context is using the incorrect case (i.e. context instead of Context). The tag is case-sensitive. It should have something like the following:

1 2 3 4 <Context path="" docBase="../confluence" debug="0" reloadable="false"> <!-- Logger is deprecated in Tomcat 5.5. Logging configuration for Confluence is specified in confluence/WEB-INF/classes/log4j.properties --> <Manager pathname="" /> </Context>

Solution

Resolution

Correct the mistake in the Context line.

Updated on April 2, 2025

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