Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Save more on your purchases! discount-offer-chevron-icon
Savings automatically calculated. No voucher code required.
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletter Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
timer SALE ENDS IN
0 Days
:
00 Hours
:
00 Minutes
:
00 Seconds
Atlassian Confluence 5 Essentials
Atlassian Confluence 5 Essentials

Atlassian Confluence 5 Essentials: Centralize all your organization's documentation in one place using Confluence. From installation to using add-ons, this is a complete, user-friendly tutorial that assumes virtually no prior knowledge.

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Stefan Kohler
Arrow right icon
$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.4 (8 Ratings)
Paperback Jun 2013 334 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$28.99 $32.99
Paperback
$54.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Stefan Kohler
Arrow right icon
$19.99 per month
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.4 (8 Ratings)
Paperback Jun 2013 334 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$28.99 $32.99
Paperback
$54.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$28.99 $32.99
Paperback
$54.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Atlassian Confluence 5 Essentials

Chapter 1. Getting Started with Confluence

Atlassian started back in 2002 and they set out to create software that would be inexpensive, easy to use, and would take little effort to install and maintain. Thanks to these principles, the installation process of Confluence is relatively easy and straightforward; there is even a one-click installation wizard available. In this chapter, we will start with a high-level overview of Confluence, looking at the different components that make the application. We'll take a look at the different deployment options available, including distribution choices, application servers, and databases. Finally, we will install our own Confluence application from scratch.

By the end of the chapter, you will have learned about:

  • The overall architecture of Confluence

  • Platforms and applications supported by Confluence

  • Installing Confluence and all of the required software

  • Configuring database connections

  • Running Confluence, safely

Understanding the architecture


Installing Confluence is simple and straightforward. However, it is important for us to understand the components involved in the installation process and the options that are available to us. This understanding will help you to make informed decisions and be better prepared for troubleshooting and future updates.

High-level architecture

Atlassian has a comprehensive overview of the technical components of Confluence, available at https://developer.atlassian.com/display/CONFDEV/Confluence+Architecture. However, this overview is mainly interesting for those who are developing some custom add-ons and not so much for day-to-day administration and usage of Confluence. For this reason, we have created a high-level overview that highlights the most important components in the architecture, and how our users will connect to Confluence:

Supported browsers

Confluence is a web application, so the only thing our users need for accessing it is a compatible web browser. This can be on a desktop system, laptop, or even a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. The more recent versions of Confluence depend heavily on some new web technologies and standards. For this reason, older versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox are no longer fully compatible.

The following table summarizes the browser requirements for Confluence 5.1:

Browsers

Compatibility

Microsoft Internet Explorer (Windows)

8, 9 (drag-and-drop not completely supported because Internet Explorer doesn't fully support the related HTML5 feature)

Mozilla Firefox (all platforms)

10+

Safari (Windows and Mac)

5, 6

Google Chrome (Windows and Mac)

17+

Mobile Safari (iOS)

iOS 5.1, 6.0 (editing is not supported on mobile devices)

Data storage

The configuration files, attachments, indexes, and add-ons are stored, by default, in the Confluence Home directory that is configured when Confluence is first installed. All other data resides in the configured database. Optionally, attachments can be configured to be stored in the database instead of the Confluence Home directory.

You can choose to store the attachments in the database for ease of backup (all data in one single location) or to cope with characters that are invalid on your file system. Be aware: storing your attachments in the database increases the size of your database drastically. In a clustered environment where data is shared between several Confluence installations, you need to store the attachments in the database.

Confluence Installation directory

The directory where you install Confluence is called the Installation directory. It contains all the executable and configuration files of the application server. Confluence does not modify or store any data in this directory. This directory is primarily used for execution. For the remainder of the book we will be referring to this directory as CONF_INSTALL.

Confluence Home directory

The Confluence Home directory is the folder where Confluence stores its configuration, search indexes, attachments, and add-ons, specific to one Confluence installation. This means that every Confluence installation must, and can, have only one Confluence Home directory, and each Confluence Home directory can serve only one Confluence installation. If you're evaluating Confluence and using the embedded HSQLDB database, the database files are also stored in this directory. For the remainder of this book we will refer to this directory as CONF_HOME.

It's recommended that CONF_HOME is created separately from the Confluence installation. This separation of data and application makes tasks such as maintenance, back ups, and future upgrades easier. Keep in mind that the Confluence Home directory can grow quite large on an intensively used site.

