Install Zotero standalone from Ubuntu/ Linux Mint PPA

Fellow Zoterians (those using Ubuntu/ Linux Mint),

I have added Zotero standalone to the Cogsci.nl PPA. You can install Zotero as follows (see also: http://www.cogsci.nl/software/qnotero#ppa):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:smathot/cogscinl
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install zotero-standalone
The package is a simple wrapper around the installer script for Linux (see also this post). I.e., the package automatically downloads the Zotero binary from zotero.org and installs it. Not the most elegant approach, but it should work.

Hopefully this will prove useful to the Ubuntu users out there.

Cheers,
Sebastiaan
«1
  • Hello Sebastiaan,
    Your repository it does not work for my in Lubuntu 12.10
    Here I paste the error menssage
    --
    ** (zotero:14678): ERROR **: Resource problem creating '/tmp/orbit-miguel'
    /usr/bin/zotero: línea 3: 14678 «trap» para punto de parada/seguimiento (`core' generado) ./zotero
    --

    note: miguel is my username

    Do you have any idea of the problem?

    I hope this help to improve the source you created.

    Many thanks for your work.

    I'll try in other machhines with ubuntu 12.04

    Cheers
  • Ok,
    I read here
    http://forums.zotero.org/discussion/20262/zotero-standalone-automated-installer-linux/
    you did not prepare the pakages for 12.10
    I'll wait for that.
    Cheers
  • Hi Miguel,

    Thanks for your feedback! 12.10 packages are available by now, so it should work in principle. But I'm afraid the problem is not completely clear from your post. Do you:

    - Fail to install the zotero-standalone package?
    - Fail to run zotero once it has been installed?

    The package simply downloads and extracts zotero into /opt/zotero. So if that folder exists and has files in it (does it?), the installer has worked as expected. In that case, the problem is likely not related to the installer package.

    If the problem has indeed occurred during the installation, you should see more output in the console. In that case, could you perhaps post the full output?

    Cheers!
  • Hello Sebastiaan,
    The changes you did solved the problem and today (right now) I installed Zotero Standalone without any problem in quantal.
    Great work
    Thanks a lot
    Miguel
  • Thanks so much for this, Sebastiaan! It's working great on my machine - Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon), as is Qnotero! Woo!
  • sudo add-apt-repository ppa:smathot/cogscinl

    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/bin/add-apt-repository", line 125, in <module>
    ppa_info = get_ppa_info_from_lp(user, ppa_name)
    File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/softwareproperties/ppa.py", line 84, in get_ppa_info_from_lp
    curl.perform()
    pycurl.error: (7, "couldn't connect to host")

    sudo apt-get install zotero-standalone

    Connecting to download.zotero.org (download.zotero.org)|205.251.209.121|:80... failed: Connection refused.
    >>> Failed to download Zotero
    >>> Aborting installation, sorry!
    dpkg: error processing zotero-standalone (--configure):
    subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
    No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
    Errors were encountered while processing:
    zotero-standalone
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
  • edited March 5, 2013
    I am running Lubuntu 12.04.

    I followed Sebastian's advice from Sept. 14, 2012.

    When typing "sudo apt-get install zotero-standalon", after the computer has downloaded the programme, this happens:

    ">>> Extracting Zotero
    >>> Target folder: /opt/zotero
    tar: /opt: Cannot open: No such file or directory
    tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
    >>> Failed to extract Zotero
    >>> Aborting installation, sorry!
    dpkg: error processing zotero-standalone (--configure):
    subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
    No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
    Errors were encountered while processing:
    zotero-standalone
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)".

    What's going on? What should I do?
  • this looks like the installer wants to put Zotero into your /opt folder which apparently doesn't exist (which I find surprising, but I don't know Lubuntu. Afaik the installer is written with Ubuntu in mind). You could try creating /opt and see if that makes a difference.
  • Sebastiaan: I also get a failure with the installer on a pretty standard Ubuntu 12.10. Here's the end of the error message. Happy to do more troubleshooting - I don't really need this urgently, but it'd be convenient.


