Deploying Connect Extensions in Closed Environments

Locked-down or enterprise environments without access to the public internet generally require special steps to acquire and enable Connect web extensions. Depending on OS platform and browser, there are a number of methods for doing so.

Chrome

Method: Manual deployment Using Drag and Drop

Download the Connect extension CRX file from Google. To do so, right-click this link and select Save Link As: Connect extension for Chrome
Open chrome://extensions
Enable developer mode.
Drag-and-drop the CRX file into the chrome://extensions window to install.

Method: Background deployment via preference file

Requires network access to the Chrome update URLs located here:

https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

For user installs, run the following script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
EXT_ROOT="$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/External Extensions"
mkdir -p "$EXT_ROOT"
echo '{ "external_update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx" }' > "$EXT_ROOT/kpoecbkildamnnchnlgoboipnblgikpn.json"

For machine installs, run this script using sudo:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
EXT_ROOT="/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/External Extensions"
mkdir -p "$EXT_ROOT"
echo '{ "external_update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx" }' > "$EXT_ROOT/kpoecbkildamnnchnlgoboipnblgikpn.json"

Restart Chrome.
On startup, the extension must be enabled:

Note: If a user explicitly removes the extension, they are not prompted again and the extension is not installed.

Firefox

Method: Manual deployment

Download the Connect extension XPI file from Mozilla. To do so, right-click this link and select Save Link As: Connect extension for Mozilla
Open about:addons
From the menu, select Install Add-on From File.

Method: Deploying Aspera Connect add-on with custom build of Firefox

See Mozilla documentation:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Distribution_options/Add-ons_in_the_enterprise#Bundling_add-ons_with_a_custom_Firefox

Whitelisting the Chrome Extension

By default, all Chrome extensions are whitelisted. However, if your organization blacklists all extensions by policy, you can override the blacklist and allow the Connect extension to be installed by adding it to the whitelist.

https://www.chromium.org/administrators/policy-list-3#ExtensionInstallWhitelist

The instructional links below also include information on other extension-related policy settings that enable you to automatically install Chrome, force-install Chrome, and so on.

Note: These policies are intended strictly for configuring instances of Google Chrome internal to your organization. Use of these policies outside of your organization (for example, in a publicly distributed program) is considered malware and will likely be labeled as malware by Google and anti-virus vendors.

Provisioning Policy Using Chrome Policy Templates

Install Chrome policy templates: Detailed instructions at:
```
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/187202?hl=en
```
Set Chrome extension policies. Detailed instructions at:
```
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7517624
```
1. Create file com.google.chrome.plist in the following location:
```
/Library/Managed Preferences/com.google.chrome.plist
```
  Insert the following contents in it:
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> 
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> 
<plist version="1.0">
    <dict>
        <key>ExtensionInstallWhitelist</key> 
        <array> 
            <string>kpoecbkildamnnchnlgoboipnblgikpn</string> 
        </array> 
    </dict> 
</plist>
```
2. Restart Chrome.
3. To verify that the policy has been applied, enter the following in the address bar:
```
chrome://policy
```
  If the policy does not appear, try running the following:
```
$ sudo killall cfprefsd
```
  Then restart Chrome.