Within CONF_HOME there are several important files and subdirectories:

File/Directory

Description

confluence.cfg.xml

Confluence's core configuration file; includes the configuration for connecting to its database and license key.

Attachments/

All file attachments in the Confluence site are stored under this directory. This is the place Confluence keeps attachment files if those are not stored in the database.

Backups/

If Confluence is configured to produce daily backups, these are stored in this directory. Administrators should occasionally delete old backups from this directory to prevent it from growing too large.

Bundled-plugins/

Add-ons bundled with the Confluence installation are stored here. User-installed plugins are not kept in this directory.

Config/

Miscellaneous global and per-space configuration files are kept in this directory.

Index/

The full-text search index is kept in this directory. Removing or modifying files in this directory may cause search to no longer function. A re-index operation from the Administration console will rebuild the files in this folder.

Logs/

The application log file is kept here.

Plugins-osgi-cache/

Plugins installed using the Confluence interface are downloaded and kept in this directory.

Temp/

Confluence stores temporary files in this directory, especially during backups and exports. A daily job within Confluence deletes files that are no longer needed.

Thumbnails/

Stores temporary files for image thumbnails. The contents of this directory can be safely deleted, as Confluence will regenerate thumbnails as required.

Installation options


Confluence is a Java-based web application, developed using many open standards and libraries. For this reason, it is able to run on many different operating systems, databases, and application servers. We will take a closer look at the options we have, and make an informed decision on what would work best in our situation.

Standalone and WAR distributions

First, we need to decide on the distribution. Confluence comes in three distributions:

  • One-click installer

  • Standalone bundled with Apache Tomcat

  • WAR/EAR distribution

With regard to the application, there is no difference between the three distributions. The installer and standalone distributions are bundled with Apache Tomcat, which means we don't have to install and configure an application server ourselves. These distributions also come with an embedded in-memory database that can be used for evaluation purposes.

The installer is a very handy wrapper around the standalone bundle, automating all the steps we normally would have to perform manually. This is great when evaluating Confluence, but it doesn't give us much insight into the steps involved in maintaining our installation. For this reason, we will use the standalone distribution later, when we're going to install Confluence ourselves.

If you already have a running J2EE application server, or are experienced in installing and tuning one, the WAR distribution could be something for you. Due to differences between application servers, you are required to build the final deployment artifact with the provided build scripts. Once the artifact is built, you can deploy Confluence just like any other Java web application.

Operating systems

Confluence officially supports Microsoft Windows and Linux (all the distributions). Mac OS is supported only as a client platform. The choice of which operating system to run Confluence on is mostly a matter of preference based on expertise, and in most cases, there is an existing IT infrastructure with specific requirements.

If you do not have any preferences and would like to keep the initial costs down, Linux would be a good choice as there are no license fees involved. If you have more then 4 GB of memory on your server, make sure to pick a 64-bit version.

Databases

Confluence stores all its data in a relational database. The embedded in-memory HSQLDB database is only available for evaluation purposes, and should never be used in production environments. To limit the risk of data corruption, it's important that we use an enterprise database for production systems.

Confluence supports most relational databases available today. There will be no noticeable differences during the installation and configuration of Confluence. Just like the operating systems, your choice of database will come down to personal preference or IT standards within your organization. If you are using Windows as your operating system, the most likely choice would be Microsoft SQL Server. If you are using Linux, then you should consider PostgreSQL, MySQL, or Oracle.

The following table summarizes the list of databases currently supported by Confluence 5.1. It's worth mentioning that both PostgreSQL and MySQL are available as open source (free) products, making them excellent options if you are looking to minimize your initial investments.

Database

Supported version

PostgreSQL

8.4, 9.0

MySQL

5.1, 5.5

Microsoft SQL Server

2005, 2008, 2008 R2

Oracle

11.1, 11.2

HSQLDB

(for evaluation purposes only)

Application servers

Confluence requires a J2EE-compatible application server. The only officially-supported application server is Apache Tomcat. Fortunately, Apache Tomcat is an open source product and available for every operating system.

Confluence 5.1 will only support Tomcat 6.0.

Installing Confluence


Now that we have a good understanding of the overall architecture of Confluence and the various installation options, we are ready to install our own Confluence instance.

