Supported Platforms FAQ

Q: How does Atlassian choose which JDK versions, application servers and databases to support?

For databases and application servers, we try to pick a good cross-section, including open source options and the popular commercial platforms. We then choose which JDK versions to support based on the recommended environments for these servers.

Q: What does it mean that a platform is supported?

• Confluence is regularly tested on that platform during the development cycle.
• The platform is available within Atlassian for support technicians and developers to reproduce problems
• Bugs specific to that platform will be given a high priority

Supporting a platform means we know how to get Confluence running in that environment, and can troubleshoot Confluence issues within it. It does not mean we have any particular expertise beyond that. As such, we may not be able to help with customising or tuning that application server or database. Atlassian support is not a substitute for a good DBA.

Q: What does it mean that a platform is not supported?

• Confluence has not been tested on that platform by Atlassian
• Developers and support technicians will be unable to reproduce problems on that platform
• Bugs specific to that platform will be given a low priority

If you are running Confluence on an unsupported platform, it doesn't mean you are completely on your own. What it does mean is there is a limit to the level of support we can provide. The more an issue looks like it is related to your application server or database, the more you'll need to work with us to help diagnose and fix the problem. And at some point, if we still can't fix the issue, we may have to throw our hands up in despair and ask you to move to a supported platform instead.

If you are technically minded, enjoy a challenge and (most importantly) are able to switch platforms if things don't work out, we encourage you to try new things. Please report back on your experiences. Keep in mind that even just by repackaging Tomcat, vendors can horribly break things (e.g. JBoss 3's classloader), and that problems often arise in infrequently used parts of JIRA (upgrades, bulk operations, plugins, concurrent operations).

If you just want something to work, we recommend sticking to what we know works. There are plenty of free, high quality app servers and databases available, and few reasons not to use them.

Q: If you write your application to standards like J2EE, JDBC and SQL, doesn't that mean it should run on any compliant server?

The operative word there is should. Confluence is a complicated application, and we commonly come across interesting edge-cases, places where servers have interpreted the specificiations differently, and straight-out incompatibilities. Then, of course, each server has its own different collection of bugs.

Q: How can I get Atlassian to support Confluence on a new platform?

Supporting a new platform involves a significant investment of time by Atlassian, both up-front costs to set up new testing environments and fix any issues we might encounter, and the ongoing costs involved in maintaining the application against this new environment in the future. As such, supporting a new platform is not something we will do unless we know there is significant demand.

So let us know you're interested. File an issue in JIRA (or vote on an existing issue). Start a thread in the user forum. Just keep in mind that your interest alone will not be enough to convince us to add support for your application server or database: we'd need to see a number of votes on the issue, or a significant level of interest in the forum thread.

Q: My organisation has standardised on an operating environment that Confluence does not support. What can I do?

Ultimately, you really only have two options:

1. Run Confluence in the unsupported environment, with all the caveats mentioned above
2. Make an exception to your standard environment

By all means let us know that your preferred environment is not supported. However, even if we did decide to add support it would be unlikely that we'd be able to do so in any timeframe that would suit your deployment of Confluence in the short term.