Today, I have found that something had changed registry values for Chrome policy in my laptop.
It is in 'ExtensionInstallWhitelist' which as the name suggests whitelists chrome extensions.
So, Now I have three extension ids, but don't know how they got there. I googled them and found that one of them belongs to an old malware. But remaining are getting no results.
Is there any way to search for extensions using their ids, or does extension ids change with time and machine?
You can simply goto this URL: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/TEXT/ID_HERE. The TEXT part doesn't matter, it will redirect automatically.
However, note that if the extension is installed locally, or is private, it will not appear on the webstore. Locally installed extensions will have an orange icon in the bottom-right of their logo on the chrome://extensions page.
See also: How is the Chrome Extension ID of an unpacked extension generated?
another alternative, if it is an extension you already have installed:
got to chrome://extensions
enable "developer mode"
ctrl+f and write the id (or just the first 3-4 characters of the id)
Related
I have a Chrome Extension (page action). The extension is loaded in developer mode (not from the store).
The extension is used in two sites, both of which URLs are in the manifest.
When I go to one of the sites, the page icon is enabled and when I click it, it runs fine.
When I go to the other site, the extension icon is also enabled but when I click on the extension, instead of running the action, the extension menu appears (as if I had right-clicked the icon instead of clicked it).
When I hover the page action icon, in both sites I get the text "Has access to this site".
Which are possible causes for this behavior?
Something definitely changed with the manifest.json handling of the most recent Chrome update. (In my case, "Version 72.0.3626.96 (Official Build) (64-bit)" on Windows.) My extension stopped working in a way similar to what you describe.
The solution to my problem was to remove the specific url permissions I had specified in the "permissions" section, and replace them with <all_urls>. I tried tightening them back up again, but the only other thing that worked for me was https://*/*.
I tested this on several machines that had the previous version of Chrome and they had the same behavior... successful operation before the Chrome update, no response after. The icon displayed properly and showed "Has access to this site", but my background page refused to run.
Good luck! Hopefully this helps!
Have an extension that has a good number of installs 10k+ and I'd like to open up a walkthrough page after it's installed from the Chrome Webstore only.
The problem is I never requested the tabs permission when I initially deployed it, so requesting that permission now (in order to lookup the focused tab's url and determine if the install happened from the Chrome Webstore host) causes problems because then all existing installs will have the extension disabled when the auto-update rolls out (due to the new permission request).
Are there any other ways of determining if the install is coming from the Chrome Webstore? I'm not trying to bypass any legit privacy/permission issues. Rather, looking for a technique that allows me to open a window only when it's needed.
Appreciate any thoughts.
I use two different Chrome profiles (users) on my laptop: one for my work stuff and one for my personal browsing.
Sometimes I click a link from HipChat and it opens it in the personal profile even though it's for work (e.g. login.work.com). (This is because I happen to have been in my personal chrome window most recently.)
I'd like to make a chrome extension I can install in my personal profile to match the URLs of *.work.com and send these over to the work profile window.
I haven't found a way to open a url into a different profile. Anyone know of a way?
(A hacky idea I got from reading https://superuser.com/a/289618 is maybe I could shell out to something along the lines of google-chrome --user-data-dir=$work_profile, but I'd be happier if there was a JS API and I didn't have to ask permission to run programs on the user's computer.)
Dropping an answer in case it's still useful to anyone.
I built my chrome extension CopyTabs (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/copytabs/obkbjogekcjalnaebheboejhfkamadkg) to do something similar. It is able to open links, current tabs, selected tabs or windows, in the current chrome user profile, another chrome user profile or another browser entirely.
I made use of chrome.exe --profile-directory="profileName" to open URLs in a selected profile, but this has a handler that runs on the user's machine, with profileName being the internal name of the chrome profile, for example --profile-directory="Profile1" instead of --profile-directory="My Name As Profile".
So to answer your question, no I don't think there's anyway around a local handler on the user's machine to achieve this functionality.
Though the question is an old one but maybe someone is looking for an answer.
In the new versions of chrome when you right click on a link, in the pop-up menu, there is an option to open the link in another profile. For this to work, ofcourse, there need to be multiple user profiles in Chrome.
Works like a charm!
Hope it helps.
There is no solution for this. It would need a handler, a separate program, that captures the URL before it reaches Chrome, parses your preferences for which URLs go to which profile and then starts the specified Chrome installation with specified profile flags.
However, afaik, such a program does not exist (at least on Windows).
Further, Chrome cannot even select which profile out of many is selected, when Chrome is started from the OS "call URL to be opened" function and NOT started by user-activated clicking on a Chrome application shortcut (with specific profile selection instructions).
Naturally, the latter works 100% wonderfully on Firefox, which has built-in profile selector after the browser has been started, and regardless of which method was used to start Firefox (user click on Firefox icon or OS pipe of "open URL" to Firefox).
So; no solution in Chrome.
I believe that Account Surfer should be able to do the things that you're looking for. Here's an overview from Windows store:
Quickly switch between accounts and browsers with Account Surfer.
Decide what account or browser to use when opening the link.