In the following exercise, we will be installing and configuring a fresh Confluence instance that will be ready for production. We will be using the standalone bundle, and the installation will be based upon the Windows platform. If you are planning on using a different operating system, please refer to https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DOC/Installing+Confluence for details on installing Confluence on that specific platform.

In this exercise we will:

  • Install a fresh instance of Confluence

  • Configure Confluence to use a relational database

  • Configure Confluence to send e-mail notifications

  • Configure Confluence as an auto-start Windows service so that it starts automatically

We will continue to use this Confluence instance in other chapters and exercises as we prepare Confluence for usage within your own organization.

For our implementation, we will be using:

  • Confluence standalone distribution 5.1.0

  • PostgreSQL 9.0

  • Java Development Kit 7 update 9

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2

Installing Java

Confluence requires Java to be installed on the system, so this is our first step. Confluence 5.1 requires the latest update of JDK 7. If you are installing a different version of Confluence, make sure if JDK 7 is supported. Your choice between a 32-bit or 64-bit version depends on the amount of memory you want to allocate to Confluence; if it's more then 4 GB, pick the 64-bit version as 4 GB is the upper limit for the 32-bit version.

Currently, it is only possible to install Confluence as a Windows service if it is running on a 32-bit Java version.

Perform the following steps to install Java on your system:

  1. Download the latest version of 32-bit JDK 7 from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html.

  2. Double-click on the downloaded installation file to start the installation wizard.

  3. Select where you would like to install Java; or you can simply accept the default values. The location where you install the JDK will be referred to as JAVA_HOME for the rest of the book.

  4. Create a new environmental variable named JAVA_HOME with the path where you just installed Java, as shown in the following screenshot:

  5. Test if installation was successful by typing the following command in the command prompt:

    java –version
    

    This should display the version of Java installed:

    C:\>java –version
    java version "1.7.0_17"
    Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_17-b02)
    Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 23.7-b01, mixed mode, sharing)
    

Installing PostgreSQL

The next step is to prepare a database for our Confluence installation.

To install PostgreSQL, simply perform the following steps:

  1. Download PostgreSQL from http://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/.

    Note

    At the time of writing, the most recent version of PostgreSQL was not supported by Confluence. We will be using PostgreSQL Version 9.0.12.

  2. Double-click on the downloaded installation file to start the installation wizard.

  3. Select where you would like to install PostgreSQL and want to store the data. We'll be using the default settings during this exercise.

  4. Choose a password for the root user; keep in mind that this is not the password for our Confluence database. I used p0stgre$, to keep it simple and easy to remember during this exercise and confirm to the Windows 2008 password security rules.

  5. If you choose a different port number, please make sure it doesn't conflict with any other services running on your machine. Also remember the port number, as we'll need it later.

  6. Uncheck the checkbox to make sure Stack Builder isn't launched at the completion of the installation process. We don't need it.

Creating a user and a database

Now that PostgreSQL is installed on our machine, we need to create a dedicated user and database for Confluence to use. This will prevent other users of the application from accessing Confluence data.

Perform the following steps to create a new user and a database:

  1. Start the pgAdmin III administration tool, which has just been installed by the installer. We will be using this administration tool to create the Confluence user and database.

  2. Connect to the PostgreSQL server running at localhost, by double-clicking on the server name. Enter the root password you just picked, when prompted:

  3. Create a new user, or "login role," as PostgreSQL calls it. Right-click on Login Roles in the object browser (on the left) and select New Login Role...:

    1. Enter the username: confluence.

    2. Enter the password: confluence.

    3. Do not select any role privileges.

    4. Confirm the creation of the role.

  4. Create a new database; right-click on Databases and select New Database.

    1. Enter the database name: confuencedb.

    2. Set the owner of the database to the user we just created.

    3. Select UTF-8 for encoding.

    4. Confirm the creation of the database.

  5. That is it. We have installed PostgreSQL and created a user and database for our Confluence installation to use.

Installing Confluence

Now that we have the JDK and database prepared, we have met all the conditions required to install Confluence on our machine. In order to get Confluence installed we have to:

  • Unpack Confluence

  • Configure the Confluence Home directory

  • Check the ports Confluence uses

  • Configure e-mail

Optionally, we can configure Confluence to use HTTPS and run as a Windows service.

Unpacking Confluence

Perform the following steps to unpack Confluence:

  1. Download the latest version of Atlassian Confluence from www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/download.

