confluence does not start up get white blank page
Asked by Systems_Department:

I edited /opt/atlassian/confluence/conf/web.xml

\<!-- ==================== Default Session Configuration ================= --\>  
\<!-- You can set the default session timeout (in minutes) for all newly --\>  
\<!-- created sessions by modifying the value below. --\>

\<session-config\>  
\<session-timeout\>120\</session-timeout\>  
\</session-config\>

from 30 to 120

After that I restarted my confluence service and start it up again I get a blank white page. I set it back to 30 and still get a white blank page. why is this?

How can I start it up?


Answers:
author: Shannon S
body: Hi there,

According to [How to adjust the session timeout for Confluence](https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/how-to-adjust-the-session-timeout-for-confluence-126910597.html):
> The default location of the `web.xml` file for Tomcat is `conf/web.xml`, but this file is overridden by the file provided with your Confluence installation, at the location described above. If you are having trouble changing this setting, ensure that you have changed `<confluence_install>/confluence/WEB-INF/web.xml` and NOT `<confluence_install>/conf/web.xml`.   

Please try the following:

1. Stop Confluence
2. Edit the conf/web.xml file as you did before, you can use the below example if you want to try copying and pasting that:

   ```
   ?<!-- ==================== Default Session Configuration ================= -->
    <!-- You can set the default session timeout (in minutes) for all newly -->
    <!-- created sessions by modifying the value below. -->

    <session-config>
    <session-timeout>30</session-timeout>
    </session-config>
   ```

3. Adjust the timeout from \<confluence_install\>/confluence/WEB-INF/web.xml instead.
4. Start Confluence

If you still have the white screen, then I'll need you to tail your [Confluence server logs](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/working-with-confluence-logs-108364721.html) to see what might be causing the white screen. Feel free to send those logs this way if you stll have the issue and we can help you out.

Regards,

Shannon

comments: author: Systems_Department
body: My config file web.xml has these entries

\<session-config\>  
\<session-timeout\>30\</session-timeout\>  
\<tracking-mode\>COOKIE\</tracking-mode\>  
\</session-config\>

<br />

Do I need to to have the \<tracking-mode\>COOKIE\</tracking-mode\> option or can I just delete that?, what does this do?

The white page has been solved as I was starting confluence with the script /opt/atlassian/confluence/bin/start-confluence.sh and was not using the script /opt/atlassian/confluence/bin/startup.sh. Using the startup.sh fixed my white pages as its then loaded the catalina.startup process

Thanks

service


author: Shannon S
body: Hello,

Thank you for letting me know you were able to solve it. [Here's a thread](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-questions/Confluence-When-to-use-start-confluence-sh-vs-startup-sh/qaq-p/22503) that explains the difference between the two, if you're curious.
> For additional information, running startup.sh will execute the application using the current user. But start-confluence.sh will execute the application using the user mentioned in user.sh. If the user.sh doesn't specify any user, it will execute the application using the current user.  
> This affects the directory/file permission when running Confluence.

As for the line in your web.xml file, it appears it was added as a result of this article:

* [How to Remove the JSessionID Parameter from Confluence URL](https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/how-to-remove-the-jsessionid-parameter-from-confluence-url-687018567.html)

As for if you want to remove it or not, consider if you want to retain the JSessionID parameter in your URL, or if you want to keep it as is.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Regards,

Shannon