Server does not accept my license key. Did not move, or change server.

[snowflake71]

Server does not accept my license key. Did not move, or change server.

It was working and one day it just switched to setup mode and now it does not accept my license.

I am aware of the FEBRUARY deadline, but FYI it's November now.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Could you give us the error messages you get when you try to post your licence key into the licence box?

I do not think that is likely to be the problem though.  It might tell us something, so we need to do it, but you say "it just switched to setup mode", which suggests the problem is deeper down than the licence.  

Confluence goes into setup mode if the base config file is unreadable or missing, or if the database is empty.  So you should check the <confluence home>/confluence.cfg.xml file next - does that look valid?  Database settings in it all correct?  Was it changed recently (bearing in mind any setup run might amend it)?

[snowflake71]

I checked all of these. They were and are fine. But now I get the license request in setup and it says "This Confluence version doesn't support Server licenses. Enter a valid Data Center license to continue."

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

That suggests you've upgraded Confluence to a version that is going to trip over into the end-of-server time.  What version is it reporting as installed?

[snowflake71]

The issue started with 8.3.2  - I updated it to 8.6.1 version and it's still there.

EDIT: I downloaded it from 

Confluence Server & Data Center download archives

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Yes, that's just telling you that you are end-of-life for Server.  Your existing licence is "perpetual" - you can take Confluence Server up to any version released before the end of your licence, and it will continue to work as long as you keep it, but the end of server means no more upgrades.

[snowflake71]

EOL is in February. It's NOVEMBER.

[snowflake71]

Support expires: 15 Feb 2024

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Server licences are for a year, so you need to be assuming February 23 as the cut-off date. 

Atlassian did the right thing in stopping selling new licences well before then, then shutting down changes of user levels, but I don't think it was right to code "needs to be DC now" into later versions. 

If I owned the product, I would not have bothered, I would have just changed the licence system code such that any server licence expires on or before 15th Feb 24.

[snowflake71]

So how does this resolve my issue? 

[snowflake71]

February is not November.

[snowflake71]

Disregard this entry. 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Free and starter licences will be redirected to the Community, they don't get any support from Atlassian (but asking here does mean you could get help from the Community, and leaders can ask Atlassian to take a look if the Community is stuck)

[snowflake71]

I changed my entry because I realized it is so.  I still find it annoying that I cannot open a direct ticket and once I get this instance running again, I will migrate to another product.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Atlassian wants me to tell you to move it to Confluence Cloud.  That's not a difficult thing to do (I've lost count of the number of migrations I've been involved in, and Confluence is a doddle as long as you prepare the user accounts, user macros, and app data right)

You do also have the option of Data Center, but the way support redirected you here suggests that you are not a big user.  Data Center licencing starts at 500 users (which is way over the threshold for being able to get support from Atlassian)

[snowflake71]

We do NOT want another cloud product.  Why is it so hard to understand that some people hate other people managing their stuff? I am not a big user with this instance, because this one is for a personal use. Do me and my little group COUNT as a customer?  Yes, I think I do. 

[snowflake71]

Nic, "I want you" to tell Atlassian, that with their CVE alert made me upgrade our confluence instance we paid for and it's in service up to FEBRUARY and now it does not accept my license. So now we are am unable to use a product we paid for, since downgrade is not possible. And please tell them that small fries may have a bigger influence than expected.