Disable check for updates?

Ulrich Windl
Hi!

Can I disable checking for updates in the stand-alone version of Zotero? Do you really need to know where and when Zotero is running?
  • adamsmith
    Can I disable checking for updates in the stand-alone version of Zotero?
    yes. Toggle the app.update.auto and app.update.enabled hidden preferences: https://www.zotero.org/support/preferences/hidden_preferences
    Do you really need to know where and when Zotero is running?
    this is not the first time your posts here include this type of rather unfriendly editorializing. Please don't. Just ask your question and we'll be happy to help.

    Also, I'm pretty sure the update function just sends a single, anonymized update request per day. We spend a lot of time telling people to update Zotero even with the defaults as they are, so there is a good reason for having it check for updates automatically (it's also the default mozilla setting).
  • Ulrich Windl
    So I guess that update check was inherited from Firefox (what Zotero Standalone really is under the hood, it seems)? In Firefox you can disable that (assuming that it actually works).

    On "unfriendly editorializing": Different cultures may have different sensitivities regarding words and privacy. So if I may re-phrase my question: "Why is it a hidden setting?"

    And for those who are still wondering what I'm concerned about: If Zotero "standalone" checks for updates every time I start it, the server who is checked for updates effectively knows which IP address ran Zotero standalone, and when it did so.

    Comfort frequently is against privacy and security; some want comfort, some want privacy. Make them all happy.
  • adamsmith
    Privacy is a perfectly reasonable concern. I was objecting to the way it was phrased (because obviously knowing where&when you start Zotero isn't the purpose of this).

    Dan would have to say why it's hidden - my guess would be that it just has never been implemented, not least since it's not needed for the Firefox version (since you can disable add-on updating in Firefox).

    While I agree that it's important that you can turn it off (and you can) since you're the 2nd person to ever inquire about this, I'm not sure whether having it hidden but available for people who want/need it isn't the right choice.
  • dstillman
    Toggle the app.update.auto and app.update.enabled hidden preferences
    I would guess that just app.update.enabled is sufficient.
    If Zotero "standalone" checks for updates every time I start it, the server who is checked for updates effectively knows which IP address ran Zotero standalone, and when it did so.
    That's not really correct. The Mozilla update check (and our own in Zotero for Firefox) is roughly once a day, not every time you start the application.

    Otherwise, what adamsmith said: a visible preference for this was just never implemented, since it's specific to Standalone, and I'm not sure it should be anyway.
  • elshaday
    Hi,
    I am struggling to get the disable update option form the registry.
    Can any one help me to find the correct path where the update =true or update =false path is please?
    working on zotero 5.0.47
    I have to use powershell script to automatize my installation and integrate to SCCM but I can't get the correct path.
    Any help is really appreciated
  • dstillman
    @elshaday: I'm not quite sure what your question is. You can disable updates with the app.update settings in the Config Editor in the Advanced pane of the Zotero preferences. You can also make direct changes to prefs.js in the Zotero profile directory (with Zotero closed).
  • elshaday
    Thank you for your prompt response.
    Let me try to make it clear my question. I write a powershell script to automate it.
    For example this is to disable automatic update for SQL-Studio and its exact path is as follow.

    [string] $script:Path = "HKU:\@USR_ID@\Software\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\14.0\UpdateChecker"

    I would like to know where zotero add this path? I hope I am clear.
    The automatic update for SQL server management studio is under the Path HKU:\any-user\Software\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\14.0\UpdateChecker.
    =>The UpdateCher has a true or false value so I change this value and see what happen on the application side.
    Thank you
    Elshaday
  • Runner88
    @elshaday Zotero does not store such settings in the registry so there won't be a direct correlation to your SQL Studio example, but default settings are stored in a central location, located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Zotero\defaults\preferences\zotero.js as of version 5.0.23.

    The line to edit is
    pref("extensions.zotero.automaticScraperUpdates", true);

    and change the true to false. After that, all new (but I do not expect existing) Zotero user "profiles" will have automatic updates disabled as the default. FYI these "profiles" are created and stored at "c:\users\\appdata\roaming\Zotero\Zotero\Profiles\...."

    I'm deploying this "disable updates" setting by pushing out a version of zotero.js which has that line changed.
  • emilianoeheyns
    Also, is the update ping really that privacy sensitive? Yes, Zotero could know that someone on that IP runs Zotero at the time of the update check. I don't know what happens after that, but I'd venture to guess:

    1. That request is probably not stored for analysis, and as adamsmith mentions, that ping probably does not include your username or whatnot

    3. You visiting this forum gives Zotero *way* more information than just your IP address (but also your IP address)

    4. It is, as stated above, easily turned off. I have quite a few hidden prefs in my own project, and those are not muahaha-sneeky, they're just not interesting for most users, and more important, most are not safe to use for most users. Zotero is a connected app that has the capability to run external code (it's not exposed anywhere that I know of, but it *is* at base a browser that can run javascript), so having automatic updates is much more often than not in the users benefit.

    5. WRT "Do you really need to know where and when Zotero is running?", I'm from the Netherlands, which shares quite a bit of cultural sensibilities with Germany, and I can't read this any other way than very adversarial. You could have left off that latter sentence and would have gotten the same results (assistance in turning it off).

    But since ascribing malicious intent as a byproduct of communication is seemingly the norm in Germany: Do you always have a need to malign people when asking for their help?
  • ingo-m
    > Toggle the app.update.auto and app.update.enabled hidden preferences

    Thanks for this info - seems to have worked for me. This may be relevant for everyone using the odf-scan plugin, because of the need to pin the zotero version to 5.0.55.
  • adamsmith
    @ingo-m on ODF scan please see https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/320455/#Comment_320455
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