Effects of changing data directory "in the middle of it" ?

digisus

Hello!
I'd like to change the data directory location from the default inside-the-profile location to another for easier backup (on an ubuntu system), separate from firefox.
Currently, I have several dozen references inside: What happens if I now change the data directory? Will all references/pdfs moved to the new directory automatically? Obviously, I do not want to risk losing the refs. :-)
Can anyone who changed the directory, share what happens?
Thanks a lot! digisus

adamsmith

You have to do two things:
1) Tell Zotero where the new data directory is
2) Move the content of your old data directory to that location

With that, changing the location of the data directory doesn't change anything and keeps all your data exactly as is.

(that said, what type of back-up strategy are you using that wouldn't cover your Firefox profile on Ubuntu? Don't rely on manual back-ups. Just set up back-in-time or deja dup for your whole harddisk and you're set).

dstillman

Also note that Zotero 5.0, which is very close to being released (and currently available in beta), will automatically migrate your data directory to ~/Zotero, so you could also just wait for that.

digisus

adamsmith, thanks for the help!
dstillman, thanks for the hint to v5.0. Sounds like a good idea to wait a bit.

HThole

The close availability of the final Zotero 5 sounds good.

But: I think it's a good idea to have a proper Backup of the "old" Zotero 4.X and especially it's data directory before installing the coming Zotero 5, even because Z 5 will migrate the library of files...

There are some instructions here to be found for backing up in the right way.