Confluence to Jira refused

[Mark Cogan]

Setting up Confluence and I want to connect it to my existing JIRA instance.  I am getting the following error on the Confluence setup page:

Connect to Jira

Jira Server Location 

    Jira Base URL*  ((correct URL confirmed))

                            Connection refused.  Check if an instance of Jira 4.3 or later is running on the given url.

The URL is confirmed working and is correct.  We're running https on our Jira server and hoping that we can have that working correctly for our Confluence instance as well.

[Mike Rathwell]

Hi @Mark Cogan ,

Without log files, this feels like you might need to put the public keys in the Jira server's cacerts file. When I build out systems, I put the public keys for Confluence in Jira and Jira in Confluence. Usually solves the problem when running https.

[Mark Cogan]

So it seems now I cannot get back into the configuration, I'm getting a System Error.  Sadly I don't see how to get back to where I was.

Also, it's using the internal Confluence deployment of Java, and I need to point it at the system instance of Java (because of security updates).  I'm not finding the configuration part in the $CONFLUENCE_HOME/config section.

[Mark Cogan]

I went back out, reinstalled completely, generated a certificate and added it to a shared java keystore.  How do I get Confluence to see this keystore?  I'm sure it's something to add in server.xml file, but I don't see anything like a config.sh like I do in the Jira configuration process.

[Mike Rathwell]

Ok... a few steps here; My assumption is that you are terminating the SSL at Tomcat (not at a proxy server) but the same bit applies here for either. In my case I've always found that I need the respective public keys in the cacerts file inside JAVA_HOME for the target system. For example, Jira needs Confluence public key and vice versa (I simplified that with wildcard certs for the domain so same key works for both).

Once you have the cacerts file updated, the only way I know of to get the system to see it is... restart it. So... for Confluence to see into Jira, you need to restart Jira as well as Confluence.

[Mark Cogan]

I can try the restart of JIRA in a bit.  But my concern is that the server.xml file for Confluence,

1) Is not configured by default for https.

2) Is not configured for the same instance of Java and therefore not using the correct keystore.

At this point my worry is that the server.xml file needs to be modified or something else to point to the correct Java instance and the correct keystore, and I just don't see where that is to apply the fix.

[Mike Rathwell]

Ah yes... there is a bit more that needs to be done. This page is a good writeup on what you need to do for Confluence to be SSL (assuming no proxy or anything like that). It's not tough but all the things need to be done there.

Look in your newly built Confluence to find definitively which Java you're pointing at; go to "General Configuration" and then "system Information" (near the bottom). You'll see an entry for JAVA_HOME in there. The cacerts in that directory is the one to add the Jira public key to. (Same goes for Jira; find the JAVA_HOME in System Information and load the Confluence public key in the cacerts below that directory. 

This page also gives a great set of diagnostic measures to get the two talking to each other as well.

[Mark Cogan]

I will still need to connect this back to JIRA at some point for user management.  But for now I'm going to go without that part so I can use the local administrator account.  

[Mark Cogan]

And I don't see any JAVA_HOME configuration on the section you mention.  That does exist on JIRA, but not on Confluence.

[Mark Cogan]

And I'm still not finding a way to set up Confluence to run HTTPS either.

[Petr Vaníček]

Hi,

what about DNS? Can both apps ping to second one by domain name? Are applications running on same or different server? Can you connect from jira to confluence by telnet on app port by using IP (in both directions)?

[Mark Cogan]

We run our instance behind a firewall.  Turns out that I needed to add both internal and external IP addresses for the connection.  Then it worked just fine.