Collabora Online Office Editing
MyWorkDrive integrates with Collabora Online as an online document editing provider using the WOPI (Web Application Open Platform Interface) protocol from version 7.3.1 and later. This article explains how to set up and configure Collabora Online with MyWorkDrive, and how to troubleshoot common issues.
Overview
Collabora Online is a powerful collaborative office suite that supports all major document, spreadsheet, and presentation file formats, and integrates seamlessly with MyWorkDrive via WOPI.
Once configured, Collabora Online appears as an editing option alongside MyWorkDrive's other supported editors (such as Microsoft Office Online and OnlyOffice). Only one online editing provider can be active at a time, and access can be restricted by share, user, or group if Data Loss Prevention (DLP) settings are enabled.
Prerequisites
Before configuring MyWorkDrive, you will need a working Collabora Online server that:
- Is reachable over HTTPS with a valid SSL/TLS certificate
- Exposes a working WOPI discovery endpoint (typically https://your-collabora-server.example.com/hosting/discovery)
- Is configured to allow your MyWorkDrive server's domain(s) to embed its editing interface (see Content Security Policy, below)
Collabora offers both free (Collabora Online Development Edition, CODE) and paid (Collabora Online) server options, which can be self-hosted or run via Docker. For installation instructions, refer to Collabora's own documentation at collaboraonline.com.
MyWorkDrive does not host or provide a Collabora server. You are responsible for deploying, licensing, and maintaining your own Collabora Online instance.
Configuring Collabora Online in MyWorkDrive
- In the MyWorkDrive Admin Panel, go to Integrations.
- In the Online Editing Providers section, locate the Collabora Online tile and enable it.
- Enter your Collabora Online WOPI Server URL. This must be the base URL of your Collabora WOPI endpoint — not a general-purpose Collabora product URL or any other public endpoint.
- Under Settings > Office Online Edit, select Collabora Online as the provider.
- Save your settings. Collabora Online editing will be enabled by default for all shares, unless restricted via DLP settings under Share, User, or Group permissions.
As with all MyWorkDrive online editing providers, only one provider can be active at a time.
Troubleshooting
Verifying the WOPI discovery endpoint
Confirm your Collabora server is correctly exposing its WOPI discovery information by browsing directly to:
https://your-collabora-server.example.com/hosting/discovery
This should return a well-formed XML document. If the page does not load, or the XML is malformed or incomplete, MyWorkDrive will be unable to determine how to open and edit files. Common issues include:
- Missing or duplicate
entries elements missing required attributes (name, ext, or urlsrc)
If the discovery XML looks incomplete or inconsistent compared to a known-good WOPI provider, check your Collabora server configuration and version, or consult Collabora's documentation and support channels.
SSL/TLS certificate issues
The Collabora WOPI URL must be reachable over HTTPS with a valid, trusted SSL/TLS certificate. Self-signed or expired certificates, or certificates missing intermediate chains, can cause the connection to silently fail or produce a generic error when attempting to open a document. Verify the certificate is valid and trusted using a browser or a tool such as openssl s_client.
Content Security Policy (CSP) errors
Collabora Online enforces its own Content Security Policy, which controls which domains are permitted to embed its editing interface in an iframe. This is separate from any framing restrictions MyWorkDrive itself may apply.
If you see an error indicating the page could not be displayed because of a frame-ancestors or Content Security Policy violation, your Collabora server's CSP configuration needs to explicitly allow your MyWorkDrive server's domain (or a wildcard covering your domains, if you have multiple MyWorkDrive servers pointing to the same Collabora instance).
This is typically configured via Collabora's coolwsd.xml configuration file, or via a net.content_security_policy parameter if running Collabora in Docker, for example:
--o:net.content_security_policy=frame-ancestors 'self' https://your-myworkdrive-server.example.com
After changing this setting, restart the Collabora service or container for the change to take effect.
"Unauthorized WOPI host" errors
Some WOPI servers, including Collabora, restrict which hosts are permitted to make WOPI requests. If you receive an "Unauthorized WOPI host" error (or similar), confirm that your MyWorkDrive server's domain is included in your Collabora server's allowed host list, in addition to the CSP settings described above.
Edits work internally but fail externally (blank page)
To prevent editing sessions from being used maliciously outside of your organization, MyWorkDrive's online editing providers, including Collabora, can be restricted by IP address. If editing works as expected from inside your network but produces a blank page or console errors when accessed externally, check whether an IP restriction has been applied to your editing provider configuration, and adjust it as needed for your environment.
Documents open in read-only (view) mode unexpectedly
If a document consistently opens for viewing but the edit option does not behave as expected, confirm that the correct action is being requested from your Collabora WOPI discovery configuration for that file type, and that your Collabora server's discovery XML defines both view and edit actions where applicable.
General steps after changing Collabora server configuration
Whenever you change your Collabora server's Docker run parameters, CSP settings, or coolwsd.xml configuration, you will need to restart the Collabora container or service for the changes to take effect. Confirm the container or service is running without errors before retesting from MyWorkDrive.
Additional Resources
- Collabora Online documentation: collaboraonline.com
- Collabora Online product page: collaboraonline.com/collabora-online
If you continue to experience issues after reviewing the steps above, please contact MyWorkDrive support with your Collabora server version, WOPI discovery URL output, and any relevant MyWorkDrive web client logs.