deploy bookmarks on chrome

[Dalmatian]

Is there a way to deploy bookmarks onto chrome?

[martel]

We copy the bookmarks and bookmarks.bak file and pkg that up in composer and deploy them.

[Look]

If your not already populating Chrome settings into the user template and you wanting them there for all new users you can user Master Preferences with a bookmarks file to import as part of it.
It's all JSON format so everything has to be perfect but once you get your head around it, it's pretty easy. It does however mean you have to dopretty much all Chrome settings using this method, any User Template files will mean there is an existing Chrome profile and prevent it from applying on Chrome first run.
Basically there are two files

/Library/Google/Bookmarks
/Library/Google/Google Chrome Master Preferences

The first can be copied directly out of an already configured Chrome Profile i.e:

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks

The second there are default ones and instructions available on the internet you can modify for your needs.
The two entries you need to put in the distribution section are

"import_bookmarks": true,
"import_bookmarks_from_file": "/Library/Google/Bookmarks",

If all this is a bit too complex or doesn't meet your needs @martel is right all you really need to is capture

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks

Then use FEU and FUT to populate it to machines.

[Dalmatian]

@martel does it hurt the existing users' bookmark on chrome?

[Dalmatian]

@Look hi i don't find the path /Library/Google/Bookmarks
/Library/Google/Google Chrome Master Preferences
and ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks even though i have created a bookmark folder on chrome

[bpavlov]

it doesn't effect current users. you have to create those directories/files and deploy using your packaging tool of choice.

[Look]

@Dalmatian They don't exist by default, basically by creating them you are enabling Chrome Master Preferences.
When you open Chrome for the first time (or the first time after deleting your Chrome profile) it checks for the existence of

/Library/Google/Google Chrome Master Preferences

if it exists and is valid it implements Master Preferences, otherwise it just opens as normal using the Chrome defaults to create the profile.
As soon as there is a Chrome profile in the users directory it immediately stops using Master Preferences for that user and uses the existing profile.
It's basically a Chrome specific default user template system.

[haynes]

I found that Chrome can pull bookmarks from Safari while preserving the order you created them in. As a login hook (launch agent in 10.11.x+) the safari bookmarks are copied from a folder in /Library (we have a Management folder for various things) to ~/Library/Safari. Using a configuration profile, I set chrome to pull the bookmarks from Safari so they are pulled from ~/Library/Safari when the app is opened.