  2. The Atlassian website will detect the operating system you are using and will suggest a distribution accordingly. If you intend to install Confluence on a different system than the one you are currently on, make sure you select the correct distribution.

  3. As mentioned before, there are one-click installers available for both Windows and Linux. For the purpose of this exercise we will be using the ZIP archive, as it will provide us with an insight of the steps that are normally hidden by the installation process.

  4. Extract the downloaded ZIP file to c:/confluence/. It is recommended to use a third-party unzip software, such as 7-Zip or WinZip, as there are known issues with the unzip application provided with Windows. You can choose a different installation path; just make sure that you don't use spaces in your directory path.

  5. C:\confluence\atlassian-confluence-5.1 will now be known as CONF_INSTALL. Next, we will define the Confluence Home directory.

Configuring Confluence Home

Next we have to define and configure CONF_HOME. Remember that we want to keep our data separated from our installation data.

  1. Create c:\confluence\data; this directory will now be known as CONF_HOME.

  2. Open CONF_INSTALL and open the file confluence\WEB-INF\classes\confluence-init.properties in your favorite text editor.

  3. Locate the following line; it's usually at the end of the file.

    # confluence.home=c:/confluence/data

  4. Remove the # and the space at the beginning of this line, so that Confluence no longer regards it as a comment.

  5. If you have selected a different directory for CONF_HOME, then change the path accordingly. Please note the following:

    1. Avoid spaces in the directory path.

    2. Use forward slashes / to define the path.

Configuring the port

By default, Confluence runs on port 8090 with no context path. This means that after starting Confluence it will be available at http://localhost:8090/. If you have another application running on your machine that is using the same ports, you may need to change the port Confluence will use. Changing the context path is useful when you are running your applications behind a proxy and want to access them with the same domain, for example, http://example.com/jira and http://example.com/confluence. For this exercise we will be changing the context Confluence is running on to /confluence.

To change the ports for Confluence, open the file conf/server.xml under your CONF_INSTALL directory. An extract from that file is shown here:

<Server port="8000" shutdown="SHUTDOWN" debug="0">
<Connector className="org.apache.coyote.tomcat4.CoyoteConnector" port="8090"…. />
<Context path="/confluence" docBase="../confluence" debug="0" reloadable="false" useHttpOnly="true">

Tip

Downloading the example code

You can download the example code files for all Packt books you have purchased from your account at http://www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.

Line 1: This line specifies the port for the command to shut down Tomcat. By default this port is 8000. If you already have an application running on that port, you can change this to another port.

Line 2: This line specifies on which port Confluence/Tomcat will be running. By default this is port 8090. If that port is unavailable for some reason, you can change it to another available port.

Line 3: This line allows you to change the context path on which Confluence will be available. By default the path is empty, meaning Confluence will be available on http://hostname:portnumber/.

For this exercise we will change the context path to /confluence, as shown in the previous file.

Configuring e-mail JNDI resource

In order to use the share and notification features from Confluence an e-mail account has to be set up. Normally, we could do this using the Confluence interface, but there is an exception if you want to use SMTPS, with your Gmail account for example. So for this exercise we will be configuring Confluence to use your Gmail account for sending e-mail notifications to the users.

  1. Move (don't copy) activation-1.0.2.jar and mail-1.4.1.jar from CONF_INSTALL/confluence/WEB-INF/lib to CONF_INSTALL/lib.

  2. Add the following resource to your CONF_INSTALL/conf/server.xml; make sure to add it just before the </Context> tag.

    <Resource name="mail/GmailSMTPServer"
    auth="Container"
    type="javax.mail.Session"
    mail.smtp.host="smtp.gmail.com"
    mail.smtp.port="465"
    mail.smtp.auth="true"
    mail.smtp.user="yourEmailAddress@gmail.com"
    password="yourPassword"
      mail.smtp.starttls.enable="true"
      mail.transport.protocol="smtps"
    mail.smtp.socketFactory.class="javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory"
    />
  3. Replace yourEmailAddress@gmail.com and yourPassword with the proper values for your account.

  4. Remember or write down the resource name. When we are configuring Confluence and asked for an e-mail server the JNDI location will be:

    java:comp/env/mail/GmailSMTPServer

    Note that the name is case-sensitive.

