XLSX to PDF via CLI

Headless LibreOffice Calc converts Excel to PDF.

Packages to install

Install libreoffice-calc-nogui and fonts-liberation so the spreadsheet renders predictably.

libreoffice-calc-nogui

fonts-liberation

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y libreoffice-calc-nogui fonts-liberation

How to run the command

soffice --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir . table.xlsx. The same command works for .xls. On a server, set a private profile with -env:UserInstallation so parallel runs do not clash.

soffice --headless --nologo --nofirststartwizard --norestore --convert-to pdf --outdir . table.xlsx

Dockerfile example

Build a minimal Ubuntu image with the required packages and run the conversion inside the container.

FROM ubuntu:24.04

RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
        libreoffice-calc-nogui \
        fonts-liberation && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

WORKDIR /work

docker build -t xlsx-to-pdf .
docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/work" -w /work xlsx-to-pdf \
  soffice --headless --nologo --nofirststartwizard --norestore --convert-to pdf --outdir . table.xlsx

Example commands

Run these locally after installing the packages, or inside the container from the Dockerfile.

soffice --headless --nologo --nofirststartwizard --norestore --convert-to pdf --outdir . table.xlsx

soffice -env:UserInstallation=file:///tmp/lo-profile --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir /tmp sheet.xls