Deploying ONLYOFFICE Workspace Enterprise on Alibaba Cloud

Introduction

Now you can easily launch the ONLYOFFICE Workspace Enterprise Edition instance on Alibaba Cloud using the ONLYOFFICE Alibaba Cloud Image available on the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.

The Alibaba Cloud Image is a pre-configured template that allows to easily launch an instance on a virtual cloud server.

The ONLYOFFICE Workspace Enterprise Alibaba Cloud Image includes all the necessary components - both the operating system and the software itself - to deploy your web office on a virtual server running under Linux.

Step 1. Choose the necessary ONLYOFFICE Alibaba Cloud Image and subscribe for the solution

Log in to your existing Alibaba Cloud account or sign up for a new one and go to the Alibaba Cloud Marketplace.

Find the ONLYOFFICE Workspace Enterprise Edition solution and choose the necessary instance type – for 50, 100, 200 or 400 users. The number of users means the number of people who can have access to editing docs. The number of documents that can be edited at the same time is not limited. Other registered users will be able to open documents only for viewing. ONLYOFFICE recognizes a user ID for a period of 30 days. After that, you will be able to replace a user with a new one if necessary.

At the Product Details page, you can read the description of the software functions, view the available image versions, the image ID corresponding to each region, estimate pricing details depending on the necessary region and subscription type ('Subscription' and 'Pay-As-You-Go'), read the End User License Agreement.

Click the Choose Your Plan button. The Custom Launch tab of the Alibaba Cloud ECS (Elastic Compute Service) console will open.

Step 2. Launch your ONLYOFFICE instance on Alibaba Cloud

On the Custom Launch tab, follow the configuration wizard steps.

In the 1 - Basic Configurations section, you can change the following parameters:

• Billing Method - select Subscription, Pay-As-You-Go, or Preemptible Instance.
• Region - select a region where the instance will be deployed. It’s recommended to select a region with the closest location.
• Instance Type - you can choose the necessary instance type.
• Image - the ONLYOFFICE Workspace Enterprise Edition Marketplace image is selected.
• Storage - you can specify the necessary system disc capacity or add a data disk.
• Snapshot - you can use automatic snapshot policies to periodically back up disks.

Click the Next button in the lower right corner.

In the 2 - Networking section, you can change the following parameters:

• Network Type - you can leave default settings.
• Public IP Address - an automatically allocated IP address is already enabled.
• Network Billing Method - choose Pay-By-Bandwidth or Pay-By-Traffic.
• Security Group - you can create a new security group if necessary. The default security group is already selected.
• Elastic Network Interface - you can leave default settings.
• IPv6 - you can leave default settings.

Click the Next button in the lower right corner.

In the 3 - System Configurations (Optional) section, you can change the following parameters:

• Logon Credentials - you can set a password or create a new key pair to connect to your instance remotely using SSH. The Logon Username is root.

  To create a new key pair,

  1. Click the Create Key Pair link. The Elastic Compute Service Console will open in a new browser tab.
  2. Enter the key pair name (e.g. ONLYOFFICE) in the corresponding field and select the Auto-create or choose Import and paste your a Base64-encoded public key. Click the Ok button below.

     Your public key will be stored in the Elastic Compute Service. The .pem file that contains your private key will be downloaded to your local machine and stored in the default Downloads folder. Please copy it and store in a safe place.

  

  Return to the System Configurations page, refresh the key pair field using the icon to the right of it, and select the created key pair from the list.

  
• You can also customize the Instance Name, add a Description, or customize the Host name.

Click the Next button in the lower right corner.

In the 4 - Grouping (Optional) section, you can change the following parameters:

• Tags - you can add some tags to the instance.
• Resource Group - you can assign the instance to a resource group for easier management.
• You can also choose a Deployment set, Dedicated Host, or Private Pool.

Click the Next button in the lower right corner.

On the Preview page, view the configuration options, accept Terms of Service and click Create Instance.

It can take some time for the instance to become completely functional after you launched it.

Then you can connect to your instance via SSH to enable test examples and check the solution functionality via a web browser.

Step 3. Access your portal via a web browser

To access your portal via a web browser, you can use the Public IP address of the instance. It can be found in the Alibaba Cloud ECS console. Open the Instances section of the left menu. Select the region where the instance is deployed on the top navigation bar. Find the IP address of your instance in the instance list.

In a web browser, enter http:// + your instance Public IP address into the address bar. The initialization of your portal may take a few minutes.

The portal setup wizard opens.

Set your account password and confirm it. Enter your email address.

This email and password pair will be used to access your portal administrator account via a web browser. By default, the password must be at least 8 but no more than 120 characters long.

Specify your Instance ID in the corresponding field. It can be found in the Alibaba Cloud ECS console. Open the Instances section of the left menu. Select the region where the instance is deployed on the top navigation bar. Find the instance ID in the instance list.

You can also change the portal language and time zone using the corresponding drop-down lists. The time zone must be specified to ensure the correct work of the portal notifications and calendar reminders.

Click the Continue button.

Your portal is now created and ready to work. Switch between the portal modules available on the start page to explore the web office features.

Step 4. Connect to your server via SSH

To administer and configure your web office remotely, you can connect to your virtual server via SSH. To connect to your virtual server via SSH, you’ll also need to use the Public IP address of the instance. It can be found in the Alibaba Cloud ECS console. Open the Instances section of the left menu. Select the region where the instance is deployed on the top navigation bar. Find the IP address of your instance in the instance list.

On Windows, you can use the PuTTY utility.

• If a username and password are used for authentication,
  1. Launch PuTTY. Open the Session section in the left-side navigation panel.
  2. Enter the instance Public IP address into the Host Name or IP address field, make sure that port 22 is specified and the SSH connection type is selected, and click the Open button.
  3. Click Yes in the PuTTY Security Alert window.
  4. Type in the username root and press Enter.
  5. Type in the logon password of the instance and press Enter.
• If a private key is used for authentication, first you need to convert the private key file from .pem to .ppk. For more details, please read the instructions.

On Linux, you can use an SSH client like OpenSSH.

• If a password is used for authentication, you’ll need to specify the root username and your instance IP address.

  Enter the following command in your terminal, specifying the actual value for the IP Address:

  ssh root@your_instance_ip

  Type in the logon password of the instance and press Enter.

• If a private key is used for authentication, you’ll need to specify a path to the .pem file with your private key stored on your local machine, the root username and your instance IP address.

  Enter the following command in your terminal, specifying the actual values for the .pem file path and the IP Address:

  ssh -i /path/onlyoffice.pem root@your_instance_ip

  Type yes to continue connecting to the server.