Configuring HTTPS

By default, Confluence runs with a standard, non-encrypted HTTP protocol. This is acceptable if you are running Confluence in a secured environment, such as an internal network. However, if you are planning to open up access to Confluence via the Internet, you need to tighten the security. We will be doing this by configuring Confluence to run over HTTPS (HTTP over SSL), so that login information and data are encrypted during transport over the Internet.

For a standalone installation, we need to perform the following tasks:

  • Create or request a new SSL Certificate

  • Enable HTTPS on our application server

  • Redirect traffic to HTTPS

First, we need to get a digital certificate. This can be one from a Certification Authority such as VeriSign or StartSSL (CA certificate), or a self-signed certificate generated by you. A CA certificate will not only encrypt your data, but also identify your copy of Confluence to users. A self-signed certificate is useful when you do not have a valid CA certificate and you are only interested in setting up HTTPS for encryption.

Because a self-signed certificate is not signed by a Certificate Authority, users may receive a message that the site is not to be trusted and may have to perform several steps to accept the certificate before they can access the site. This usually will only occur the first time they access the site. A self-signed certificate is great for evaluation purposes, but I would recommend a CA certificate for your production environment.

For the purpose of this exercise we will create a self-signed certificate. If you already have a CA certificate you can, of course, use that certificate.

Generating a certificate

Follow these steps to generate a certificate using Java's keytool utility. This tool is included in the JDK and can be found in JAVA_HOME/bin.

  1. Run the following command in the command prompt:

    "%JAVA_HOME%/bin/keytool.exe" -genkeypair -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA
    
  2. When asked for a password:

    1. Specify the password you want to use for the certificate. Note that the password text will not appear as you type.

    2. Make a note of the password you choose; we will need it in the next step when editing the Tomcat configuration.

    3. In this exercise we will be using the default password changeit.

  3. Follow the prompts to specify your domain name, organization, and location. This information is used to construct the X.500 Distinguished Name (DN) of the entity. To the question What is your first and last name? (CN), don't give your actual name. The CN must match the fully-qualified hostname of the server running Confluence. Tomcat will not be able to use the certificate for SSL otherwise.

    For example, for our Confluence, running on localhost:

    CN = localhost, OU = Confluence Essentials, O = Packt, C = UK

  4. Enter y to confirm the details.

  5. When asked for the password for tomcat (the alias you entered in the keytool command), press the Enter key. You must use the same password here as the one that was used for the keystore password. This is a restriction of the Tomcat implementation.

  6. Your certificate is now ready.

Our self-signed certificate is now available in Java's keystore. If you are using a previously generated certificate or a CA certificate, you will need to import that certificate into Java's keystore. This can be done with the following command:

keytool -importcert -alias tomcat -file <MY_CERTIFICATE_FILENAME>
Configuring Tomcat

To enable HTTPS, open the CONF_INSTALL/conf/server.xml file in a text editor. Locate and uncomment the following lines:

<Connector port="8443" maxHttpHeaderSize="8192"
    maxThreads="150" minSpareThreads="25" maxSpareThreads="75"
    enableLookups="false" disableUploadTimeout="true"
    acceptCount="100" scheme="https" secure="true"
    clientAuth="false" sslProtocol="TLS" SSLEnabled="true"
    URIEncoding="UTF-8" keystorePass="<MY_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD>"/>

This connector will enable HTTPS for Confluence on port 8443. We will have to replace <MY_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD> with the password we specified when creating our certificate. In our case this would be changeit.

By default, Tomcat expects the keystore file to be named .keystore and be located in the user home directory under which Tomcat is running. This could be a different account than your own, and therefore, can be another directory. If your certificate is not in the default location, you will have to update the server configuration to include keystoreFile="<MY_CERTIFICATE_LOCATION>" in the connector element.

Redirecting traffic to HTTPS

Although HTTPS is now active and available, the old HTTP URLs are still available. We will have to set up Confluence so that it will redirect automatically from an HTTP to an HTTPS request. We will need to do this by adding a security constraint in web.xml.

Open CONF_INSTALL/confluence/WEB-INF/web.xml and add the following snippet to the end of the file, before the </web-app> tag:

<security-constraint>
  <web-resource-collection>
    <web-resource-name>Restricted URLs</web-resource-name>
    <url-pattern>/</url-pattern>
  </web-resource-collection>
  <user-data-constraint>
    <transport-guarantee>CONFIDENTIAL</transport-guarantee>
  </user-data-constraint>
</security-constraint>

This will cause Tomcat to redirect all requests that come in on a non-SSL port. The first part will make sure all URLs are checked by this security constraint. The second part will guarantee that HTTPS is used for transportation.

