WebDAV in 2023?

Kitsune5010
Has anyone had any luck with WebDAV services in the last little while?

My current workflow is to bring PDFs into Zotero, where Zotfile immediately renames and moves the files. Then, one by one, I bring PDFs back into Zotero storage until I am roughly around 250mb of storage. These sync to my iPad where I annotate them; when finished, I 'offload' them by running them through Zotfile again.

Since Zotfile's move functionality (only renaming) isn't making it to Zotero 7, I've been considering WebDAV as a possible replacement for the above workflow. However, valid WebDAV options seem to be dwindling rapidly. I've included below the WebDAV services I've tried and my experiences with them.

- 4shared - WebDAV no longer offered to free accounts
- CloudMe - WebDAV no longer appears to function
- Google Drive - DAV-pocket doesn't seem to work anymore; WebDAV bridge is self-hosted and runs into the same issues as self-hosted (see below)
- IDriveSync - WebDAV no longer offered to free accounts
- Koofr - Multiple reports of issues in recent weeks
- pCloud - No longer offered to free accounts
- Yandex Disk - WebDAV responds with '402 - Payment Required'. Yandex site then asks for personal information before unlocking the disk (Phone number, passport, etc) which is not something I want to provide

It seems a bunch of these are related to the recent wave of malware that is being distributed via WebDAV, and so WebDAV providers are rightly closing up access to free/anonymous accounts to prevent abuse.

Bonus Attempts:

- Self-Hosted - Zotero requires a valid certificate from a CA. Self-hosted thus appears to require a domain, a valid certificate, and a complex WebDAV setup. While a self-signed certificate can be 'sideloaded' using Firefox on the PC, the iPad environment isn't so forgiving.
- NextCloud (hosted) - Worked for a day before the service provider deactivated the account. Multiple reports of users having free accounts deactivated if not paid within X amount of time. Self-hosted would have same issue as above.
- Azure - As a cloud dev, I've got a bit of wiggle room in Azure but none of the storage containers there provide WebDAV support. It's possible to spin up a VM server running a WebDAV service connecting to a storage account, but it gets expensive and complicated fast.
- OneDrive - OneDrive seems to provide a valid WebDAV service in all ways *except* a failure to respond to an OPTIONS request with DAV: 1. This is because there's a redirect during the WebDAV request. Several other WebDAV clients support this but Zotero is sticking with the spec (no judgement here, just pointing it out).

While the obvious answer is to give up and pay/support Zotero, I'm not an academic but a public servant / data engineer and my work doesn't involve Zotero at all. My usage of Zotero is purely for hobby and I'm not sure I can even justify the strain that the 300mb 'swapping' is putting on Zotero (there must be ingress/egress costs involved here).

Anyone have any luck with WebDAV in recent days, and what is their current setup?
  • tim820
    edited November 27, 2023
    Zotfile's move functionality is almost certainly making it to Zotero v7, in at least one existing new plugin. It's only Zotfile's Send-to-Tablet that is not in either of the two new plugin candidates. Of those two, one has gone private for now, and the other one currently does auto and manual rename/move (as a linked file moved to an equivalent of Zotfile's Custom Location).
    https://github.com/wileyyugioh/zotmoov
    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/104858/on-zotfile-development-and-zotero-7

    BTW your workflow of storing only a subset of file-synced PDFs (< 300 mb) in local Zotero storage, when you intend to annotate them in the mobile app (while keeping the rest as linked files in Zotfile's Custom Location), is neat. That would seem to still be possible in v7 while using the new plugin to manage linked files.

  • Kitsune5010
    Thanks for the links! Didn't know about ZotMoov - that plus the native renaming method in v7 accommodates my workflow well. I think I can fully move to v7 in that case. I didn't use the 'send to tablet' functionality of ZotFile as it relies on a third-party PDF annotator but I enjoy using Zotero's as it doesn't store the annotations in the PDF itself. I like that the PDF remains clean but all the annotations are in Zotero.

