Upgrade StorageZotero process hangs in background on startup in restricted enterprise environment
Hello,
I'm currently attempting to deploy Zotero on Windows workstations within a restricted corporate IT environment, but I'm encountering a silent failure during the initial launch.
Observed Symptoms:
- The zotero.exe process launches successfully and remains active in the background (visible in Task Manager).
- The Graphical User Interface (GUI) never appears.
- There are no application crash prompts or error messages.
- We have checked the Windows Event Viewer and our enterprise Antivirus/EDR logs: there are no alerts, blocked DLLs, or terminated processes.
- For comparison, the exact same executable installs and functions perfectly on a personal computer outside of our corporate network.
Questions:
- What are the strict network prerequisites (Domains, URLs, Ports) that must be whitelisted on our proxy/firewall to allow Zotero to complete its startup sequence?
- Are there any command-line arguments we can use to bypass network checks on startup, or to force a verbose debug log to see exactly where it hangs (e.g., -ZoteroDebugText, -safe-mode)?
- Does the application require any specific folder permissions to local or roaming profiles that differ from standard Windows applications?
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
I'm currently attempting to deploy Zotero on Windows workstations within a restricted corporate IT environment, but I'm encountering a silent failure during the initial launch.
Observed Symptoms:
- The zotero.exe process launches successfully and remains active in the background (visible in Task Manager).
- The Graphical User Interface (GUI) never appears.
- There are no application crash prompts or error messages.
- We have checked the Windows Event Viewer and our enterprise Antivirus/EDR logs: there are no alerts, blocked DLLs, or terminated processes.
- For comparison, the exact same executable installs and functions perfectly on a personal computer outside of our corporate network.
Questions:
- What are the strict network prerequisites (Domains, URLs, Ports) that must be whitelisted on our proxy/firewall to allow Zotero to complete its startup sequence?
- Are there any command-line arguments we can use to bypass network checks on startup, or to force a verbose debug log to see exactly where it hangs (e.g., -ZoteroDebugText, -safe-mode)?
- Does the application require any specific folder permissions to local or roaming profiles that differ from standard Windows applications?
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
https://www.zotero.org/support/reporting_problems#alternative_logging_to_the_terminal Zotero does need full web access (excluding any standard content controls) to function normally, but a network failure shouldn't prevent Zotero from showing the main window at startup.