no permission to install update

svetamilyaeva
This is a message I keep receiving when I try to update to a newer version (4.0?) following Zotero's notification:

A recommended update is available but you don't have permission to install it. To update automatically, modify the Zotero program directory to be writeable by your user account.

How can I do this?

Thanks!
  • aurimas
    What OS is this?
  • svetamilyaeva
    10.8.5
  • dstillman
    Did you manually transfer your applications from another Mac? That's generally the reason this would happen.

    In any case, easiest thing to do here is probably just to delete Zotero from the Applications folder and reinstall it from zotero.org. After that I suspect future updates will work.
  • melcior_sentis
    The same hppens in ubuntu 14.04
  • adamsmith
    In Ubuntu that happens when you have Zotero installed in a folder where you don't have write permissions (like /opt or so). The standard install location would be somewhere on ~/.local
  • worcblue
    edited August 10, 2015
    I have the same thing as svetamilyaeva, but in Windows 8. Is there a way that I can set it to update automatically rather than bother my system administrator again with either further updates or a reinstall?
  • adamsmith
    software updates on Windows typically requires admin privileges, don't they? How do you manage with other software (browsers, e.g.)?
  • worcblue
    I have managed with assistance from the administrator. The zotero prompt:

    "A recommended update is available but you don't have permission to install it. To update automatically, modify the Zotero program directory to be writeable by your user account."

    suggests that you can do this without administrator access, so I was just wondering how exactly. How do I "modify the Zotero program directory to be writeable by your user account."
  • pthistlethwaite@gc.c
    if, following Dan Stillman's advice from May 2014, i delete Zotero from the applications folder, will i lose my data?
  • dstillman
    No, deleting Zotero from /Applications won't affect your data.
  • hinckelbc
    @ lgbouma: did not work using the command you've mentioned, I am also getting the same error message that I cannot update zotero automatically
  • dstillman
    edited August 3, 2017
    @hinckelbc: I deleted that post, which wasn't really proper advice (and people shouldn't run sudo commands they don't understand).

    What OS is this, and how did you install Zotero?
  • hinckelbc
    to solve that I simply downloaded the latest .tar.bz2 version of zotero from the download page, extracted using dtrx and, after running the executable (either by clicking it or typing zotero from the command line from the directory it was extracted), I could lock the application to the launcher and call it from the launcher every time with no problem at all. And the version downloaded from the website checks automatically for updates, so now it's working properly.
  • emirsale
    the issue appeared on arch. Zotero has been installed from AUR. Yay does recognize the version to be outdated but does not propose that of advance. An update inside the app is restricted due to the permissions. Sudoing is not allowed for zotero because of
    ```
    $ sudo /usr/lib/zotero/zotero
    Running Firefox as root in a regular user's session is not supported. ($XAUTHORITY is /tmp/xauth_ASGAyg which is owned by user.)
    ```
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