Setup Nextcloud with OnlyOffice Server 🔥 Complete Integration Guide

Plan the Two Servers and Hostnames

This setup has two parts that work together. Nextcloud stores your files and user accounts, and the OnlyOffice Document Server does the actual document and spreadsheet editing in the browser. Give each one its own hostname from the start: Nextcloud answers on cloud.example.com and the Document Server answers on office.example.com. Point both DNS records to your servers before you begin, because the connection settings, the JWT security and the HTTPS certificates all depend on these names staying fixed.

Install the Nextcloud Server

First install Nextcloud on your server and finish its web setup — create the admin account and let it connect to its database. Open cloud.example.com in the browser and log in with the admin account to confirm the file storage side is fully working before you bring the office server in. Every document you later edit with OnlyOffice will live in this Nextcloud storage.

Install the OnlyOffice Document Server

Now install the OnlyOffice Document Server — the separate service that renders and edits documents, spreadsheets and presentations. In this setup it is reached as office.example.com, and before HTTPS is configured it answers on port 8080 of the server. The Document Server has no file storage of its own: Nextcloud sends it a file, the user edits it in the browser, and the saved result goes back into Nextcloud.

Verify the Document Server with the Healthcheck

Before connecting anything, prove the Document Server is actually running. Open its healthcheck address in a browser:

http://your-server:8080/healthcheck

The page must return exactly one word: true. That single word confirms the Document Server services are up and ready to accept connections.

Install the ONLYOFFICE Connector App

Log in to Nextcloud as admin, open the Apps section and install the official ONLYOFFICE connector app. This connector is the bridge between the two servers: it adds the OnlyOffice settings page to Nextcloud and makes documents open in the OnlyOffice editor instead of downloading. Enable the app once it is installed.

Connect Both Servers — Address and JWT Secret

Open the ONLYOFFICE settings inside Nextcloud administration and enter the Document Editing Service address — the public HTTPS address of your Document Server:

https://office.example.com/

Then enter the JWT secret key — the same secret that is configured on the Document Server. This shared secret is how the two servers prove to each other that requests are genuine, so no one can misuse your editing service. Save the settings; Nextcloud checks the connection to the Document Server as it saves.

Set Up HTTPS on Both Servers

Both hostnames — cloud.example.com and office.example.com — must open over HTTPS with valid certificates. This is not optional polish: the editing session runs inside the user's browser, so the browser itself enforces the security rules for both servers.

Make Your First Real Edit

Go to Files in Nextcloud and create or open a spreadsheet or document. Instead of downloading, the file now opens inside the OnlyOffice editor right in the browser — the same working style as Google Sheets or Google Docs, but hosted entirely by you. Type something, let it save, and close the file: the edited version is back in Nextcloud storage. Your self-hosted office is live.