Start Confluence Automatically on Linux

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On Linux/Solaris, the best practice is to install, configure and run each service (including Confluence) as a dedicated user with only the permissions they require.

To install, configure and run Confluence automatically on Linux/Solaris:

  1. Create a confluence user for instance, using the following command:

    sudo useradd --create-home -c "Confluence role account" confluence
  2. Create a directory to install Confluence into.  In this example we're using /usr/local/confluence.

    sudo mkdir /usr/local/confluence
    sudo chown confluence: /usr/local/confluence
    


  3. Log in as the confluence user to install Confluence:

    sudo su - confluence
    cd /usr/local/confluence/
    tar zxvf /tmp/confluence-5.6.4.tar.gz
    ln -s confluence-5.6.4/ current
    
  4. Edit <<CONFLUENCE_INSTALL_DIRECTORY>>/confluence/WEB-INF/classes/confluence-init.properties file, and set confluence.home=/usr/local/confluence/<Confluence_Data_Home> (ensure you have removed the comment '#')
  5. Then back as root, create the file /etc/init.d/confluence (code shown below), which will be responsible for starting up Confluence after a reboot (or when manually invoked).
    (warning) If you are running Ubuntu Jaunty (or later) do not perform this step. Please use the instructions further down this page.

    #!/bin/sh -e
    # Confluence startup script
    #chkconfig: 2345 80 05
    #description: Confluence
    
    # Define some variables
    # Name of app ( JIRA, Confluence, etc )
    APP=confluence
    # Name of the user to run as
    USER=confluence
    # Location of Confluence install directory
    CATALINA_HOME=/usr/local/confluence/current
    # Location of Java JDK
    export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle
    
    case "$1" in
      # Start command
      start)
        echo "Starting $APP"
        /bin/su -m $USER -c "$CATALINA_HOME/bin/start-confluence.sh &> /dev/null"
        ;;
      # Stop command
      stop)
        echo "Stopping $APP"
        /bin/su -m $USER -c "$CATALINA_HOME/bin/stop-confluence.sh &> /dev/null"
        echo "$APP stopped successfully"
        ;;
       # Restart command
       restart)
            $0 stop
            sleep 5
            $0 start
            ;;
      *)
        echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/$APP {start|restart|stop}"
        exit 1
        ;;
    esac
    
    exit 0
    
  6. Make this file executable:

    sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/confluence
  7. Set this file to run at the appropriate runlevel. For example, use sudo chkconfig --add confluence on Redhat-based systems, sudo update-rc.d confluence defaults or rcconf on Debian-based systems.
  8. You should now be able to start Confluence with the init script. A successful startup output typically looks like this:

    $ sudo /etc/init.d/confluence start
    Starting Confluence:
    If you encounter issues starting up Confluence, please see the Installation guide at http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DOC/Confluence+Installation+Guide
    Using CATALINA_BASE:   /usr/local/confluence/current
    Using CATALINA_HOME:   /usr/local/confluence/current
    Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/local/confluence/current/temp
    Using JRE_HOME:       /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.7.0-oracle
    done.
    


    You should then see this running at http://<server>:8090/
    (info) The port for this will be whatever is defined in your Confluence server.xml file.

Adding Confluence as a service for Ubuntu Jaunty (or later)

To continue configuring Confluence to start automatically as a service on Ubuntu Jaunty (or later):

  1. After logging in as the confluence user to install Confluence, create start and stop scripts in /usr/local/confluence:

    Example startscript:

    #!/bin/bash
    export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle-1.7.0.71/
    export JDK_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle-1.7.0.71/
    cd /usr/local/confluence/current/bin
    ./startup.sh
    


    Example stopscript:

    #!/bin/bash
    export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle-1.7.0.71/
    export JDK_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle-1.6.0.71/
    cd /usr/local/confluence/current/bin
    ./shutdown.sh
    
  2. Make both of these scripts executable. For example, by issuing the command: sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/confluence/start /usr/local/confluence/stop.
  3. Karmic and later: Create two text files in /etc/init/ called confluence-up.conf and confluence-down.conf:

    confluence-up:

    start on runlevel [2345]
    
    script
    
    	date >> /tmp/confluence-startup.out
    	exec sudo -u confluence /usr/local/confluence/start >> /tmp/confluence-startup.out 2>&1
    
    end script
    


    confluence-down:

    start on runlevel [16]
    
    expect fork
    respawn
    
    exec sudo -u confluence /usr/local/confluence/stop >> /tmp/confluence-shutdown.out 2>&1
    



    ... and make them readable to all users:
    sudo chmod a+r /etc/init/confluence-up.conf /etc/init/confluence-down.conf

  1. Jaunty, Intrepid: Create two text files in /etc/event.d/ called confluence-up and confluence-down:

    confluence-up:

    start on runlevel 2
    start on runlevel 3
    start on runlevel 4
    start on runlevel 5
    
    exec sudo -u confluence /usr/local/confluence/start >> /tmp/confluence-startup.out 2>&1
    


    confluence-down:

    start on runlevel 1
    start on runlevel 6
    
    exec sudo -u confluence /usr/local/confluence/stop >> /tmp/confluence-shutdown.out 2>&1
    


    ... and make them readable to all users:
    sudo chmod a+r /etc/event.d/confluence-up /etc/event.d/confluence-down

RELATED TOPICS

Starting Confluence Automatically on System Startup

Last modified on Mar 31, 2023

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