Backups aren't being created

If you're having problems creating backups, read this tutorial...

When contacting our support team, always remember to tell us what URL you use to access your site.

Manual backups failing with "Java heap space" error

When creating a manual backup, the following error can sometimes appear in your web browser:

Cause:
bucket.core.InfrastructureException: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
at
com.atlassian.confluence.util.XWorkTransactionInterceptor.intercept(XWorkTransactionInterceptor.java:151)

Cause

This is caused when you have insufficient RAM in your hosting band for Confluence to create a manual backup, a process which generally requires more RAM than the automatic nightly backups.

Workarounds

The amount of RAM used by Confluence varies throughout the day and sometimes waiting a few hours and trying again will result in the backup process working successfully. See also: Factors affecting RAM consumption.

The amount of RAM required to take the backup is affected by the amount of content in your wiki. Try deleting unwanted pages, drafts and delete items from the "Trash" (in Space Administration) to reduce the size of the backup. If you've got lots of big attachments, try deleting old versions.

In most cases you will be able to download a recent nightly backup using our free Backup Manager plugin.

Solution

Should problems persist, please contact our Support Desk.

Nightly backups not being generated

Atlassian products automatically create a backup every night - you can list and download backups using our free Backup Manager plugin. If you suspect that nightly backups aren't being created, read on...

Likely Causes

Make sure you have the Daily backups feature enabled and that the Backup Path is set correctly.

It should be noted that Confluence has a 2 gigabyte limit on the file size of the backups, a technical limitation of the "ZIP" compression used in the backup process.

Workarounds

Check your backup settings are correct.

Reduce the size of the backups – try deleting unwanted pages, drafts and delete items from the "Trash" (in Space Administration). If you've got lots of big attachments, try deleting old versions.

Solution

If you're not sure what Backup Path to use in the settings screen, contact our support team.

If your backup has exceeded the 2GB file size limit and it's not possible to reduce the amount of content in your wiki, contact our support team - we take separate backups of your application and can arrange to send them to you on a regular basis.