    100%[======================================>] 25,500,524 2.70M/s in 11s

    2013-03-09 18:04:38 (2.12 MB/s) - `/tmp/zotero.tar.bz2' saved [25500524/25500524]

    >>> The destination folder (/opt/zotero) exist
    >>> Aborting installation, sorry!
    dpkg: error processing zotero-standalone (--configure):
    subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
  • Hi, Sebastiaan. Thank you so much for your ppa. However, I'm wondering how to install Zotero Standalone Version 4 on Ubuntu 12.10. I tried your PPA but what I got is still with Version 3. Your help is appreciated. Thanks.
  • Thanks for setting up this repo! Any chance of upgrading it to 4.0.6?


    There have been some bug fixes in 4.0.6 (see https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/28694?page=1#Item_11).
  • edited April 30, 2013
    It looks like Debian now has a Zotero Standalone package, edit: though it doesn't look like it's in the ubuntu repos yet.
  • It seems like the most recent update 4.0.13 has problems. After the zotero PPA updating in Ubuntu, all the data in each window have disappear.
  • moeuzotero: Just in case this is a problem in Zotero itself, can you provide a Report ID?
  • Any progress on this?
  • not sure what you mean. Sebastiaan's PPA works fine. Zotero Standalone is in the Debian repository, but it's not yet in Ubuntu universe.
  • Wonderfull I have the Zotero installed in my PC. Thanks!
  • Thanks Sebastiaan

    Perfectly working
  • works fine with ubuntu 14.04. thank you very much!
  • Works fine with ubuntu 14.04 thanks..

    What does the following lines mean though.. i am a bit worried.

    gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmp8sz9xi42/secring.gpg' created
    gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmp8sz9xi42/pubring.gpg' created
    gpg: requesting key CEE7C815 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
    gpg: /tmp/tmp8sz9xi42/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
    gpg: key CEE7C815: public key "Launchpad PPA for Sebastiaan Mathot" imported
    gpg: Total number processed: 1
    gpg: imported: 1 (RSA: 1)
    OK
  • every PPA you add gets associated with a key pair to identify it (every time you update from the PPA, the public key you imported will be compared to the PPA's private key). That's perfectly normal.
  • Worked fine for me as well on Ubuntu 14.04 - thanks a lot !
  • Thanks Sebastiaan. Works like a charm on Ubuntu 14.04!
  • edited September 5, 2015
    Hi Sebastian, thank you for this.

    I followed your instructions and got this message at the end:

    Errors were encountered while processing:
    openjdk-7-jre-headless:amd64
    E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

    It may be related to my distro, which is Elementary OS

    Cheers
    t
  • I got below error on the third command "sudo apt-get install zotero-standalone". I tried the "--fix-missing" flag but still got the same error afterwards. This is on ubuntu 14.04.

    =====================

    Err http://ppa.launchpad.net/smathot/cogscinl/ubuntu/ trusty/main zotero-standalone all 4.0.28-ubuntu1
    gnutls_handshake() failed: A TLS packet with unexpected length was received.
    E: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/smathot/cogscinl/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zotero-standalone/zotero-standalone_4.0.28-ubuntu1_all.deb gnutls_handshake() failed: A TLS packet with unexpected length was received.

    E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing?

    ====================
  • What version of python are you running in Ubuntu 14.04?

    In command terminal run .. python --version
  • Hi Sebastian - thank you!
  • Hi,
    It worked fine for me, I just had to change the first command: apt-add instead of add-apt.
    Thanks!
  • Hi, sebastiaan.mathot

    J've followed the procedure:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:smathot/cogscinl
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install zotero-standalone

    but when launch the program by main menu, appears that window:
    "Your Zotero profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible".
    J've already installed Zotero on Ferefox and work very well.

    Do you have a suggestion to solve the problem?
  • How do I upvote?
    'preciate this, thanks.

    Works on OK for me on Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS .
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