Offline google chrome extensions

Question

Background:

• I manage an offline network of workstations.
• I have written a chrome extension that needs to be in the browser for our webapp to function
• I have published it through the chrome store (but not made it public)

Question:

• How do I install this extension without the internet

What I've tried:

• Windows GPO: Requires the update URL to be http://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx
• Windows Registry: same URL problem
• Unpacked extensions: prompts users, requires developer tools, and disables the extension when chrome is restarted.
• install crx: disables the extension when chrome is restarted.

Any other ideas, or ways around this? Chrome version 48.

Solution 1

I was able to do this on a regular chrome installation by doing the following:

1. Download the extension in crx format - how to download a crx file from the chrome web store for a given id
2. Unzip the crx file
3. I had to rename the _metadata folder to metadata
4. Open the chrome extensions page
5. Enable Developer mode
6. Click "Load unpacked extension..."
7. Select the unzipped folder

This worked for me when I needed to install Advanced REST client.

Solution 2

I got it to work actually, sadly forgot about this post until now.

I had the Business version installed as @gerardnimo suggested.

What I wound up doing is

1) setup and IIS server to serve both the CRX and the update xml. based on this guide. https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/autoupdate

2) Then i was able to install the extension via group policy.

Solution 3

Here is a thread that I've found. He suggests that you can use Google Chrome for Business.

Since September 3, 2015, Installing Chrome extensions off-line no longer work (and here ) due to Google trying to prevent malicious extensions being downloaded and installed. To install an extension off-line today, require you to install a signed pre-packaged full Chrome install, using Googles Chrome for Business. This functionality is controlled by a policy list. Or according to this post, you can use their Dev or Canary channels to run any extension. Their latest builds can be found here

Comments

[Xan]

His has 2 critical problems: 1) no autoupdate mechanism, 2) on every restart, a user be warned that he/she has unpacked extensions. Not very suitable for wide deployment.

[James Dev]

@Xan - Very good points, not suitable for mass deployment. I have not come across the warning you described in point 2 before. I came across this question due to the title, and was after a solution that would allow me to offline install extensions. I agree that this does not answer the original posters question adequately.

[blissfool]

Hey Matt. This is the method I've used as well. However, I've noticed that while it works for the initial install, it won't perform the auto update. Everything I read online indicates that the update needs to be done through the webstore. Or, it needs to be done "manually" by uninstalling the extension (remove group policy/restart chrome) then reinstalling the new version (add back group policy/restart chrome). Have you encountered this issue?

[Matt Ruge]

@blissfool Well, we haven't updated the extension since the initial deployment. But from what I've read, as long as you update the extension ID in the XML, and point it to a new CRX, I think it should install the new one. But it will be hard to test in our environment, we only use the extension for our VDI non-persistent vms. So the extension only survives for one session