Configuring Confluence as a service

Under Windows, Confluence can be configured to run as a Windows service, thus starting up automatically when the operating system reboots. This is recommended, as the alternative is having a console window open on the machine, which could be accidentally closed, thus shutting down Confluence.

To configure Confluence as a Windows service, simply perform the following steps:

  1. Start a new command prompt as administrator, and browse to the CONF_INSTALL/bin directory.

  2. Run the following command:

    service.bat install Confluence
    
  3. This will install Confluence as a Windows service. The service will be called Apache Tomcat Confluence.

  4. Verify the configuration by going to the Services console by going to Start | Administrative Tools | Services.

You can now start, stop, and restart Confluence from the Windows service panel.

Starting Confluence


Everything is in place to start our installation of Confluence. So let us start Confluence using the Services console in Windows. Once the server is running, you can access Confluence using your Internet browser. The URL to your Confluence is https://localhost:8443/confluence. If you didn't add the HTTPS or context path to your installation, you can find Confluence at http://localhost:8090/.

If you used a self-signed certificate, you will get a prompt that there is a certificate error, similar to the one shown in the following screenshot:

The first page you will see is the first step in the configuration wizard, which will finalize your Confluence installation.

Installation wizard

The first step in the wizard is providing a valid license. This can be either a full license or an evaluation license. If you have already obtained a license from Atlassian, you can cut and paste it into the License Key textbox. If you don't have a license, you can generate an evaluation license by clicking on the generate an evaluation license online link. Once you have filled in the license key, you have to choose your installation type. We are going to install a Production Installation, so choose that option.

Step 2 is to configure our database connection. Select PostgreSQL from the drop-down list at the bottom and click on External Database. You will get the choice on how to connect to the database. This is either through JDNI or Direct JDBC. The difference is that JNDI is configured and managed on the application server, just like the SMTPS e-mail server. Direct JDBC is configured within the application.

For this exercise, we'll be using the Direct JDBC option.

On this screen we have to fill out our database configuration:

Enter the details for your database configuration according to the fields explained here:

Property

Value

Driver Class Name

org.postgresql.Driver

Database URL

jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/confluencedb

If you configured a different port number for PostgreSQL, be sure to also change it in this URL.

User Name

confluence

Password

confluence

Click on Next to start the initialization of the database. This could take a while, so hold on.

After the database is initialized, you will get to the next screen (shown in the next screenshot), where you can choose how you would like to load content:

  • Example Site: This will load a demonstration space into Confluence, showing some of the features Confluence has to offer. Great if you want to evaluate Confluence.

  • Empty Site: A clean Confluence installation, without any space or content. Perfect if you are already familiar with Confluence and want to get started quickly.

  • Restore From Backup: If you already have a Confluence installation and a backup from that installation, you can import it using this option. Make sure that the backup data is from the same major version as the target Confluence.

For our installation we will pick Example Site, as this gives us some exposure on how we could use Confluence.

Once Example Site is loaded, it is time to set up user management. Choose to set up user management within Confluence. Connecting user management to an external source is discussed in Chapter 2, User Management.

Set up the System Administrator account and make sure you remember the username/password, because Confluence only stores the hashed value of your password. You will not be able to retrieve it.

Confluence is now ready for use; you can either start using it or continue configuring. As for this exercise, we want to continue and set up the e-mail server, so choose Continue configuration. After logging in with your system administrator account, you will see the Confluence Administrator console.

Setting up the e-mail server

Log in to Confluence and go to the Administration Console by going to Administration | Confluence Admin. You might have to log in another time due to Confluence's WebSudo. WebSudo prevents other people from accessing the administrator console, if you left your machine unattended, for example.

In Administration Console, select Mail Servers in the left menu. Select Add a new SMTP mail server to add a new SMTP mail server that Confluence will use to send notifications and password resets.

Property

Description

Name

The name of the SMTP server used for reference within Confluence.

From address

Enter the e-mail address the e-mail is sent from. In most cases this must be the same address as the e-mail account you're using.

