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Vultr profile image Sanskriti Harmukh
Sanskriti Harmukh for Vultr

Posted on with Aashish Chaurasiya • Originally published at docs.vultr.com

Deploying OnlyOffice DocSpace - An Open-Source Office Suite on Ubuntu

#selfhosted #devops #docker #productivity

OnlyOffice DocSpace is an open-source office suite that provides word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and PDF tooling from your own server, with browser and desktop clients plus integrations for WordPress, Mattermost, and Nextcloud. This guide deploys OnlyOffice on Ubuntu with the official installer script, opens the firewall, and secures the dashboard with a Let's Encrypt certificate. By the end, you'll have an OnlyOffice DocSpace instance running securely at your domain.

Prerequisite: Ubuntu server with at least 8 GB RAM, Docker installed (the installer can install Docker for you), and a subdomain A record pointing at the server.

Install OnlyOffice DocSpace

1. Download the official installer script:

$ wget -O onlyoffice.sh http://download.onlyoffice.com/docspace/docspace-install.sh
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2. Run the installer:

$ sudo bash onlyoffice.sh
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The installer prompts to install Docker if missing. If a domain validation warning appears, accept Y to continue with external IP configuration.

3. Verify the containers are running:

$ docker ps
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4. Inspect the OnlyOffice config directory:

$ ls /app/onlyoffice/
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You'll see build.yml, db.yml, docspace.profiles.yml, healthchecks.yml, opensearch.yml, rabbitmq.yml, and a config/ directory.

Open the Firewall

1. Check current firewall state:

$ sudo ufw status
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2. Allow HTTP and HTTPS:

$ sudo ufw allow 80 comment 'onlyoffice-http'
$ sudo ufw allow 443 comment 'onlyoffice-https'
$ sudo ufw reload
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Issue a Let's Encrypt Certificate

1. Move into the config directory:

$ cd /app/onlyoffice/config
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2. Run the bundled SSL setup script:

$ sudo bash docspace-ssl-setup onlyoffice@example.com onlyoffice.example.com
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The script obtains a Let's Encrypt certificate and installs a docspace-renew-letsencrypt cron entry so the certificate renews automatically before its 90-day expiry.

Complete the Setup

  1. Open https://onlyoffice.example.com.
  2. Enter the administrator email and password.
  3. Select language and timezone.
  4. Accept the license terms.
  5. Create your first room (collaboration, custom, or public).
  6. Create or upload a document and confirm editing and saving works.

Connect Backups and Desktop Clients

Back up to S3-compatible object storage:

  1. Navigate to Settings → Integration and enable the AWS S3 service with your access key, secret, region, endpoint, and bucket.
  2. Open Backup → Third-party storage, select Amazon AWS S3, and configure the bucket.
  3. Create backup copies on demand or on a schedule.

Connect the OnlyOffice desktop client:

  1. Download the OnlyOffice desktop editor for your OS.
  2. Click Connect to cloud and enter https://onlyoffice.example.com.
  3. Sign in with the administrator email and password to access rooms and edit documents locally.

Next Steps

OnlyOffice DocSpace is running and served securely over HTTPS. From here you can:

  • Invite team members from Accounts and assign room-level roles
  • Connect external apps (WordPress, Mattermost, Nextcloud) via the integrations menu
  • Enable two-factor authentication for all accounts under Settings → Security

For the full guide with additional tips, visit the original article on Vultr Docs.

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