XML import fails due to error: not-null property references a null or transient value
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
Problem
XML Import fails and the following appears in the atlassian-confluence.log:
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2014-09-02 22:56:25,374 ERROR [Long running task: Importing data] [confluence.importexport.actions.ImportLongRunningTask] runInternal Failure during import
-- referer: http://hostname:8090/setup/setup-restore-local.action | url: /setup/longrunningtaskxml.action | userName: anonymous | action: longrunningtaskxml
com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.ImportExportException: com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.ImportExportException: Unable to complete import: Error while importing backup: not-null property references a null or transient value: com.atlassian.confluence.links.OutgoingLink.sourceContent
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.BackupImporter.importEntities(BackupImporter.java:430)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.BackupImporter.importEverything(BackupImporter.java:388)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.FileBackupImporter.importEverything(FileBackupImporter.java:150)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.BackupImporter$1.doInTransactionWithoutResult(BackupImporter.java:259)
at org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionCallbackWithoutResult.doInTransaction(TransactionCallbackWithoutResult.java:33)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.RestorePluginStateStoreTransactionCallbackDecorator.doInTransaction(RestorePluginStateStoreTransactionCallbackDecorator.java:50)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.RestoreBandanaValuesTransactionCallbackDecorator.doInTransaction(RestoreBandanaValuesTransactionCallbackDecorator.java:50)
at org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionTemplate.execute(TransactionTemplate.java:128)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.BackupImporter.doImportInternal(BackupImporter.java:211)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.Importer.doImport(Importer.java:77)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.DefaultImportExportManager.performImportInternal(DefaultImportExportManager.java:83)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.DefaultImportExportManager.performImport(DefaultImportExportManager.java:73)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.invokeJoinpointUsingReflection(AopUtils.java:307)
at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.invokeJoinpoint(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:182)
at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:149)
at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor.invoke(TransactionInterceptor.java:106)
at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:171)
at org.springframework.aop.framework.JdkDynamicAopProxy.invoke(JdkDynamicAopProxy.java:204)
at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy135.performImport(Unknown Source)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.actions.ImportLongRunningTask.runInternal(ImportLongRunningTask.java:95)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.longrunning.ConfluenceAbstractLongRunningTask.run(ConfluenceAbstractLongRunningTask.java:27)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.longrunning.ManagedTask.run(ManagedTask.java:35)
at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.ImportExportException: Unable to complete import: Error while importing backup: not-null property references a null or transient value: com.atlassian.confluence.links.OutgoingLink.sourceContent
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.DefaultXmlImporter.doImport(DefaultXmlImporter.java:77)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.BackupImporter.importEntities(BackupImporter.java:420)
... 31 more
Caused by: org.xml.sax.SAXException: Error while importing backup: not-null property references a null or transient value: com.atlassian.confluence.links.OutgoingLink.sourceContent
net.sf.hibernate.PropertyValueException: not-null property references a null or transient value: com.atlassian.confluence.links.OutgoingLink.sourceContent
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.parser.BackupParser.endElement(BackupParser.java:55)
at org.apache.xerces.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.endElement(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanEndElement(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDispatcher.dispatch(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XMLParser.parse(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.xerces.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
at com.atlassian.security.xml.RestrictedXMLReader.parse(RestrictedXMLReader.java:103)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.DefaultXmlImporter.parseBackup(DefaultXmlImporter.java:110)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.DefaultXmlImporter.doImport(DefaultXmlImporter.java:61)
... 32 more
Caused by: net.sf.hibernate.PropertyValueException: not-null property references a null or transient value: com.atlassian.confluence.links.OutgoingLink.sourceContent
at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.checkNullability(SessionImpl.java:1302)
at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.doSave(SessionImpl.java:954)
at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.doSave(SessionImpl.java:883)
at net.sf.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.save(SessionImpl.java:837)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.ImportProcessorContext.saveObject(ImportProcessorContext.java:289)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.persister.ReflectiveObjectPersister.persist(ReflectiveObjectPersister.java:207)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.DefaultImportProcessor.persist(DefaultImportProcessor.java:47)
at com.atlassian.confluence.importexport.xmlimport.DefaultImportProcessor.processObject(DefaultImportProcessor.java:37)
Cause
Values in the database that should have content referencing them have null values instead.
Resolution
Reviewing the stack trace will show where the error is coming from. In the example above it's com.atlassian.confluence.links.OutgoingLink.sourceContent which is the LINKS table.
Run the following queries against the Confluence database from which the XML back-up was generated:
1SELECT * FROM LINKS WHERE DESTPAGETITLE = '' OR DESTPAGETITLE IS NULL;1SELECT * FROM LINKS WHERE DESTSPACEKEY = '' OR DESTSPACEKEY IS NULL;If any of the above queries returned results, then backup your Confluence database.
Always back up your data before making any database modifications. If possible, test any alter, insert, update, or delete SQL commands on a staging server first.
Run the following delete statements:
1DELETE FROM LINKS WHERE DESTPAGETITLE = '' OR DESTPAGETITLE IS NULL;1DELETE FROM LINKS WHERE DESTSPACEKEY = '' OR DESTSPACEKEY IS NULL;Generate a new XML export.
Import the new XML into Confluence.
Updated on April 8, 2025
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