Confluence Seems to Hang on Startup with SQL Server

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

Symptoms

When starting Confluence, there seems to be no activity after a period of time. Looking at thread dumps, you might notice there are threads waiting on the database.

Diagnosis

SQL Server is the database, and ?requireSSL=true is set in the connection string configured in confluence.cfg.xml

Cause

Confluence does not trust the SSL certificate presented by SQL Server. This would normally throw a PKIX Certificate error, but it does not seem to in this situation.

Solution

Resolution

  • Add the SSL certificate to the JAVA trust store (usually located at <java-home>/jre/lib/security/cacerts)

Updated on April 8, 2025

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