Could not load bootstrap from environment fatal NullPointerException:
Asked by Dhavval Aarya:

Hi,  
I am unable to start the confluence server and getting the following error:

|-------------------------------------------|---------------------|-------|-----------------------|
| Could not load bootstrap from environment | 2021-08-16 16:16:48 | fatal | NullPointerException: |

I have confluence server version 7.2.1 I think and I just need to load it up so that I can export and migrate it to the Confluence cloud.

It was not set up by me and the person who set it up has left and I just need to load it and migrate it to the cloud.

The instance is using internal DB and there are plenty of backups available on the Linux machine.

Please suggest as it contains really important information that must be recovered.

Thank you in advance

attached screenshot of the error![confluence_problem.png](/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/156159i608A904A44899153/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "confluence_problem.png")


Answers:
author: Shannon S
body: Hello Dhavval,

Good evening, and thank you for bringing this to us. It appears there is an issue with your site configuration. I'm happy to help!

Your site logs will give more information. Would you please check your atlassian-confluence.log file for around the time that you generated the error? You can refer to [Working with Confluence logs](https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf72/working-with-confluence-logs-982323752.html?) for details on how to do that.

Can you also let me know the following:

1. Has the instance ever been upgraded or restarted?
2. Have you made any configuration changes to this instance at any time?
3. Could you [generate a new Confluence config file](https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/how-to-generate-a-new-confluence-cfg-xml-425461512.html) and see if that corrects the issue?

Please note, you should not use the internal database in production instances. Referring to [Database Configuration:](https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf72/database-configuration-982323602.html)
> About the embedded H2 database
>
> Your Confluence installation includes an embedded H2 database, to enable you to try Confluence without setting up an external database. The embedded H2 database is **only** supported while you are evaluating Confluence. You must migrate to a [supported](https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf72/supported-platforms-982323986.html)external database before using Confluence as a production system.

I advise you to migrate your data onto an external database as soon as possible, so we can proceed with the migration without causing data loss. You can refer to [Migrating to another database](https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf72/migrating-to-another-database-982323622.html) for steps on how to accomplish that.

I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any trouble.

Take care,

Shannon

comments: author: Shannon S
body: Hello [@Dhavval Aarya](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/2884400),

How are things going on your end? Were you able to solve this?

If you're still getting the error, it could also be a permissions problem, which you would be able to confirm when you attempt to recreate the confluence.cfg.xml file.

If that's the case, you can also take a look at this article:

[NullPointerException when browsing to Confluence](https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/nullpointerexception-when-browsing-to-confluence-374997045.html)

I hope that helps, and please let us know if you can resolve it!

Take care,

Shannon


Tags: cloud

confluence-cloud

confluence-server

migration-customer-care

server