Unable to reach Confluence server

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cheryle297
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Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by cheryle297 »

I imported Confluence content a month ago and am now trying to reimport. I am getting the error message "Unable to reach server". I can access the Confluence server in my browser. Suggestions?
zappy0
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by zappy0 »

Greetings. Did you find a solution to this problem? I've been using the Confluence integration / import for almost a year now without any problems. Today I get the "Unable to reach server" message exactly as you described. I generated a new API token but that does not help. I can get to the specified location through a browser.

If I put garbage into the password / token field, then the error changes to "Invalid Credentials" so it appears the initial connection to Confluence succeeds when I have a valid token. Flare just cannot navigate to the URL I provide (and I have tried several full paths to child locations too).

I've asked here at work if anyone made changes to the Confluence (atlassian) side that would possibly lock down a third-party application access and so far it seems there were no changes. I've also tried temporarily disabling the firewall on my computer. I am using the current installed version of Flare.

I have noticed that the password / token field is populated when I open the Imports file in Flare. However, when I open that same file in Notepad, there is no username and API Token. Does anyone know from where Flare is getting the Confluence credentials? I would like to clear those and see if that could be the solution. I've been recklessly clearing Registry settings and browser caches today but I keep getting those credentials populated. The credentials are not in Windows Credentials Manager as near as I can tell.

UPDATE June 9, 2021. I can make API calls to Confluence from Postman so I have concluded there has not been a change to our Confluence set up that would prevent a connection from Flare. My new theory is that this issue has something to do with the way Flare is retrieving my username and API token. If I could figure out where those are stored, and perhaps any other connection parameters that I'm not able to view in Flare, then I might be able to flush them and solve whatever the issue is.

UPDATE June 11, 2021. I installed the free trial of Flare on a clean computer and I get the same "Unable to reach server" message. So, that ends my credentials theory. Something must have changed on the Confluence side but what could it be?

UPDATE June 16, 2021. I've asked here at work if anyone made changes to the Confluence (atlassian) side and there does not appear to be a known change. Now I am wondering if Confluence (atlassian) made a change in the application (perhaps in the API) that would cause this issue. Based on forum posts related to Confluence Import, I suspect there are not many people using a repeating import to bring content in from Flare. If you are currently successfully connecting to Confluence from Flare and importing, please respond to this post. That way I can rule out a change in Confluence as a possibility.

UPDATE June 22, 2021. Madcap support spent an hour with me trying to diagnose the issue. The confluence credentials that kept populating on the Import page were cleared by deleting the Madcap Software node in the Registry Editor (KEY_CURRENT_USER >> SOFTWARE). Madcap support concluded, and I agree, the issue must be with our confluence environment. Our IT group has opened a support ticket with Atlassian and I'll report back later with the findings. As a side note, I am really impressed with Madcap Support - fast response, they understood my issue, and we didn't have to start with "is the computer plugged in?"
laurieschu
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by laurieschu »

Hello, Thanks for the details on your progress. I am experiencing the same. I'll post if I find a solution before you do. Thanks!
zappy0
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by zappy0 »

Thank you laurieschu for posting a reply. I'm sorry to hear you are having this issue, but I'm glad to know I'm not alone. Madcap and Atassian (Confluence) have both spent time with me looking at the issue but there has been no resolution yet. Madcap even set up a test Confluence environment for me and I am able to connect to it without any issue. I've also noted that Flare successfully makes an initial connection with my Confluence site because I can see, in Atlassian, when the API token was last used. There is something happening after this initial connection that causes the "Unable to reach server" message. I suspect it occurs when Flare starts making API calls to get Content. Thus, in my last message to Madcap Support I wrote "So I am thinking there is perhaps something unaccounted for in the subsequent API calls needed to get to our Confluence Spaces. I realize we are getting into developer-level stuff here in order to diagnose. Perhaps next time one of your Flare developers is looking at this area of the code, they could examine the API calls again and perhaps add detailed messaging in the Flare UI (or a .log file) when something goes wrong."

Then again, it might just be a tiny checkbox somewhere that I need to click.
wl606
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by wl606 »

I just experienced this as well. Just posting a comment so I can keep track of this issue.
LeahE
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by LeahE »

I am also experiencing this problem. Here's what I've done to try and troubleshoot.

This has worked for the last 1+ year flawlessly. In the last week I could not access the server, getting the same Unable to reach server message.

I had two other writers create API tokens and they get the same message.
I created a new API Token to try, thinking maybe something had gone whacky with mine - same result.
I had a developer try and hit the confluence server via postman and they had no problems.
They downloaded a trial of Flare and used their API Token and got the same Unable to reach server error.

We're doing some more testing on our end, but this is super problematic for us, since I import a TON of confluence information to publish to ServiceNow as our documentation. Of course, this all hits the week of a big release, so we had to manually publish almost 100 articles to ServiceNow - NO FUN.

If anyone has any updates or additional information, we are officially on this thread to follow and see what, if any, resolutions may come of it.

Thanks in advance for any help from this group.

Leah Eaton
Documentation Manager, Nuvolo
timlight10
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by timlight10 »

Anyone find a resolution to this? I am having the same problem. First time trying to connect to Confluence for an import.
timlight10
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Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by timlight10 »

I was able to resolve by upgrading from Flare 2021 r2 to Flare 2021 r3.
OS_Loc
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Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 1:53 am

Re: Unable to reach Confluence server

Post by OS_Loc »

Hi,
I am experiencing the same behavior. We use Flare 2021 r3. So the upgrade did not solve the problem for us.
Does anybody have another idea what could be the problem here?
BR
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