Learn how to – How To Run ONLYOFFICE Workspace as a Docker Container

Learn how to – How To Run ONLYOFFICE Workspace as a Docker Container.

In this article, you will find out how to install and set up ONLYOFFICE Workspace using a Docker container. Following the instructions below, you will get the hang of installing the latest version of Docker and building a collaborative virtual office environment with ONLYOFFICE Workspace.

What is ONLYOFFICE Workspace?

In a nutshell, ONLYOFFICE Workspace is an open-source collaborative platform for team management and cooperation that is designed for creating a secure virtual office for both individuals and businesses.

The platform consists of several functional modules that allow you to perform different tasks. Let’s have a look at the main ones:

• Documents

This module comprises a file management system that not only lets you store documents and images but also makes it possible to play audio and video files in all popular formats. Additionally, you can connect your Google Drive, Box, kDrive, Dropbox or OneDrive account and directly access your files within ONLYOFFICE Workspace.

The Documents module is equipped with an online office suite called ONLYOFFICE Docs that allows you to edit and co-author Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and fillable forms in your web browser. You can also share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and fillable forms using multiple access permissions (full access, read only, commenting, reviewing, form filling and Custom Filter for sheets), co-edit documents with other people in real time in two different modes (Fast and Strict), leave comments, tag other co-authors, exchange text messages with them and make video calls using the Jitsi plugin. 

• Projects

This module provides you with essential project management tools. It allows you to create projects with tasks, subtasks and milestones so that you can clearly prioritize your objectives and daily activities. You can also build Gantt charts to analyze the progress of each project and task dependencies. 

Also, the Projects module makes it possible to set individual access permissions for each module element and create private projects. The built-in time-tracking features and automatically generated reports help you keep total control over what has to be done.

• Mail

Use this module to add a mail server under your domain name and create corporate mailboxes for all members of your team. The built-in aggregator lets you collect and store all your emails in one place even if you have several email accounts. Email management features, such as filtering and tags, allow you efficiently deal with tons of electronic letters.

The Mail module is closely integrated with other modules, so you can link email threads or separate messages to your contacts in the CRM module and attach any file from the Documents module to your messages.

• CRM

The built-in CRM system is a powerful tool to manage business processes and create customer databases. The functionality of this module allows you to manage interactions with customers and potential clients using contact cards, deal opportunities, web-to-lead forms, tasks and communication history.

You can also create invoices by selecting customers from your CRM databases and prepare reports to have a better understanding of what’s going on in your business. Another useful feature in this module is the ability to make and answer calls directly from CRM thanks to the Twilio integration.

• Calendar

With this module, you have the freedom to create individual or group calendars to keep track of all important events and miss nothing. You can set up all-day, multi-day and recurring events in your calendar and send an invitation to any user. The notification tool automatically sends out reminders so you don’t have to keep everything in your mind.

If you have calendars in other services, you can import events and synchronize your calendar using the CalDAV protocol. This applies to Google Calendar, Apple iCal or Yahoo!.

All the modules mentioned above can be disabled, so you can choose what you really need and create a customized working environment.

Hardware and software requirements

Before you move on to the installation process, make sure that your system configuration corresponds to the following requirements:

• CPU: dual-core processor with 2 GHz or better;
• RAM: min. 6 GB;
• HDD: min. 40 GB;
• Swap: min. 6 GB;
• Operating system: AMD64 Linux distro with kernel v3.10 or later.
• Docker: v1.9.0 or newer.

Step 1 – Install Docker Engine

The installation of ONLYOFFICE Workspace requires Docker. If you don’t know how to install and configure its latest version, read this guide:

• How to Install Docker CE on Linux Systems

Step 2 – Get the installation script

ONLYOFFICE Workspace comes with a special script for Linux-based operating systems that significantly facilitates the installation process. The script sets up all the required components automatically.

To get started, download the script with this command:

wget https://download.onlyoffice.com/install/workspace-install.sh

Step 3 – Install ONLYOFFICE Workspace

Don’t forget to perform all operations with root rights.

To start the installation process, enter this:

bash workspace-install.sh -md "yourdomain.com"

“yourdomain.com” is the domain that will be used for the ONLYOFFICE Mail server.

If you don’t need the email component, run this command:

bash workspace-install.sh -ims false

If you skipped the first step, and Docker is not installed in your system, the script will automatically install or update it to the required version.

After that, check the list of all available parameters:

bash workspace-install.sh -h

Step 4 – Check the operation of ONLYOFFICE Workspace

It’s recommended to check if all the components of ONLYOFFICE Workspace work properly. For this purpose, you need to enter the local network IP address of your computer in the address bar of your web browser. It’s not localhost nor 127.0.0.1.

That’s it. If ONLYOFFICE Workspace runs well, the installation process was successful.

How to add users in ONLYOFFICE Workspace

To get started with your ONLYOFFICE portal, it might be a good idea to add new users. For example, your friends or member of your team. The easiest way to do this is to use an invitation link. Go to the People module and click the Invite users to portal button on the left side panel. It allows you to quickly and easily invite new members using a link that is valid for 7 days.

Another option is to create users manually, one by one. This is a very repetitive and tedious task, so you can import users automatically. ONLYOFFICE Workspace supports importing from LDAP servers, CSV files and Yahoo/Google accounts.

When all users are created, don’t waste your time and start working collaboratively using all the benefits of ONLYOFFICE Workspace.

Conclusion

As you can see, the installation of ONLYOFFICE Workspace is not complicated. With this software, you can easily deploy a virtual collaborative environment on your Linux server that you can use for personal advantage. At the same time, ONLYOFFICE Workspace is a good choice for small and medium-sized teams that need a secure platform for internal collaboration.