Zotero and shared folders on Linux virtual machine

franzi.poldy
I'm a long term Zotero user on Windows 10. I don't sync to the cloud - i.e. I keep everything local in the default directory, C:\Users\user\Zotero, with my attachments in C:\Users\user\Zotero\Storage.
I have a Linux virtual machine running in VMware Player in Windows 10. The Linux guest can share folders with the Windows host, so I can access C:\Users\user\Zotero on the Windows host as /home/user/Zotero on the Linux guest.
I've installed Zotero in the Linux guest and confirmed that /home/user/Zotero is the default location it expects.
However, in Edit/Preferences/Advanced/Files and Folders/Show Data Directory, I can see the Zotero subfolders as normal except that, in place of .../Storage, there is a folder called .../pipes which contains a single file of 0 bytes and a long numerical name.
I can see .../Storage (and its subfolders) on the Linux file system, but Zotero can't.
What have I done wrong?
  • bwiernik
    What are the contexts in which you are using Zotero on Windows vs Linux? This can be a tricky and fragile setup—I used to use Zotero in both the native system and a VM sharing the database, and it lead to frequent corruption.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    edited January 20, 2021
    @franzi.poldy: If you're running a third-party package of Zotero on Linux, Zotero might be in a sandbox without access to the full filesystem. We can only provide support for the official tarball from this site.

    It could also just be some issue with folder sharing.

    But what bwiernik says in general — I would strongly discourage accessing the data directory across a VM boundary. You're very likely to corrupt your database or run into other problems. And we can't really provide support for this kind of unusual setup.
  • franzi.poldy
    Thank you, both. And, point taken. I agree it's an odd setup, and I should have explained. I've been with Windows for decades but am looking to move to Linux. Hence the VM while I learn how Linux works. I wouldn't be using Zotero like this as a general rule, but I did want to see how it worked and what the issues were - and the point about third-party packages might be important. I will try the official version. Also, I'm aware of the corruption risk. My main setup is well backed up.
  • bwiernik
    I would strongly recommend just setting up both installs to sync on their own with their own databases. You can set the VM Zotero to not download attachment files to save space.

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