Read more:
https://dospolov.com/posts/handle-chrome-profiles-with-account-surfer
https://trello.com/b/QOLCmlg3/account-surfer-roadmap
Yes u can:
install extension like this https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/open-in-ms-edge/mjoebkkejejidnkfdekpbooceogbapnf
copy address of profile (for example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --profile-directory="Profile 2)
Insert it in settings of extension
profit
OR
Use Browser Chooser 2
The app finicky did the trick for me. You can check out this link for installation and configuration for the same.
Finicky example configuration
I have an extension that is hosted in Chrome wwebstore, I want to make an installer that installs it automatically through registry, however, I seems that this method does not work anymore, and if it works it wont be activated. Is there any other possible solution after the last chrome updates.
No matter which method you use for an installer, the extension will be initially disabled and user will be presented with a question whether he wants to enable your extension.
That said, this is still the correct method. Add a key to the registry, on next launch Chrome will download the extension and present a dialog to the user.
The only way to install an extension "no questions asked" (on Windows) is through domain policies.
We have a Chrome Extension application that we have developed and would like to distribute it only a limited number of internal users.
This would be a private app, but to install it, users now have to follow the manual steps of going to Settings -> Extensions -> clicking on Developer mode -> drop the .crx in there.
I would like to know if there is a way to just have private App Store to privately distribute this app and not have it on Chrome Web Store for anyone to see/download/use.
Thanks for your help in advance ---
You use the Chrome Web Store. 2 options are available:
Share an unlisted Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store (anyone with the link will be able to install it)
Chrome customers using G Suite or Education can use the Chrome Web Store to host private apps restricted only to their users on the same domain.
See https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2663860
Update 2016-05-20: From https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2663860?hl=en
Chrome customers using Google Apps for Work or Education can use the Chrome Web Store to host private apps restricted only to their users or people who you share a direct link to the app with. Users from the same Chrome domain will see their organization's private apps in a private collection in the Chrome Web Store.
Update 2015-10-27: Google has updated installation policies in attempt to curb malicious extension activity on Windows. On the chrome extension hosting page:
Warning: As of Chrome 33, Windows users can only download extensions
hosted in the Chrome Web store, except for installs via enterprise
policy or developer mode (see Protecting Windows users from malicious
extensions). As of Chrome 44, no external installs are allowed from a
path to a local .crx on Mac (see Continuing to protect Chrome users
from malicious extensions).
With the latest versions of Google Chrome, users are no longer going to be able to just click a download link and have it install with the correct HTTP headers. This leaves you with 4 possible options:
user downloads extension and then drags the file into the extension management page (This no longer works on Windows per update note)
change registry settings on users computers
user downloads extension source folder and loads extension from source in the extension management page
Re-enable extension installs with command-line flag as suggested by Rob W
I have created and distributed several different Google Chrome extensions privately within my company and went with the first option. It is an extra step for the users but it wasn't a big deal. The users did not have to have developer mode enabled in their Chrome browser for this to work.
Yes, you can. You need to create the crx file through the google chrome "Extensions" page (visit: chrome://extensions/ NOTE: You cannot click the link you have to manually copy and paste it, chrome does not allow you to visit the link from href)
On the Extensions page, check the box "developer mode", choose "pack extension".
Now you get the following popup. Click "browse" for the Extension root directory and navigate to the folder containing your extension (the folder containing manifest.json).
The first time you do this, ignore private key file. It will generate one for you automatically and save it to the same folder.
When you release a new version of the extension, use the generated private key file. This way for someone to update the extension, it won't ask for permissions again.
TO INSTALL
To install the extension, just get each user to manually drag the newly created extension crx into the Extensions page (chrome://extensions/).
The first time it will ask for permissions just like when installing from the Chrome Web Store.
For each new version, as long as you used the same private key file for each new version, users just drag the new version into the Extensions page the same way except they won't be asked for permissions again. It will just update the extension.
WARNINGS:
Beware the way you distribute the extension crx file. When user downloads the extension .crx file in Google Chrome, it will think you're trying to install the extension from that page, and come up a warning "couldn't be installed from this site". You need to make sure that users know to ignore the error, and check their downloads folder for the extension to manually install it.
Whenever you download the .crx file, Chrome will give the user a warning saying it might contain a virus. There is no way around this. Even if you zip up the file, Chrome will read the contents and give the same warning. Some users won't install because of this. A workaround is to rename the .crx to something else, like .RENAME_TO_CRX, but this is a hassle and a lot of users either won't want to or won't be able to figure it out.
You can't update the extension automatically. It's just not possible because Chrome manually blocked this capability.
NOTE: Another way would be to release it on the Chrome Store, but only for certain users (not public). Only people with the link could install, OR you could make it only certain people can install and even if you had the link but weren't part of the group, they couldn't view the extension. Only problem here is if you don't want Google to see the extension.
If you use Google Apps, it appears there's now a way to publish apps and extensions to the Chrome Web Store, but only make it visible to users of that domain.
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2663860?hl=en
Since its internal, could you change registry settings on their computers?
Because if so, you can use them to allow easy install of extensions from outside the web store or force install extensions on their machine.
Look here....
http://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-templates
http://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-list-3#ExtensionInstallSources
http://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-list-3#ExtensionInstallForcelist