White screen when accessing Confluence after an upgrade
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
After upgrading Confluence, when reaching it through a browser, the instance is not accessible and displays only a white screen.
Environment
Confluence Server or Data Center, using the Lively Theme plugin.
Diagnosis
Checking the Confluence logs, the following error can be found:
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2020-08-06 10:24:52,057 ERROR [http-nio-8080-exec-6] [ContainerBase.[Standalone].[localhost].[/]] log Unhandled exception occurred whilst decorating page
-- url: /login.action | traceId: 0a542b4626d6f5d9 | userName: anonymous
java.lang.RuntimeException: javax.servlet.ServletException: org.apache.velocity.exception.MethodInvocationException: Invocation of method 'getConfluenceResourceTags' in class com.atlassian.confluence.setup.velocity.VelocityFriendlyPageBuilderService threw exception com.google.common.util.concurrent.UncheckedExecutionException: java.lang.NullPointerException at /decorators/includes/header.vm[line 96, column 24]
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Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
at de.scandio.atlassian.applib.conditions.confluence.ThemeIsEnabledCondition.shouldDisplay(ThemeIsEnabledCondition.java:39)Cause
Due to an issue with the Lively Theme plugin, Confluence pages are not rendering correctly. This issue can happen when this plugin is out of date, making it incompatible with the current Confluence version.
Solution
With this particular problem, the Confluence administration console will still be accessible so we can update or disable the plugin. To do so, follow the steps below:
Access: https://<confluence-URL>/plugins/servlet/upm
Filter the apps by User-Installed
Search for Lively Theme
Click on Update
To disable it, click on the app name to expand and click on Disable.
After that, check if Confluence pages are displayed properly again. If necessary, you may reach the vendor support here.
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