Installation example with Docker

We’ll describe how to get Nextcloud Office running on your server and how to integrate it into your Nextcloud using the docker image Nextcloud and Collabora built.

To install it the following dependencies are required:

  • A host that can run a Docker container

  • A subdomain or a second domain that the Collabora Online server can run on

  • An Apache server with some enabled modules

  • A valid SSL certificate for the domain that Collabora Online should run on

  • A valid SSL certificate for your Nextcloud

Install the Collabora Online server

The following steps will download the Collabora Online docker. Make sure to replace “cloud.example.com” with the host that your own Nextcloud runs on. Also make sure to escape all dots with double backslashes (\), since this string will be evaluated as a regular expression (and your bash ‘eats’ the first backslash.) If you want to use the docker container with more than one Nextcloud, you’ll need to use domain=cloud\.nextcloud\.com|second\.nextcloud\.com instead. (All hosts are separated by |.)

docker pull collabora/code
docker run -t -d -p 127.0.0.1:9980:9980 \
    -e 'domain=cloud\\.example\\.com' \
    --restart always \
    --cap-add MKNOD \
    collabora/code

That will be enough. Once you have done that the server will listen on “localhost:9980”. Now we just need to configure the locally installed Apache reverse proxy.

Install the Apache reverse proxy

On a recent Ubuntu or Debian this should be possible using:

apt-get install apache2
a2enmod proxy proxy_wstunnel proxy_http ssl

Afterward, configure one VirtualHost properly to proxy the traffic. For security reason we recommend to use a subdomain such as office.example.com instead of running on the same domain. An example config can be found below:

########################################
# Reverse proxy for Collabora Online
########################################

AllowEncodedSlashes NoDecode
SSLProxyEngine On
ProxyPreserveHost On

# cert is issued for collaboraonline.example.com and we proxy to localhost
SSLProxyVerify None
SSLProxyCheckPeerCN Off
SSLProxyCheckPeerName Off

# static html, js, images, etc. served from coolwsd
# browser is the client part of Collabora Online
ProxyPass           /browser https://127.0.0.1:9980/browser retry=0
ProxyPassReverse    /browser https://127.0.0.1:9980/browser

# WOPI discovery URL
ProxyPass           /hosting/discovery https://127.0.0.1:9980/hosting/discovery retry=0
ProxyPassReverse    /hosting/discovery https://127.0.0.1:9980/hosting/discovery

# Capabilities
ProxyPass           /hosting/capabilities https://127.0.0.1:9980/hosting/capabilities retry=0
ProxyPassReverse    /hosting/capabilities https://127.0.0.1:9980/hosting/capabilities

# Main websocket
ProxyPassMatch      "/cool/(.*)/ws$"      wss://127.0.0.1:9980/cool/$1/ws nocanon

# Admin Console websocket
ProxyPass           /cool/adminws wss://127.0.0.1:9980/cool/adminws

# Download as, Fullscreen presentation and Image upload operations
ProxyPass           /cool https://127.0.0.1:9980/cool
ProxyPassReverse    /cool https://127.0.0.1:9980/cool
# Compatibility with integrations that use the /lool/convert-to endpoint
ProxyPass           /lool https://127.0.0.1:9980/cool
ProxyPassReverse    /lool https://127.0.0.1:9980/cool

After configuring these do restart your apache using systemctl restart apache2.

See also

Full configuration examples for reverse proxy setup can be found in the Collabora Online documentation: https://sdk.collaboraonline.com/docs/installation/Proxy_settings.html

Configure the app in Nextcloud

Go to the Apps section and choose “Office & text” Install the “Collabora Online app” Admin -> Office -> Specify the server you have setup before (e.g. “https://office.example.com”) Congratulations, your Nextcloud has Collabora Online Office integrated!

Updating

Occasionally, new versions of this docker image are released with security and feature updates. We will of course let you know when that happens! This is how you upgrade to a new version:

Update the docker image:
docker pull collabora/code
List running docker containers:
docker ps
Stop and remove the Collabora Online container with the container id of the running one:
docker stop CONTAINER_ID
docker rm CONTAINER_ID
Start the new container:
docker run -t -d -p 127.0.0.1:9980:9980 -e 'domain=cloud\\.example\\.com' \
    --restart always --cap-add MKNOD collabora/code