Our district is starting to use Chrome as a secondary browser. We currently customize a users experience with chrome via the GPO ADM files. However one thing we would like to do is have pre-installed webapps in the Chrome app page. These are simple apps that link to intranet applications and utilities that we use throughout the district.
I know you can force install apps from the chrome web store via the GPO ADM settings, but I don't know if I can apply this process to files hosted in our network.
According to Google's docs it doesn't have to be on the store, but it does have to be hosted somewhere accessible to the box:
Pre-installing via group policy
Using policy to deploy an extension or Chrome web app is the easiest
and most scalable method. This is the recommended method for pushing
extensions,as it does not require the CRX file to be on the machine. It must simply be available at a given URL.
To use this method, set the policy to "force install" the extension,
as described here.
Related
Google chrome has just announced that V3 extensions is the disallowing of remotely hosted code. What does this means ? are they disallowing iframe? I am unable to find any details on this?
As wOxxOm noted, it means all of your code must be in the packaged you upload to the Chrome Web Store, you cannot include code from remote servers.
From the Overview of Manifest V3 docs on developer.chrome.com:
A key security improvement in MV3 is that extensions can't load remote code like JavaScript or Wasm files. This lets us more reliably and efficiently review the safe behavior of extensions when they're submitted to the Chrome Web Store. Specifically, all logic must be included in the extension's package.
I'm trying to determine if I can access any browser api for chrome OS that will allow me to identify the device that its running on when the application has been force-installed in kiosk mode as a PWA.
We're running into exactly the same issue right now. The correct path seems to be to create a PWA and to connect it to a (pre-installed) extension that has access to the enterprise.deviceAttributes:
See https://developers.chrome.com/apps/migration:
"If there is a capability that your Chrome App has that the regular web platform can't provide, it might be available as an extension API. In this case, you use a progressive web app together with an externally connectable extension your web app can send messages to."
enterprise.deviceAttributes are only accessible if the calling App/Site is pre-installed to the device and not loaded dynamically, so it cannot run in the PWA by design.
But with this tutorial, it seems possible:
https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/messaging#external-webpage
We're looking into that right now and will post our progess here.
As I know you can install an extension outside the market without expected limitations, for example, autoupdate. You need to be in develop mode.
You can read this thread to understand the problem:
Install chrome extension as external extensions
The think is, anyone know another way to install an extension in your chrome (internal use in a company o class). I like to think that I can sign the extension with a shared certificate or something like that. And send the extension to the users.
Google no longer allows it.
Protecting Chrome users from malicious extensions
Continuing to protect Chrome users from malicious extensions
There are 4 types of extension install still available:
Direct installation from Webstore or inline install from a website, but hosted on Web Store.
Indirect installation through registry manipulation (e.g. companion extension for a native app), but it still must be hosted in the Webstore.
Local development installs; will nag on every Chrome restart and no autoupdate mechanism.
For Enterprise only, policy-based installs. Note that on Windows that requires computers joined to a domain. In this case there are no restrictions on where the extension is hosted.
I have (had) a hosted app in the Chrome Web Store, built using the following Developer documentation:
https://developers.google.com/chrome/apps/docs/developers_guide
After being in the Chrome Web Store for years, I recently received an email saying my app does not comply:
Your item did not comply with the following section of our policy:
Do not post an app where the primary functionality is to install or
launch another app, theme, or extension. For example, if your app’s
primary function is to launch a desktop app that the user has already
installed, that is not allowed. Another example is a packaged app that
just launches a website.
My question is: Did the rules change? A Hosted App IS an app that launches a website. Does anyone know what to change in a Hosted App to make it compliant again?
A Hosted App, a Chrome App (successor to Packaged App), and a Chrome Extension are three separate things, distinguished by how their manifest.json file is set up. What this email appears to be saying is that you're not allowed to have a Chrome App (which they call a packaged app) whose only purpose is to launch another app or a web site. They are saying nothing about Hosted Apps, which continue to be allowed, as far as I know. (I have one in the Chrome Web Store myself.)
Is your app truly a Hosted App? Or, is it a (legacy) packaged app or a Chrome App?
How do I go about creating and distributing a custom Chromium web browser? It should be identical to the Google version except that some extensions are pre-installed. It should still get updates off the chrome stable channel.
If you are a system administrator and want to do some custom Chrome[ium] deployments for all employees you should read this document.
There is a guide for pre-installing extensions and web apps as well.
Chrome doesn't have provisions to do this.
Extensions are installed per-user in their User Data directory.
If you have the liberty to do so, you could create a fresh user directory, install the desired extensions, then package up and ship that user directory as the default one.