Primary source:

• https://zotero.retorque.re/file/apt-package-archive

(re)install using

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-pkg/master/install.sh | sudo bash

Mirrors:

See install.sh explanation below and adjust URL accordingly

• https://mirror.mwt.me/zotero/deb

This repository contains packaged releases of Zotero for Debian-based Linux systems and Crostini-enabled chromebooks, and the script used to build them. It also offers the latest nightly zotero-beta.

This repository updates to new releases of Zotero within 2 hours, usually faster.

Contents of the packages

The packages include the whole Zotero binaries, as built by Zotero teams themselves.

The packages provide a system-wide installation (into the /usr/lib directory), as opposed to a single-user installation (e.g. in your HOME directory).

They manage both desktop file registration and MimeType registration.

Installing Zotero

If you’re previously used the tarball install, delete ~/.local/share/applications/zotero.desktop.

Installing Zotero

To install Zotero, use the following commands:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-pkg/master/install.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install zotero

Note

You can use curl instead of wget by typing

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-pkg/master/install.sh | sudo bash

Updating Zotero

The Zotero programs provided by this repository have their self-update facility disabled.

Simply rely on on your system’s package manager to give you update notifications when a new version comes out.

Alternatively, you can use the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

install.sh will ask for sudo permissions to install the pointer to the apt repo, and to add the signing key to the keyring.

Beta packages

This repo also has the nightly beta’s, installable as the zotero-beta package. You can install these alongside the regular packages.

Package signing errors in Debian/Ubuntu/…

The accepted key format in Debian-based systems seems to have changed a while ago, which means the existing signing verification key you have may no longer be available during install. Re-running the install script will remedy that:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-pkg/master/install.sh | sudo bash

Instructions for installation using the new deb822 repo pointer format

add the -m sources flag to the install script to install the new deb822 repo pointer format:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-pkg/master/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- -m sources

Instructions for installation on Crostini-capable Chromebooks

Instructions for installation on Crostini-capable Chromebooks can be found on the wiki.

Uninstall

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/retorquere/zotero-pkg/master/uninstall.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt-get purge zotero

What goes on under the hood in install.sh

The install.sh is convenient, but there’s a risk to running random scripts from the internet as root. The script is fairly simple though, and the actions can be done by hand fairly easily. In the end it installs either /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zotero.list or /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zotero.sources and the regular apt infrastructure is used from that point on.

Non-Debian systems

This project now also offers experimental Nix packages.

If you don’t have Nix on your system yet, you need to set it up first. Nix works on any Linux distribution (Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.) and macOS.

• Install Nix: Follow the Official installation instructions

Optional: Use the Binary Cache

To avoid building Zotero from source, you can use the retorquere cache. This will download the pre-built binaries directly.

If you have Cachix installed, run:

nix profile install nixpkgs#cachix
sudo cachix use retorquere
cachix use retorquere

Try it

Run Zotero immediately without a permanent installation. The files are kept in a temporary cache and won’t touch your system configuration.

# Run the Stable version
nix run github:retorquere/zotero-pkg#zotero

# Run the Beta version
nix run github:retorquere/zotero-pkg#zotero-beta

Install it

nix profile add "github:retorquere/zotero-pkg#zotero"

Developers

To rebuild this repo you need:

• a deb-based system (I use Ubuntu)
• node