ONLYOFFICE Alfresco module package

This plugin enables users to edit office documents from Alfresco Share using ONLYOFFICE Docs packaged as Document Server - Community or Enterprise Edition.

Features

• Create and edit text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
• Share documents with other users.
• Co-edit documents in real-time: use two co-editing modes (Fast and Strict), Track Changes, comments, and built-in chat.

Supported formats:

• For viewing and editing: DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, DOCXF, OFORM.
• For converting to Office Open XML: ODT, ODP, ODS, DOC, XLS, PPT.

To convert a specific file, select Convert using ONLYOFFICE action. Resulting file will be placed in the same folder. You can also configure rules for a folder, that will automatically convert files on upload or on change. Details here.

Installing ONLYOFFICE Docs

You will need an instance of ONLYOFFICE Docs (Document Server) that is resolvable and connectable both from Alfresco and any end clients. ONLYOFFICE Document Server must also be able to POST to Alfresco directly.

You can install free Community version of ONLYOFFICE Docs or scalable Enterprise Edition with pro features.

To install free Community version, use Docker (recommended) or follow these instructions for Debian, Ubuntu, or derivatives.

To install Enterprise Edition, follow instructions here.

Community Edition vs Enterprise Edition comparison can be found here.

Installing ONLYOFFICE Alfresco module package

To start using ONLYOFFICE Document Server with Alfresco, the following steps must be performed for Ubuntu 14.04:

The latest compiled package files are available here.

1. Upload the compiled *.jar packages to directories accordingly for your Alfresco installation:

   • from onlyoffice-alfresco/repo/target/ to the /webapps/alfresco/WEB-INF/lib/ for Alfresco repository,
   • from onlyoffice-alfresco/share/target/ to /webapps/share/WEB-INF/lib/ for Share.

2. Make sure that Document Server will be able to POST to Alfresco.

   You may need to change these lines in alfresco-global.properties or you can set it using configuration page

   alfresco.host=<hostname>
   alfresco.port=443
   alfresco.protocol=https
   
   share.host=<hostname>
   share.port=443
   share.protocol=https
   

   Probably located here /usr/local/tomcat/shared/classes/alfresco-global.properties

3. Restart Alfresco:

   sudo ./alfresco.sh stop
   sudo ./alfresco.sh start

The module can be checked in administrator tools at share/page/console/admin-console/module-package in Alfresco.

Configuration

Module configuration can be found inside Alfresco Administration Console or by simply navigating to http://<alfrescohost>/alfresco/s/onlyoffice/onlyoffice-config

You can also add onlyoffice.url in alfresco-global.properties. Configuration made via settings page will override alfresco-global.properties.

JWT can be configured via configuration page or by adding onlyoffice.jwtsecret in alfresco-global.properties.

The JWT configuration on the Document Server side can be found here.

Compiling ONLYOFFICE Alfresco module package

If you plan to compile the ONLYOFFICE Alfresco module package yourself (e.g. edit the source code and compile it afterwards), follow these steps.

1. The latest stable Oracle Java version is necessary for the successful build. If you do not have it installed, use the following commands to install Oracle Java 8:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install openjdk-8-jdk

2. Install latest Maven: Installation process is described here

3. Download the ONLYOFFICE Alfresco module package source code:

   git clone https://github.com/onlyoffice/onlyoffice-alfresco.git

4. Get a submodule:

   git submodule update --init --recursive

5. Compile packages in the repo and share directories:

   cd onlyoffice-alfresco/
   mvn clean install

Another way to build ONLYOFFICE Alfresco module package is using docker-compose file.

Use this command from project directory:

docker-compose up

How it works

The ONLYOFFICE integration follows the API documented here:

• User navigates to a document within Alfresco Share and selects the Edit in ONLYOFFICE action.
• Alfresco Share makes a request to the repo end (URL of the form: /parashift/onlyoffice/prepare?nodeRef={nodeRef}).
• Alfresco Repo end prepares a JSON object for the Share with the following properties:
  • url: the URL that ONLYOFFICE Document Server uses to download the document (includes the alf_ticket of the current user),
  • callbackUrl: the URL that ONLYOFFICE Document Server informs about status of the document editing;
  • onlyofficeUrl: the URL that the client needs to reply to ONLYOFFICE Document Server (provided by the onlyoffice.url property);
  • key: the UUID+Modified Timestamp to instruct ONLYOFFICE Document Server whether to download the document again or not;
  • title: the document Title (name).
• Alfresco Share takes this object and constructs a page from a freemarker template, filling in all of those values so that the client browser can load up the editor.
• The client browser makes a request for the javascript library from ONLYOFFICE Document Server and sends ONLYOFFICE Document Server the docEditor configuration with the above properties.
• Then ONLYOFFICE Document Server downloads the document from Alfresco and the user begins editing.
• ONLYOFFICE Document Server sends a POST request to the callback URL to inform Alfresco that a user is editing the document.
• Alfresco locks the document, but still allows other users with write access the ability to collaborate in real time with ONLYOFFICE Document Server by leaving the Action present.
• When all users and client browsers are done with editing, they close the editing window.
• After 10 seconds of inactivity, ONLYOFFICE Document Server sends a POST to the callback URL letting Alfresco know that the clients have finished editing the document and closed it.
• Alfresco downloads the new version of the document, replacing the old one.

ONLYOFFICE Docs editions

ONLYOFFICE offers different versions of its online document editors that can be deployed on your own servers.

• Community Edition (onlyoffice-documentserver package)
• Enterprise Edition (onlyoffice-documentserver-ee package)

The table below will help you make the right choice.

* If supported by DMS.