Failed Version Check in a Mac Standard User Account

RobKrulak

I use Zotero on a Mac running Mojave, and do my work in a non-administrator (Standard User) account.

I cannot update Zotero as a Standard User because of some permissions issue that does not request an Administrator override. Zotero just aborts the update and puts up an error message.

I update Zotero in the Administrator account, but when Zotero starts up in the Standard User account, it does not see that the most current version is running and initiates an update, aborts, etc.

Is there anything I can do manually to register the updates or disable the update check In the standard user account?

I know that segregating user and admin accounts is now, for the most part, old-school on a Mac, but I find it's a good firewall against my impulse to mess around with things.

Thanks.

dstillman

You can probably fix the startup error by clearing /Users/:user/Library/Caches/Zotero/updates.

Zotero isn't currently able to trigger the macOS admin auth prompt, so if you want to do updates manually from the non-admin account, you can set app.update.auto to false in the Config Editor in the Advanced pane of the preferences. (I'm not sure if that prevents it from caching those download files or just from prompting, but hopefully the former.) You'd then need to periodically switch to the admin account and update Zotero there.

Of course, that would mean you wouldn't get updates — including important bug fixes — as soon as they were available, which isn't great. So you could just leave it as is and clear the cache files when you get notified of an update, and then go update it from the admin account. Alternatively, you could create an Applications folder in your home directory and put the Zotero app there instead of /Applications, though maybe that defeats the purpose of what you're trying to do with the separate account.

RobKrulak

Thanks. #1 did it.