Space export page loads infinitely or very slow

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

Symptoms

When Export Content to Word, PDF, HTML and XML, specifically exporting Confluence Pages and Spaces to XML, the page loads infinitely or very slow. Therefore it isn't possible to run the export at all.

Cause

Confluence ancestor table is somehow broken.

Diagnosis

Check if CONFANCESTORS table is corrupted by running this SQL query:

1 2 3 4 5 SELECT A.ANCESTORID, A.DESCENDENTID, COUNT(A.DESCENDENTID) FROM CONFANCESTORS A, CONTENT B WHERE B.CONTENTID = A.DESCENDENTID GROUP BY A.ANCESTORID, A.DESCENDENTID ORDER BY 3 DESC;

All returned rows should have value '1' for the column 'count'. If there is a value other than '1' (e.g. '2', '3', etc.), the CONFANCESTORS table is broken.

Resolution

Rebuild your Confluence ancestor table

Updated on April 8, 2025

Still need help?

The Atlassian Community is here for you.