Group library access to pdfs restricted

Andrew.JB

Hi,
We have a group library set up for multiple users. However, recently (last few weeks) I cannot access pdfs that were added by other users and they cannot access pdfs added by me ("cannot locate file...."). The citation details are visible in the group library as is the pdf symbol.

Any ideas?

Regards
Andrew

adamsmith

Sounds like https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/files_not_syncing
You'd see the PDF symbol even if the file itself isn't synced.

Andrew.JB

Thanks Adam,

Following the instructions on your link, standalone Zotero has the following sync error:

Zotero could not make a secure connection.
zoterofilestorage.s3.amazonaws.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because the issuer certificate is unknown.
The server might not be sending the appropriate intermediate certificates.
An additional root certificate may need to be imported.

Error code: SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER

Strangely, a colleague in the same office, a member of the Zotero group, does not have a sync error, but cannot open files that I have added recently - "Cannot locate file on disc......".

I have followed the help for the certificate error, but have had no success by changing the network.proxy.type settings.

Regards
Andrew

dstillman

The SSL Certificate Error page goes through all the possible options for fixing this. I'm not sure what you're trying to do with the network.proxy.type setting, but basically this just means something is intercepting your secure connections, and you'll need to either stop that from happening or add the custom CA to Zotero as explained in those instructions. If necessary you should show the page to your IT department, since they're likely to be the ones who are intercepting the connection.

adamsmith

(although it's odd that someone else in the same office doesn't have that issue? Did they configure their proxy somehow? That they wouldn't be able to access PDFs you add makes sense, though -- with the certificate error you also wouldn't upload them successfully)

Andrew.JB

HI,

Thanks for the replies.

The report ID: 1745773197

The strange thing is that a colleague in the same office does not have any problems
- we don't fiddle with the proxies. It seems any reference I add from this computer adds the citation info to the zotero.org library, but the pdf is not properly added.

Regards
Andrew

dstillman

You're still getting errors due to failed upload requests to Amazon S3. Follow the steps on Site Certificate Info for https://zoterofilestorage.s3.amazonaws.com/test and let us know what you see.

Andrew.JB

It looks like the institution I work for:

E = certadmin@netskope.com
CN = ca.nswdisrd.goskope.com
[additional fields removed — D.S.]

dstillman

OK, right, so that's a request that's being intercepted by your IT department. See the SSL Certificate Error page for details.

dstillman

As for your colleague, the possibilities are that their connection isn't being similarly intercepted, they followed the Cert Override steps linked from that page, or they just haven't been using file syncing (and other domains have been whitelisted by your IT department, though various other functionality would likely still be failing).

Andrew.JB

Thanks.

However, the Cert Override only provides instructions for Firefox, are their equivalent procedures for Chrome?

dstillman

Zotero is based on Firefox, so the cert-override instructions require an installation of Firefox that's properly configured for your network so that you can copy files over.

Andrew.JB

Great!
Thanks - the Cert Override worked.