how to install Linux stand-alone version of Zotero?

Hi,

How do I "install"--if at all--the stand-alone version of Zotero for Linux? I found no instructions for this, either on the website or within the tarball that I downloaded. I do see that after unpacking the tarball, within the Zotero directory there are these files:

run-zotero.sh
zotero

Both are executable, and when I run either from the command-line with either ./run-zotero.sh or ./zotero, the Zotero stand-alone application appears. But, is that the correct thing to do? What's the difference between these two programs, if any? Is there a way to install Zotero in a more permanent fashion? In general, there are lots of options (Autotools type installation into /usr/local/bin, Yum or Apt-Get style package installation, Java JDK-style shell-scripted installation, etc.) Or, are we just to install it "manually" by making sure the right program (whatever that is) is in the $PATH variable? If so, that's fine. I can handle it. It's just that it's always a little unnerving when the trail that leads from a "Download" page goes cold, and you're left with just an unpacked tarball with various bits and bobs in it, and a README that doesn't tell you anything you don't already know and definitely doesn't offer any guidance on how to install or what to do next.

Thanks
  • run-zotero.sh is an artefact that'll go away, ignore that.

    zotero is what you want to use and that's indeed just a file that you run, i.e. "installing" it just means excracting the tarball to wherever you want to run it from. I'd recommend using a location that your user has write access to, so you don't need su privileges to update. A typical location would be something like ~/.local/bin

    There are no official packages, though there is both an open ticket
    https://github.com/zotero/zotero-standalone-build/issues/52
    and an inofficial ppa:
    https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/25317/install-zotero-standalone-from-ubuntu-linux-mint-ppa/p1
  • (There's also an open ticket for adding a README. See the thread linked from there for a few other details.)
  • Thanks! Sorry if my tone was overly snarky.
  • I had Zotero standalone working on my old computer (Elementary OS Freya 32-bit). I don't recall having problems installing it.

    I got a new computer (Elementary OS Loki 64-bit). I downloaded the standard Linux version of Zotero standalone and could get it to run -- see neptunestation's comments above. However, I see now that this was version 4.[something]. When I import my data files from the old computer, Zotero says the database is incompatible, and that I must upgrade to version 5.[something]. And the database won't load.

    I can't remember how it is that I installed/upgraded to the 5.x beta. No problem -- I removed the 4.x package, and I did find the 5.x beta source files, and downloaded them.

    There does not seem to be, however, a *.sh file in that download. I simply can't figure this out. (And unfortunately I also find incomprehensible the counsel offered at https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/source_code.)

    Help would be appreciated. Thank you! Oh and I do not have my files fully backed up to the zotero.org server so that won't work.
  • edited April 25, 2017
    @janew1: You don't need any source files — that's for developers. Just re-download the 5.0 beta and run ./zotero or the "Zotero" desktop file.
  • edited April 25, 2017
    Thanks for your quick reply! Unfortunately, the desktop file wouldn't run, or respond in any way. I realize now that your other suggestion -- "run ./zotero" -- would have been from a terminal window, but I didn't try that.

    What I did was copy the contents of the archive into a folder in /opt, rewrite the desktop file with absolute paths ([edit] because I still haven't figured out how Linux works), and put it in /usr/share/applications. (This also allowed me to add a "Category" entry so Zotero now appears in the app launcher.)

    I then replaced the database with the one I had saved from the old computer, and everything seems to work fine. I realize this is pretty crude, but hopefully it doesn't break anything that matters.
  • edited May 2, 2019
    To launch Zotero from terminal you can unpack the archive in ~/.local/share/applications and it will create a folder Zotero_linux-x86_64:
    /home/USER/.local/share/applications/Zotero_linux-x86_64

    If you don't have a bin directory in your /homer/USER/.local/ then make one:
    mkdir /home/USER/.local/bin

    Make a symbolic link from the Zotero application directory to the .local/bin directory:
    ln -s /home/USER/.local/share/applications/Zotero_linux-x86_64/./zotero /home/USER/.local/bin/zotero

    Open a terminal and type zotero to start Zotero stand-alone version.





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