HTTP Status 500 - The server encountered an internal error
Asked by HorseGator:

Hi,

We suddenly started getting the below page when opening Confluence..

Any idea how we can resolve this?  
Here is the atlassian-confluence log file: [](https://mega.co.nz/#!st5jGDxA!Qk_xRXdrIYcaFX4Sv7A-5tUskl_AaRUPj94ZQ_SZt7w)[https://mega.co.nz/#!st5jGDxA!Qk_xRXdrIYcaFX4Sv7A-5tUskl_AaRUPj94ZQ_SZt7w](https://mega.co.nz/#%21st5jGDxA%21Qk_xRXdrIYcaFX4Sv7A-5tUskl_AaRUPj94ZQ_SZt7w)

HTTP Status 500 - {#toc-hId-1872764602}
=======================================

*** ** * ** ***

**type** Exception report

**message**

**description** The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request.

**exception**

```
com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference$InitializationException: java.lang.NullPointerException	com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference.getInterruptibly(LazyReference.java:149)	com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference.get(LazyReference.java:112)	com.atlassian.confluence.setup.ConfluenceEncodingFilter.getGlobalSettings(ConfluenceEncodingFilter.java:45)	com.atlassian.confluence.setup.ConfluenceEncodingFilter.getEncodingInternal(ConfluenceEncodingFilter.java:35)	com.atlassian.confluence.setup.ConfluenceEncodingFilter.getEncoding(ConfluenceEncodingFilter.java:27)	com.atlassian.core.filters.encoding.AbstractEncodingFilter.doFilter(AbstractEncodingFilter.java:38)	com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	com.atlassian.core.filters.HeaderSanitisingFilter.doFilter(HeaderSanitisingFilter.java:44)	com.atlassian.confluence.servlet.FourOhFourErrorLoggingFilter.doFilter(FourOhFourErrorLoggingFilter.java:65)
```

**root cause**

```
java.lang.NullPointerException	com.atlassian.spring.container.ContainerManager.getComponent(ContainerManager.java:33)	com.atlassian.confluence.util.LazyComponentReference$Accessor.get(LazyComponentReference.java:46)	com.atlassian.util.concurrent.Lazy$Strong.create(Lazy.java:85)	com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference$Sync.run(LazyReference.java:321)	com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference.getInterruptibly(LazyReference.java:143)	com.atlassian.util.concurrent.LazyReference.get(LazyReference.java:112)	com.atlassian.confluence.setup.ConfluenceEncodingFilter.getGlobalSettings(ConfluenceEncodingFilter.java:45)	com.atlassian.confluence.setup.ConfluenceEncodingFilter.getEncodingInternal(ConfluenceEncodingFilter.java:35)	com.atlassian.confluence.setup.ConfluenceEncodingFilter.getEncoding(ConfluenceEncodingFilter.java:27)	com.atlassian.core.filters.encoding.AbstractEncodingFilter.doFilter(AbstractEncodingFilter.java:38)	com.atlassian.core.filters.AbstractHttpFilter.doFilter(AbstractHttpFilter.java:31)	com.atlassian.core.filters.HeaderSanitisingFilter.doFilter(HeaderSanitisingFilter.java:44)	com.atlassian.confluence.servlet.FourOhFourErrorLoggingFilter.doFilter(FourOhFourErrorLoggingFilter.java:65)
```

**note** The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the Apache Tomcat/6.0.35 logs.

*** ** * ** ***

### Apache Tomcat/6.0.35 {#toc-hId--1072419369}


Answers:
author: Tiago Comasseto
body: Hi there, we've seen some cases similar to this and the most common cause to this issue is related to file system permission. You can see some details in this other question: [](/questions/56733/confluence-suddenly-unusable-java-error)<https://answers.atlassian.com/questions/56733/confluence-suddenly-unusable-java-error>

I hope it helps.

Cheers

comments: author: HorseGator
body: Thanks, saw that one.. We are running Confluence on a Windows Server..  
Do you know how the procedure is there? (I'm not the one who installed it, and am quite unfamiliar with the inner workings of Confluence.. Unfortunately.)


Tags: confluence-administration