A commonly asked question is "Where does Confluence store its data?" This page describes the files that Confluence requires to run, and where runtime data is stored.

The Application Directory

This is the directory into which the downloaded Confluence application has been unpacked. Confluence does not modify or store any data in this directory, but the following files are important to know about if you are backing up or upgrading your Confluence instance:

1. confluence/WEB-INF/classes/confluence-init.properties - this file is modified by the administrator installing Confluence, and tells Confluence where to find the Confluence Home Directory.
2. {{confluence/WEB-INF/classes/osuser.xml - administrators may modify this file to connect Confluence to some external user management such as an LDAP server or JIRA instance
3. confluence/WEB-INF/lib/ - administrators may choose to deploy plugin or extension JAR files into this directory, especially if they are plugins that can not be automatically loaded through the web interface.

java.io.tmpdir

The standard "temp" directory as configured in the Java runtime. Typically this is /tmp on Unix systems, or C:\Temp on Windows. Some Confluence components will write temporary files or lockfiles to this directory, but very little disk space will be used. To change the location of this directory, you should start the Java Virtual Machine in which confluence is running with the argument -Djava.io.tmpdir=/path/to/your/own/temp/directory.

The Confluence Home Directory

The location of this directory is configured by the Confluence administrator during installation (see confluence-init.properties above). Confluence writes its configuration files, uploaded plugin and attachments into this directory, as well as many temporary files and runtime data. Administrators should expect the Confluence Home Directory to grow quite large in a busy site.

The Confluence Home Directory has the following files and subdirectories:

• confluence.cfg.xml - Confluence's core configuration, including the configuration for connecting to its database
• default-formatting.properties - a small amount of auxiliary configuration data concerning default number and date formats
• attachments/ - all file attachments in the Confluence site are stored beneath this directory. This is the only place Confluence keeps attachment files.
• backups/ - if Confluence is configured to produce daily backups, they are kept in this directory. Administrators should occasionally delete old or unwanted backups from this directory, or it will grow too large.
• config/ - miscellaneous global and per-space configuration files are kept in this directory.
• database/ - if Confluence is being run from the embedded HSQL database, the database files will be 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. Rebuilding the search index from Confluence's global administration screen will completely regenerate the contents of this directory.
• plugins/ - dynamically uploaded plugins are stored in this directory. Administrators can install new plugins by copying them into this directory and triggering a scan from the plugin management page.
• 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.
• velocity/ - storage for customised page layouts, globally and per-space.

The Database

All other data - page contents, links, archived mail and so on is kept in the database. If you have configured Confluence to use the embedded HSQL database, the database will store its files under database/ in the Confluence Home Directory. Otherwise, the database management system you are connecting to is responsible for where and how your remaining data is being stored.