Updates to Google Chrome deployment for macOS

@bcbackes sorry for the late reply. please go ahead and open a CRbug (https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/list) and link it here and I will make sure someone from our enterprise team looks into it. In the second step, please make sure to tag enterprise as the issue. Add as much detail as you can, screenshots etc.

@JarvisUno the PKG includes the latest version of Chrome at download time. It does not pull the latest version during installation. Chrome should auto update to the latest version as soon as it starts anyway. I will put in a request to have an online version of the installer with a PKG format. We usually offer offline installers for enterprises.

Also, for any other issues y'all encounter, feel free to email me and I will do my best to help you out. My email address was posted a few comments above.

@alexbauer I'm sorry for not updating my previous post. I must have done something wrong. Further testing I found that if I install Adblock Plus, then, add that extension to the block list and apply config profile it DOES disable the extension. Not sure what I was doing wrong during my initial testing, but, it is working as expected.

Thanks for getting back to me!

@bcbackes awesome! Thanks for the update!
@JarvisUno I was told by the engineering team that at the moment an online PKG installer is not something we plan on offering. Sorry. Wish I had better news.

@alexbauer It's minor but something I noticed on the Downloads page is that it still references "Chrome DMG for Mac OS X" and "Chrome PKG for Mac OS X". Unless I'm mistaken that should be "Chrome DMG for macOS" and "Chrome PKG for macOS".

Update 6/11/2020 - The Chrome for Enterprise Team has published a new kBase on Managing Chrome Browser Updates with Jamf Pro (macOS). This takes advantage of Jamf's Application and Custom Settings Payload.

Thanks @jamf_sam but could you add some clarification around the preference domain?

https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7591084?hl=en states to use com.google.Keystone

https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9923111?hl=en states to use com.google.keystone

Which is it? Does the keystone process look for both?

I tried setting this up on a Mojave machine but Chrome still starts with "Google Chrome may not be able to keep itself updated"

@bfrench Are you installing the "regular" Chrome or the Enterprise targeted .pkg installer that Google now makes available? The latter is available at https://chromeenterprise.google/browser/download/

Better yet, set up AutoPkg and AutoPkgr to automate downloading it.

I am using a script to pull the current version for first install. But Chrome launches the first time without auto update flipped on. I did not realize that the script @jamf_sam posted was only for "managed Chrome" which we currently do not utilize.

I found a script to pull the new pkg installer and that worked. Thanks

@jamf_sam regarding Manage Chrome Browser updates with Jamf Pro (macOS), I have followed the instructions to the point but the policy does not show in chrome://policy whereas a separate config profile for Chrome Enterprise is working fine. Am I missing something?

if I have machines that have non-enterprise pkg, can I just deploy a newer enterprise pkg on top of it to convert and update?

You should be able to do that, yes

@neilrooney can you try this? https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9923111?hl=en

@alexbauer thanks Alex, I did. No dice. Auto updates are not enabled on the device. :/

Do the CBCM settings for 'Auto-update check period' (0) and 'Chrome browser updates' (Updates disabled) have an affect on Macs? Currently testing w/ the enterprise installation v86.0.4240.80 and it doesn't seem to honor those two settings.

@alexbauer How does this work for education customers who do not have a current GSuite license? I tried to sign up here and received a message that I was not able to signup.

https://devicemanagement.google.com/signup/form?product=Chrome-Management

Is there a different build of Chrome for the M1 chips and if so how would that effect the URL listed for the PKG?

@alexbauer I would prefer to see a PKG for the universal binary version of Chrome, as I do not want to have to test, download and deploy two versions of every application we have to support for our organization, as native M1 Apple Silicon versions are released.

I understand that every organization will likely have different needs, so in that regard it would be best to make multiple enterprise PKGs available (Intel only, Apple Silicon only, Universal). Plus, since a universal version is available on your download page for consumers, a universal PKG version should be available to enterprise/education IT admins.

I would also like to point out that there was no discussion on pros and cons of a universal build with regards to enterprise/education IT admins at https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1142017.

Hey guys,
Is there a change in URL to download Chrome Enterprise using curl? Here is the old one that I have been using so far. url='https://dl.google.com/chrome/mac/stable/gcem/GoogleChrome.pkg'
/usr/bin/curl -s -o /tmp/${pkgfile} ${url}

Also is there a way to differciate Chrome Enterprise and legacy browser?

Thanks & Regards
VM

#!/bin/sh
pkgfile="GoogleChrome.pkg"
logfile="/Library/Logs/GoogleChromeInstallScript.log"
url='https://dl.google.com/chrome/mac/stable/gcem/GoogleChrome.pkg'

/bin/echo "--" >> ${logfile}
/bin/echo "`date`: Downloading latest version." >> ${logfile}
/usr/bin/curl -s -o /tmp/${pkgfile} ${url}
/bin/echo "`date`: Installing..." >> ${logfile}
cd /tmp
/usr/sbin/installer -pkg GoogleChrome.pkg -target /
/bin/sleep 5
/bin/echo "`date`: Deleting package installer." >> ${logfile}
/bin/rm /tmp/"${pkgfile}"

exit 0

This script seems to only install the intel version of Chrome on M1 macs for me, is there any setting changes that need to be added for me to get this to install the ARM version?

@spalmer  we do offer a universal pkg for all platforms.

This script here allows you to get the latest universal package: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9915669?hl=en

Our download page now only offers a universal PKG: https://chromeenterprise.google/browser/download/#

You can try this: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9915669?hl=en

@alexbauer Thanks for the link to the Universal package! The regular Chrome download site still has the choices. Now if you could just add the version number to the package file name it would be perfect.

Soo many "googlechrome.dmg" files laying around.  😉