Integrate & Install OnlyOffice Document Server on Nextcloud

Plan the Two Addresses

Nextcloud and the Document Server are two separate services, and each needs its own address. In this setup Nextcloud is at cloud.example.com and the Document Server is at office.example.com — use your own real addresses in their place. Three paths must all work: your browser reaches both services, the Nextcloud server reaches the Document Server, and the Document Server reaches Nextcloud back to fetch and save files. Almost every failure later in this setup is just one of those three paths being blocked, so decide the addresses before installing anything.

Install the Document Server with Docker

The Document Server runs as a Docker container from the official ONLYOFFICE image — this is the "no coding" part of the setup: no manual package installation, the container carries everything the editing service needs. Start the container as shown in the video, with JWT switched on so the secret in Step 4 protects it.

onlyoffice/documentserver

Check the Container Is Running

Before touching Nextcloud, prove the Document Server works on its own. List the running containers — the Document Server container should be shown as up:

sudo docker ps

Then open the Document Server address in a browser. It answers with its status page, which confirms the service is up and reachable — fix any problem here first, because Nextcloud cannot connect to a server that is not answering.

http://office.example.com

Set a Strong JWT Secret

The JWT secret (JWT_SECRET) is the shared password between Nextcloud and the Document Server. Every request between the two is signed with it, so the Document Server only accepts work that really comes from your Nextcloud — and it is the exact same value you will paste into the connector in Step 6.

Install the ONLYOFFICE Connector in Nextcloud

Sign in to Nextcloud as an administrator, open Apps, find the ONLYOFFICE connector app and download and enable it. The connector is the bridge: it adds ONLYOFFICE as the editor for office documents inside Files and carries your Document Server settings. The files themselves never move — they stay in Nextcloud storage the whole time.

Connect Nextcloud to the Document Server

In Nextcloud go to Settings → ONLYOFFICE. Enter the Document Server address — the same address you tested in Step 3 — and the secret key, which is the JWT secret from Step 4, character for character. Save, and Nextcloud checks the connection to the Document Server.

Test a Document — Then Secure It Properly

Open a document from Nextcloud Files. It should open in the ONLYOFFICE editor right in the browser: type something, close the document, then open it again and confirm your change was saved back into Nextcloud. Then open the same file from the Nextcloud mobile app — editing runs through this same connection, which is the mobile editing this setup promises.