I also am trying to deploy this in Citrix... How would you direct the creation of the profile to users network drive instead of C drive. is there a certain syntax that needs to be used? 'H:\Zotero' would be the preferred directory I tried placing that in the pref mentioned above but it still defaults to C:\%userprofile%
You can pass -profile (the same flag as in Firefox) to specify an absolute path to a profile directory, but that might not be necessary depending on how AppData works in your setup — if that already goes to H: automatically you don't need to worry about that.
-datadir you'll want to set to either a different absolute path or 'profile' to store the data directory within the profile directory. The latter is mostly for portable installations or other installations where the mount point will be changing, so if you know that the drive will always be H:, you can just specify -datadir H:\Zotero.
I was able to get it to work by using the following: Sequenced the installation without running (first run) at the end Changed the Zotero.js file to pref("extensions.zotero.useDataDir", true); pref("extensions.zotero.dataDir", 'H:\Zotero');
But... the users need to make sure they create the Zotero folder before they launch the app.
That's not really a good approach — you shouldn't have to modify the installation files with every upgrade, and users shouldn't need to create the folder manually. It's much easier to just use a custom shortcut with one or both of the flags I describe above.
it is a static install....no upgrades will occur. When the sequencing the install...it automatically installs the appdata profile at C, I tried changing the dataDir to H drive via the preferences setting in the app but because the Sequencer account doesn't have an H drive...and the Text box doesn't allow for in-line typing (browsing seems to be only option) -> I can't capture this setting. The only way I was able to make it work was to disable updates and manually edit the Zotero files.
I'm talking about having to modify the Zotero files every time there's a Zotero upgrade that you apply.
I don't really know what you mean re: the rest — I'm not sure what preferences you're referring to. I'm just saying that the recommended way to do this is to have users click on a custom shortcut with one or both of those flags. You shouldn't need to do anything to the Zotero installation itself or even modify any preferences. You would just replace the shortcut it creates with a custom one.
We will be using the current release of 5.0.35.1 and will not be applying any upgrades, in fact, we will be blocking any upgrades.
I don't know if we are talking about the same thing.
This is installed once and streamed to user via Citrix
I am referring to installing Zetero by Virtualization with AppV and then streaming it. I tried pointing the DataDirectory location to H:\Zotero by going to edit > preferences > advanced > Files and Folder tab and selecting custom ...but I can't enter H:\Zotero in the field or browse to it because that drive isn't available to the account that does the sequencing.
In order for the end users to be able to have a data directory and use Zotero (before installing the browser plug in), it needs to be associated with their only writeable drive...which is H.
How would a short cut work in this environment? Where would we place the shortcut and what is it pointing to?
We will be using the current release of 5.0.35.1 and will not be applying any upgrades, in fact, we will be blocking any upgrades.
But you're planning to upgrade Zotero in the future, yes? 5.0.35.1 is already out of date and lacking some major new features, and you can't keep people on that forever. So I'm just saying that, if you're modifying zotero.js, that's a change you'd have to make every time you updated the software (though it could be scripted).
Anyhow, the requirement that users create a directory manually first is a bit more unreasonable, so I was mainly trying to help you address that. But I'm not really familiar with how virtualization setups work, so maybe my suggestion isn't relevant. I was referring to a standard Windows shortcut to zotero.exe. One way or another zotero.exe is being launched, and it has to have access to H: at that point to write data to it, so can you not use the command-line flag when you launch zotero.exe?
Perhaps more problematic, you should be aware that the Zotero Connector relies on a local HTTP connection to Zotero, and the word processor plugins rely on some other IPC. If all the Zotero, browser, and word processor instances are running on the same machine, you're going to run into problems with the communication, including things like people saving to other people's libraries or bringing up other people's libraries when trying to cite. The Connector ports can be modified per account, but the word processor IPC currently doesn't work on a simultaneous multi-user machine.
Upgrade Storage
How would you direct the creation of the profile to users network drive instead of C drive. is there a certain syntax that needs to be used?
'H:\Zotero' would be the preferred directory
I tried placing that in the pref mentioned above but it still defaults to C:\%userprofile%
There are two relevant parts: the Zotero profile directory and the data directory.
You can pass
-profile(the same flag as in Firefox) to specify an absolute path to a profile directory, but that might not be necessary depending on how AppData works in your setup — if that already goes to H: automatically you don't need to worry about that.-datadiryou'll want to set to either a different absolute path or 'profile' to store the data directory within the profile directory. The latter is mostly for portable installations or other installations where the mount point will be changing, so if you know that the drive will always be H:, you can just specify-datadir H:\Zotero.Sequenced the installation without running (first run) at the end
Changed the Zotero.js file to
pref("extensions.zotero.useDataDir", true);
pref("extensions.zotero.dataDir", 'H:\Zotero');
But... the users need to make sure they create the Zotero folder before they launch the app.
When the sequencing the install...it automatically installs the appdata profile at C, I tried changing the dataDir to H drive via the preferences setting in the app but because the Sequencer account doesn't have an H drive...and the Text box doesn't allow for in-line typing (browsing seems to be only option) -> I can't capture this setting. The only way I was able to make it work was to disable updates and manually edit the Zotero files.
I don't really know what you mean re: the rest — I'm not sure what preferences you're referring to. I'm just saying that the recommended way to do this is to have users click on a custom shortcut with one or both of those flags. You shouldn't need to do anything to the Zotero installation itself or even modify any preferences. You would just replace the shortcut it creates with a custom one.
I don't know if we are talking about the same thing.
This is installed once and streamed to user via Citrix
I am referring to installing Zetero by Virtualization with AppV and then streaming it. I tried pointing the DataDirectory location to H:\Zotero by going to edit > preferences > advanced > Files and Folder tab and selecting custom ...but I can't enter H:\Zotero in the field or browse to it because that drive isn't available to the account that does the sequencing.
In order for the end users to be able to have a data directory and use Zotero (before installing the browser plug in), it needs to be associated with their only writeable drive...which is H.
How would a short cut work in this environment?
Where would we place the shortcut and what is it pointing to?
Anyhow, the requirement that users create a directory manually first is a bit more unreasonable, so I was mainly trying to help you address that. But I'm not really familiar with how virtualization setups work, so maybe my suggestion isn't relevant. I was referring to a standard Windows shortcut to zotero.exe. One way or another zotero.exe is being launched, and it has to have access to H: at that point to write data to it, so can you not use the command-line flag when you launch zotero.exe?
Perhaps more problematic, you should be aware that the Zotero Connector relies on a local HTTP connection to Zotero, and the word processor plugins rely on some other IPC. If all the Zotero, browser, and word processor instances are running on the same machine, you're going to run into problems with the communication, including things like people saving to other people's libraries or bringing up other people's libraries when trying to cite. The Connector ports can be modified per account, but the word processor IPC currently doesn't work on a simultaneous multi-user machine.