Confluence initial setup error
Asked by kerry.white@ab.gov.ag:

After installation and going to the home page to complete the configuration of Confluence I am getting the following error:

**The SystemInformationService could not be retrieved from the container. Therefore very limited information is available in this error report.
The SystemInformationService could not be retrieved due to the following error: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Spring Application context has not been set**

### Cause {#toc-hId-1542475574}

java.lang.RuntimeException: javax.servlet.ServletException: com.atlassian.cache.CacheException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: The com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.ConfluenceVelocityResourceCache Cache is not alive (STATUS_SHUTDOWN)  
at com.opensymphony.sitemesh.webapp.decorator.BaseWebAppDecorator.render(BaseWebAppDecorator.java:37)

caused by: javax.servlet.ServletException: com.atlassian.cache.CacheException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: The com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.ConfluenceVelocityResourceCache Cache is not alive (STATUS_SHUTDOWN)  
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator$ErrorSendingErrorHandlingStrategy.handleException(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:244)

caused by: com.atlassian.cache.CacheException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: The com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.ConfluenceVelocityResourceCache Cache is not alive (STATUS_SHUTDOWN)  
at com.atlassian.cache.ehcache.DelegatingCache.get(DelegatingCache.java:106)

caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: The com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.ConfluenceVelocityResourceCache Cache is not alive (STATUS_SHUTDOWN)  
at net.sf.ehcache.Cache$CacheStatus.checkAlive(Cache.java:4086)

