How to edit bundled or system plugins

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

In rare cases, although not advisable, some users need to edit the contents of the bundled plugin in Confluence. The guide below is an example to find and edit a bundled/system plugin

Solution

For Confluence 5.0 and above

Customizing the Contents of Bundled Plugin

⚠️ Please note that this will only work if the bundled plugin has not been upgraded

  1. Backup atlassian-bundled-plugins folder in <confluence-install>/confluence/WEB-INF/. This folder contains all of the Confluence bundled plugins.

  2. Locate the JAR file of the bundled plugin and unjar the plugin-name-X.X.X.X.jar in the folder atlassian-bundled-plugins.

  3. Once unjarred, edit the necessary files and save the edited files

  4. Jar the file back to plugin-name-X.X.X.X.jar. Please refer to How to edit files in Confluence JAR files for more information

  5. Restart your Confluence. Your changes would be reflected after this.

Customizing the Contents of Upgraded Bundled Plugin

If the bundled plugin has been upgraded, please do the following instead:

  1. Downgrade the bundled plugin by uninstalling it from the Confluence Admin > Managed Add-ons under the User Installed Plugins section

  2. Download the plugin JAR manually from the Atlassian Marketplace

  3. Unjar the plugin, edit the necessary files, save the edited files, and jar it back

  4. Backup atlassian-bundled-plugins folder in <confluence-install>/confluence/WEB-INF/

  5. Delete the old plugin JAR file

  6. Insert the new plugin JAR file

  7. Upload the new plugin JAR file into Confluence

For Confluence below 5.0

Customizing the Contents of Bundled Plugin

⚠️ Please note that this will only work if the bundled plugin has not been upgraded

  1. Backup atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip in <confluence-install>/confluence/WEB-INF/classes/com/atlassian/confluence/setup/. This zip file contains all of the Confluence bundled plugins.

  2. Unzip the atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip.

  3. Locate the JAR file of the bundled plugin and unjar the plugin-name-X.X.X.X.jar in the unzipped atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip.

  4. Once unjarred, edit the necessary files and save the edited files

  5. Jar the file back to plugin-name-X.X.X.X.jar. Please refer to How to edit files in Confluence JAR files for more information

  6. Zip the atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip back.

  7. Restart your Confluence. Your changes would be reflected after this.

Customizing the Contents of Upgraded Bundled Plugin

If the bundled plugin has been upgraded, please do the following instead:

  1. Downgrade the bundled plugin by uninstalling it from the Confluence Admin > Plugins under the User Installed Plugins section

  2. Download the plugin JAR manually from the Atlassian Marketplace

  3. Unjar the plugin, edit the necessary files, save the edited files, and jar it back

  4. Backup atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip in <confluence-install>/confluence/WEB-INF/classes/com/atlassian/confluence/setup/

  5. Unzip the atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip.

  6. Delete the old plugin JAR file

  7. Insert the new plugin JAR file

  8. Zip the atlassian-bundled-plugins.zip back.

  9. Restart your Confluence. Your changes will be reflected after this.

Updated on April 15, 2025
Platform
Data Center only
Product
Confluence Data Center
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