Connect Collabora Online to ownCloud Infinite Scale

Use ownCloud Infinite Scale’s Collaboration service as the WOPI bridge between the web UI and Collabora Online. For a new installation, the safest route is ownCloud’s official modular ocis_full Docker Compose example, which includes Infinite Scale, Collaboration, Collabora, and Traefik. Set the public Infinite Scale, Collabora, and WOPI URLs, use valid TLS certificates, and keep all service secrets consistent. Do not configure this as though Infinite Scale were classic ownCloud Server.

This distinction is verified in ownCloud’s current documentation: Infinite Scale integrates office suites through WOPI and its Collaboration service. That service replaces the older external cs3org/wopi server in newer releases, so administrators upgrading an older deployment must follow the migration instructions for their installed version.

1. Check the release and network prerequisites

Confirm the exact Infinite Scale release before installing anything. The current ownCloud documentation lists the Collaboration service in the 9.0 development documentation and says it must be started separately when Infinite Scale runs in supervised mode. The ownCloud full-stack example also warns that the setup depends on releases containing the Collaboration service and does not work with 5.x production releases. Use documentation and Compose files that match your installed release; do not copy a rolling example into an older production system without checking compatibility.

For a public deployment, plan separate hostnames such as cloud.example.com, office.example.com, and wopi.example.com. The browser must reach the cloud and Collabora URLs, while Collabora must be able to reach the WOPI endpoint that Infinite Scale exposes. DNS, firewalls, and TLS trust must work in both directions. A host reachable from your laptop but not from the Collabora container is not enough.

ownCloud’s deployment example uses Traefik as a reverse proxy and expects valid SSL for a server setup. Its local test setup can use self-signed certificates, but public installations should not silently disable certificate verification. Decide which hostnames and certificates you will use before configuring the stack.

2. Start from ownCloud’s matching Compose example

1. Open ownCloud’s official Full modular oCIS with WebOffice deployment guide and the corresponding ocis_full example directory. For production, check out a release or tag that matches your Infinite Scale version rather than relying on the repository’s rolling branch.
2. Review the example’s .env file. Set OCIS_DOMAIN, COLLABORA_DOMAIN, and WOPISERVER_DOMAIN to the hostnames that resolve to your server. The example enables Collabora with COLLABORA=:collabora.yml; retain that setting if Collabora is the office editor you want to use.
3. Set strong, private administrator credentials and follow the example’s production TLS guidance. Do not leave example passwords in place. If the repository version has changed the environment variable names or file layout, use the files from that same tagged release rather than mixing instructions from different versions.
4. Review the Compose configuration before starting it. Confirm that the Collabora, Collaboration, Infinite Scale, and proxy services share the intended network and configuration. The ownCloud guide warns that if Collaboration runs in a separate container, the relevant Infinite Scale configuration and generated secrets must be shared with the other services.

The deployment example is an integrated stack, not a universal configuration for every existing installation. If you already run Infinite Scale with systemd, Kubernetes, or a custom reverse proxy, keep that deployment model and configure the Collaboration service and App Registry using the documentation for that release instead of launching a second full stack.

3. Connect Collaboration to Collabora with WOPI

The core settings identify the editor URL and the externally reachable WOPI source. In the current service documentation, COLLABORATION_APP_NAME is the app’s display name, COLLABORATION_APP_PRODUCT identifies the product, COLLABORATION_APP_ADDR points to Collabora, and COLLABORATION_WOPI_SRC is the URL Collabora uses to read and write files through Infinite Scale. A conceptual configuration looks like this:

COLLABORATION_APP_NAME=CollaboraOnline
COLLABORATION_APP_PRODUCT=Collabora
COLLABORATION_APP_ADDR=https://office.example.com
COLLABORATION_WOPI_SRC=https://wopi.example.com

Use the actual public URLs and variable format required by your deployment. If the services communicate on an internal container network, the internal address may be appropriate for one setting while the browser-facing URL belongs in another. Do not substitute a container-only hostname into a value Collabora must resolve externally.

The Collaboration service also requires the Infinite Scale runtime values OCIS_URL, OCIS_JWT_SECRET, OCIS_REVA_GATEWAY, and MICRO_REGISTRY_ADDRESS. These must match the running instance; the official full-stack example supplies service relationships for its own Compose network. Do not invent new secrets for only one service or disable WOPI proof-key checks to bypass a mismatch. Keep certificate verification enabled for trusted public certificates; COLLABORATION_APP_INSECURE is documented only as an option for a self-signed WOPI app certificate, not a general production fix.

The App Registry controls which office app appears for each MIME type and which app opens by default. If Collabora is running but documents do not show an open-with option, check the registry’s MIME type configuration and its default_app value. The name used there must match the configured office app name. ownCloud documents this as YAML configuration; environment variables do not replace the MIME type mapping.

4. Start, test, and diagnose the integration

With the official Compose example, validate the rendered configuration and then start the stack from its deployment directory:

docker compose config
docker compose up -d

If you are not using the Compose example, first start the gateway, App Provider, and Collabora services. In supervised mode, ownCloud documents starting Collaboration explicitly with ocis collaboration server; it does not start automatically. Ensure the required environment variables are populated in the Collaboration service process before starting it.

1. Open https://office.example.com/hosting/discovery in a browser. A reachable endpoint should return Collabora’s discovery XML rather than a DNS, TLS, or proxy error.
2. Sign in to Infinite Scale, open a supported document, and choose Collabora if the UI offers multiple office apps. Test both an existing file and, if enabled in the App Registry, creating a new document.
3. Make a small edit, wait for the save indicator to settle, close the editor, and reopen the file to confirm the change persisted.
4. If the editor does not open, inspect the Infinite Scale Collaboration and App Provider logs, Collabora logs, and reverse-proxy logs at the same timestamp. “Unauthorized WOPI host” points to Collabora’s WOPI trust configuration; a failed callback or TLS error points toward URL reachability or certificate trust; a missing app option points toward the App Registry.

Successful integration means the browser loads the editor, the WOPI connection reaches Infinite Scale, and edits persist after reopening. Exact container names, URL wiring, and configuration file locations depend on the Infinite Scale release and deployment method. Use the release-matched ownCloud documentation for those details, especially when migrating from the legacy external WOPI server.

References: ownCloud Collaboration service configuration, ownCloud App Registry configuration, and Infinite Scale release notes and migration notes.