From Name

Enter the name that will be displayed in the from field for e-mail messages originating from this server. This field accepts the following variables, which reference specific details defined in the relevant Confluence user's profile:

  • ${fullname}, The user's full name

  • ${email}, The user's e-mail address

  • ${email.hostname}, the domain name of the user

The default is ${fullname} (Confluence).

Subject Prefix

Enter some text to appear at the beginning of the subject line.

Enter either the hostname and credentials of your mail server, or the JDNI resource. As we set up a Gmail account earlier, we will be using that one:

The JNDI location will be java:comp/env/mail/GmailSMTPServer.

Submit the configuration, and try to send a test e-mail to yourself to verify the settings.

Summary


We have seen that getting started with Confluence is fairly straightforward; it is also very flexible with regard to options you can choose from, when installing your copy of Confluence. You can mix these options to suit your situation best, or to comply with your IT department's requirements. If you wish to keep initial costs as low as possible, you can install Confluence completely with open source software, such as Linux and Postgresql, which are available for free.

Now that we have installed Confluence and gone through the set up wizard, we will start to dive deeper into the various aspects of Confluence. In the next chapter, we will go into how to manage your users and groups, as Confluence is not intended to be used alone.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Create and manage project documentation with Confluence
  • Share and collaborate on documentation between departments and teams
  • Install, configure, manage, and extend Confluence

Description

Every idea, concept, and project needs documentation, which is traditionally kept in a variety of documents on different devices. Confluence 5 centralizes that documentation and provides it in one single location, available from almost any device and location. Atlassian Confluence 5 Essentials is a practical, hands-on guide explaining not only how to install and administrate Confluence, but also everything you need to create, share, and collaborate on your documentation. This book will give you everything you need to get started with Confluence. Before you can start creating content, Confluence needs to be available. That is exactly where we start with this book; installing Confluence. Through a number of clear, practical exercises you will go from installation and administration, to creating content and involving your teammates. This book will teach you how to quickly create compelling content. You will learn how to involve your teammates in the process, using the Confluence workbox and share features. You will learn how Confluence can be customized with regards to look and feel, extra functionality, and integration with other tools, so that there is nothing in your way when you want to introduce Confluence 5 within your organisation. If you need to develop better collaboration on mission critical projects, then this book is for you!

Who is this book for?

If you just started with Confluence, as a user or administrator, this book will give you a running start and teach you everything you need to know. This book will also appeal to veteran users as it will give you new insights and tricks for how to use Confluence even more efficiently. All you need to get started with this book is some basic knowledge on how to use an Internet browser. As an administrator, you will need some basic knowledge about your organization's standard operating environment to install Confluence.

What you will learn

  • Install and configure Confluence 5 correctly and efficiently
  • Control access to Confluence, securing your company s valuable information and keeping it private
  • Create compelling and engaging content that s well organized and easy to find
  • Share content effectively between and across teams for better collaboration
  • Use tasks and mentions to involve other people in Confluence and your process
  • Best practices for installing, configuring, running, and extending Confluence
  • Customize Confluence to make it look and feel a part of your organisation
  • Extend Confluence with add-ons to add extra functionality and integration

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jun 10, 2013
Length: 334 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849689526

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing

Product Details

Publication date : Jun 10, 2013
Length: 334 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849689526

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 180.97
JIRA 6.x Administration Cookbook
$54.99
Atlassian Confluence 5 Essentials
$54.99
JIRA 5.2 Essentials
$70.99
Total $ 180.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

10 Chapters
Getting Started with Confluence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
User Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Content Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Content Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Collaborating in Confluence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Securing Your Content Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Customizing Confluence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Advanced Confluence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
General Administration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Extending Confluence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.4
(8 Ratings)
5 star 25%
4 star 25%
3 star 25%
2 star 12.5%
1 star 12.5%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




Wendy J Jul 22, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Good.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Koshoshi Oct 24, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
You may find all the information you need to play with confluence. Good choice for a beginner. Thanks a lot to the author.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
dschweng Apr 16, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
Alles in allem bietet dieses Buch eine sher gute Einführung in Atlassians Confluence. Es hat mir sehr gehofen die ersten Schritte mit diesem Tool zu beschreiten.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Mistral_Prodigy Dec 29, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
I had to get a Confluence site up and running quickly, and while I like Confluence, its documentation is haphazard. This book stepped me through the essentials, and enabled success. I still referred to it from time to time, even after using Confluence for several years.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ian Pratt Jun 27, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
For beginners
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.