---
title: Installing Overleaf Community Edition
description: This page shows you how to install Overleaf Community Edition on Ubuntu Linux
tags: media Overleaf ubuntu
products:
- instances
dates:
validation: 2025-07-16
posted: 2023-10-02
validation_frequency: 12
difficulty: beginner
usecase:
- application-hosting
ecosystem:
- third-party
---
import Requirements from '@macros/iam/requirements.mdx'
Overleaf is a collaborative writing and publishing system that uses LaTeX, a typesetting software that allows for creating structured, professional documents online.
It is particularly favored by academics and professionals for producing scientific documents, research papers, theses, and presentations due to its precise formatting and styling capabilities. Overleaf also supports real-time collaboration between multiple authors.
- A Scaleway account logged into the [console](https://console.scaleway.com)
- [Owner](/iam/concepts/#owner) status or [IAM permissions](/iam/concepts/#permission)
- An [SSH key](/organizations-and-projects/how-to/create-ssh-key/)
- An [Instance](/instances/how-to/create-an-instance/) with Docker installed and at least **30 GB of storage**
- Installed `git` on your Instance
- Properly configured DNS A/AAAA records pointing to your Instance's public IP
### Preparing the environment
1. SSH into your Instance:
```bash
ssh root@
```
2. Ensure Docker is installed:
- If Docker is not installed, follow the [Docker Installation Guide](/tutorials/install-docker-ubuntu-jammy-jellyfish/).
- Verify Docker installation:
```bash
docker --version
```
3. Create a directory for Overleaf:
```bash
mkdir -p /opt/overleaf-toolkit
cd /opt/overleaf-toolkit
```
4. Clone the Overleaf repository from GitHub:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/overleaf/toolkit.git /opt/overleaf-toolkit
```
5. Initialize the configuration:
```bash
cd /opt/overleaf-toolkit
./bin/init
```
6. Start the application and its containers:
```bash
./bin/up
```
If a web server is already running on port 80, stop it before running the command.
## Stopping the application and updating Overleaf's configuration
1. Stop the application with `CTRL+C`.
2. Edit the Overleaf configuration file:
```bash
nano ./config/overleaf.rc
```
3. Modify the following line:
```bash
OVERLEAF_PORT=80
```
Change it to:
```bash
OVERLEAF_PORT=8877
```
4. Save and exit.
## Configuring a systemd service
1. Create a systemd service file:
```bash
nano /etc/systemd/system/overleaf.service
```
2. Add the following content:
```
[Unit]
Description=Overleaf Community Edition
[Service]
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/opt/overleaf-toolkit
ExecStart=/opt/overleaf-toolkit/bin/up
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
```
3. Save and exit the editor.
4. Reload systemd:
```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
```
5. Enable and start the service:
```bash
systemctl enable overleaf.service
systemctl start overleaf.service
```
6. Check the service status:
```bash
systemctl status overleaf.service
```
## Installing LaTeX packages
1. Update the TeX Live Manager:
```bash
docker exec sharelatex tlmgr update --self
```
2. Install the full TeX Live package:
```bash
docker exec sharelatex tlmgr install scheme-full
```
- Replace `sharelatex` with the name of the Share LateX container. Use `docker ps` to find it.
- The installation of `textlive` may take a while and take up a lot of storage space. Ensure your Instance has sufficient storage available.
## Configuring SSL
1. Install Certbot and nginx
```bash
apt install python3-certbot-nginx nginx
```
2. Obtain an SSL certificate
```bash
sudo certbot --nginx certonly
```
3. Add a daily cron job for certificate renewal:
```bash
crontab -e
```
Add the following line to the crontab:
```bash
30 4 * * * certbot renew --pre-hook "service nginx stop" --post-hook "service nginx start"
```
## Configuring Nginx
1. Edit the Nginx configuration:
```bash
nano /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
```
2. Replace the file content with:
```
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name my.overleaf-instance.tld;
location / {
return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}
}
server {
listen [::]:443 ssl ipv6only=on;
listen 443 ssl;
server_name my.overleaf-instance.tld;
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/my.overleaf-instance.tld/fullchain.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/my.overleaf-instance.tld/privkey.pem;
include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains";
server_tokens off;
add_header X-Frame-Options SAMEORIGIN;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;
client_max_body_size 50M;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:8877;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_read_timeout 3m;
proxy_send_timeout 3m;
access_log /var/log/nginx/overleaf.access.log;
error_log /var/log/nginx/overleaf.error.log;
}
}
```
Replace `my.overleaf-instance.tld` with your Overleaf domain name in the configuration.
3. Save and restart Nginx:
```bash
service nginx restart
```
## Creating a first admin user
1. Open your browser and navigate to `/launchpad/`. A form displays, prompting you to set up your admin account by entering an email and password. After filling in the credentials, click **Register**.
2. Follow the link to the login page (`/login>/`) and enter the credentials you just created. Upon successful login, you'll be directed to a welcome page.
To begin using Overleaf, click the green button at the bottom of the welcome page. For more information on how to use Overleaf, refer to the [official documentation](https://www.overleaf.com/learn).