    As for storing a subset in Zotero storage; I've noticed that sometimes the downloaded PDF files on the iPad remain even after being converted to linked files on the PC. Annotating these 'phantom' files works identically to the real thing and they're synced back to PC just fine. Eventually Zotero realizes they were moved out of Zotero storage, though, and removes the file. If I could recreate this reliably, it means I could load the iPad up with a lot more files, 300mb at a time, while keeping the Zotero storage clean and only using it as a temporary landing point. This doesn't seem to be intended, however.
  • claude70
    I've been using Koofr for the last few months, with none of the reported glitches. I'm still on Zotero v5, and I only test v6 (and the 7 beta) occasionally - but no glitches there, either. Koofr make a big deal of their WebDAV support, including for Zotero (as their blog post on Oct 27 2023 attests), so if there are glitches I'm hoping they would be addressed pretty quickly.
  • Lee_Daegeon
    The cloud storage with webdav service for free plan is...
    https://infini-cloud.net/en/
    I've been using it for a month and works well.
  • By dr Ruben
    Wonderful @Lee_Daegeon, https://infini-cloud.net/en/ works for me ! I highly recommends it.
  • jarartur
    Regarding self-hosting: if one has a Synology NAS, the CA certificate comes basically free, and you can generate it from their UI. I switched to it some time ago, as I'm a PDF hoarder, and it's working flawlessly. For those in Europe be aware though, not every ISP provides a public IP address (you can work around it with tailscale I think, but I have not tested it).

    I know it's a pretty specific case, but posting it just in case someone's wondering.
  • goahead97
    edited April 10, 2024
    Is the speed of WebDAV good enough for you? I have a 95Mbps Internet speed for download and upload. Pretty often the data transfer speed in WebDAV is only around 20 Kbps most of the time with services such as https://infini-cloud.net/en/
    or koofr. I got to see up to 3 MBytes speed at particular points in time.

    Anyway, I guess there is room for a higher speed in WebDAV considering the speed of my Internet connection, 95Mbps, is much faster than the speed I see in WebDAV. The slow speed I see in WebDAV makes using Zotero unfeasible.
    How did you overcome this?

    Thanks
  • koeglfryderyk
    @Kitsune5010, could you elaborate on your method?

    I want to reproduce it, but I cannot figure out how.

    As far as I understood, there are three steps:
    1. bring PDFs into Zotero, where Zotfile immediately renames and moves the files. 2. One by one, bring PDFs back into Zotero storage (these sync to my iPad, where I annotate them)
    3. when finished, 'offload' them by running them through Zotfile again

    I don't know how to perform steps 2. and 3.

    for 2., if I just move them manually in the file explorer, Zotero cannot find the files anymore

    for 3., I don't know how to run them through Zotfile again
  • inspiredlight
    edited August 15, 2024
    (deleted)
  • Kitsune5010
    @koeglfryderyk, sorry for the late response. I ended up getting Koofr working in the end after all, and it seems that Infinicloud is also a good contender. However, I just filled up Koofr (10GB), so I was revisiting this thread to re-orient myself to my previous workflow.

    Essentially, the workflow is as follows:
    1. Bring the file into Zotero - ZotMoov (replaces ZotFile) can move this to the 'offload' folder automatically.
    2. When you're ready to work with the file, highlight the files you want to work with and choose Tools -> Manage Attachments -> Convert Linked Files to Stored Files...
    3. The files will be turned into Stored Files in Zotero, which will then sync to whichever service you're using (Zotero Storage or WebDAV), and then down to your mobile device
    4. Work with the files on Mobile for annotation / metadata updating / etc. When finished, go back to your PC and choose ZotMoov: Move Selected to Directory on the item.
    5. The files will be deleted from your mobile device eventually, but all your annotations are still accurate and saved in Zotero.

    ZotMoov has also introduced a 'ZotMoov: Move Selected *from* Directory' option that ZotFile didn't have, and this might be a better option for step 2 above.
  • wahl
    edited October 4, 2024
    @Lee_Daegeon Thanks for the https://infini-cloud.net/en/ suggestion, it seems to be a good alternative indeed!
    However, I keep getting an error when setting it up: when adding the webdav login details, Zotero keeps saying security certificate is invalid, unknown issuer (Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER). Any workaround?

    >> UPDATE: never mind, I was running Zotero version 6. After updating to version 7 the problem is resolved.
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