#### Stack Trace:\[hide\] {#toc-hId--1206194892}

```
java.lang.RuntimeException: javax.servlet.ServletException: com.atlassian.cache.CacheException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: The com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.ConfluenceVelocityResourceCache Cache is not alive (STATUS_SHUTDOWN)	at com.opensymphony.sitemesh.webapp.decorator.BaseWebAppDecorator.render(BaseWebAppDecorator.java:37)	at com.opensymphony.sitemesh.webapp.SiteMeshFilter.doFilter(SiteMeshFilter.java:84)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ProfilingSiteMeshFilter.doFilter(ProfilingSiteMeshFilter.java:45)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.filter.ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.doFilter(ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.java:64)	at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.filter.ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.doFilter(ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.java:58)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.jmx.JmxFilter.doFilter(JmxFilter.java:98)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.cache.TransactionalCacheFactoryCleanupFilter.doFilter(TransactionalCacheFactoryCleanupFilter.java:22)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.ServletContextThreadLocalFilter.doFilter(ServletContextThreadLocalFilter.java:21)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.UserLoggingContextFilter.doFilter(UserLoggingContextFilter.java:32)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.UserNameHeaderFilter.doFilter(UserNameHeaderFilter.java:25)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.MauEventFilter.doFilter(MauEventFilter.java:42)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.UserThreadLocalFilter.doFilter(UserThreadLocalFilter.java:39)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.ConfluenceTimeoutFilter.doFilter(ConfluenceTimeoutFilter.java:57)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.seraph.filter.SecurityFilter.doFilter(SecurityFilter.java:88)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.ConfluenceSecurityFilter.doFilter(ConfluenceSecurityFilter.java:25)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.ThreadLocalCacheFilter.doFilter(ThreadLocalCacheFilter.java:25)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.AbstractBootstrapHotSwappingFilter$SwapOnBootstrapFilter.doFilter(AbstractBootstrapHotSwappingFilter.java:42)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.AbstractBootstrapHotSwappingFilter.doFilter(AbstractBootstrapHotSwappingFilter.java:32)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.seraph.filter.BaseLoginFilter.doFilter(BaseLoginFilter.java:148)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.filter.ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.doFilter(ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.java:64)	at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.filter.ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.doFilter(ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.java:58)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.ClusterHeaderFilter.doFilter(ClusterHeaderFilter.java:56)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.ConfluenceOpenSessionInViewFilter.doFilterInternal(ConfluenceOpenSessionInViewFilter.java:38)	at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.ConfluenceErrorFilter.doFilter(ConfluenceErrorFilter.java:24)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.util.profiling.filters.ProfilingFilter.doFilter(ProfilingFilter.java:99)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.core.datetime.RequestTimeThreadLocalFilter.doFilter(RequestTimeThreadLocalFilter.java:37)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.cache.AbstractCachingFilter.doFilter(AbstractCachingFilter.java:33)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.filter.ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.doFilter(ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.java:64)	at com.atlassian.plugin.servlet.filter.ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.doFilter(ServletFilterModuleContainerFilter.java:58)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.tenant.TenantGateFilter.lambda$doFilter$0(TenantGateFilter.java:35)	at com.atlassian.confluence.tenant.TenantGate$3.call(TenantGate.java:145)	at com.atlassian.confluence.tenant.TenantGateFilter.doFilter(TenantGateFilter.java:37)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.internal.web.filter.spring.IgnoreWebAsyncManagerFilter.doFilter(IgnoreWebAsyncManagerFilter.java:59)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.validateparam.RequestParamValidationFilter.doFilter(RequestParamValidationFilter.java:51)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.TranslationModeFilter.doFilter(TranslationModeFilter.java:39)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.plugin.servlet.filter.ActionContextCleanUp.doFilter(ActionContextCleanUp.java:72)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.LanguageExtractionFilter.doFilter(LanguageExtractionFilter.java:49)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.impl.vcache.VCacheRequestContextFilter.doFilter(VCacheRequestContextFilter.java:58)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.LoggingContextFilter.doFilter(LoggingContextFilter.java:33)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.RequestCacheThreadLocalFilter.doFilter(RequestCacheThreadLocalFilter.java:65)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.ZipkinTracingFilter.doFilter(ZipkinTracingFilter.java:54)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.ResponseOutputStreamFilter.doFilter(ResponseOutputStreamFilter.java:23)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.johnson.filters.AbstractJohnsonFilter.doFilter(AbstractJohnsonFilter.java:72)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.ConfluenceJohnsonFilter.doFilter(ConfluenceJohnsonFilter.java:33)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.encoding.AbstractEncodingFilter.doFilter(AbstractEncodingFilter.java:41)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.impl.servlet.HoldingUntilStartedFilter.doFilter(HoldingUntilStartedFilter.java:88)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.HeaderSanitisingFilter.doFilter(HeaderSanitisingFilter.java:44)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.servlet.FourOhFourErrorLoggingFilter.doFilter(FourOhFourErrorLoggingFilter.java:64)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at com.atlassian.confluence.web.filter.DebugFilter.doFilter(DebugFilter.java:46)	at com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:240)	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:207)	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:212)	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:94)	at org.apache.catalina.valves.StuckThreadDetectionValve.invoke(StuckThreadDetectionValve.java:206)	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:141)	at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:79)	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:88)	at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:502)	at org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1132)	at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:684)	at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1533)	at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(NioEndpoint.java:1489)	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)	at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)Caused by: javax.servlet.ServletException: com.atlassian.cache.CacheException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: The com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.ConfluenceVelocityResourceCache Cache is not alive (STATUS_SHUTDOWN)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator$ErrorSendingErrorHandlingStrategy.handleException(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:244)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator$StreamingResponseWritingStrategy.renderToResponse(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:300)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.applyDecoratorUsingVelocity(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:214)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.applyDecorator(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:147)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.renderInternal(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:135)	at com.atlassian.confluence.util.profiling.ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.render(ConfluenceSitemeshDecorator.java:115)	at com.opensymphony.sitemesh.webapp.decorator.BaseWebAppDecorator.render(BaseWebAppDecorator.java:33)	... 163 more

Please Help
```


Answers:
author: AnnWorley
body: The cryptic error, "Spring Application context has not been set" is usually caused by the user running Confluence lacking permission in the \<confluence_home\> directory (the path defined in the following file: \<confluence_install\>/confluence/WEB-INF/classes/confluence-init.properties)

Other causes can be found in [Confluence does not start due to Spring Application context has not been set](https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/confluence-does-not-start-due-to-spring-application-context-has-not-been-set-218278311.html)

One edge case is, that error will be thrown when the **confluence.cfg.xml** file in the root of the Confluence home directory contains formatting introduced by a text editor or other corruption.