Managing the Browsium Client Browser Extensions

It is important to develop a strategy to properly deploy and manage the Browsium Client software on end user PCs. As part of your strategy, two important system configuration options should be considered.

The first is to ensure the Browsium Client browser extensions are enabled for all browsers on each client PC. This is a must as the Browsium Client will not capture or send data to the Browsium Client Server without the extensions enabled.

The second is to block end users from disabling or removing the Browsium browser extensions once they’ve been enabled. This is optional but highly recommended.

These important configuration options can be managed by Group Policy in Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge (Chromium) and Google Chrome. Group Policy template support for Mozilla Firefox can be downloaded from https://github.com/mozilla/policy-templates/releases.

Alternatively, you can manage the enforcement of the browser settings for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge (Chromium) and Chrome by adding or changing registry settings manually. To modify settings manually in the local PC registry, administrators will need to use a registry editor. The default Windows registry editor which must be launched from the Run command is regedit.exe. For a large organization, registry edits can be scripted and applied using a variety of enterprise management tools.

The remainder of this section covers management of the Browsium Client browser extensions.

Enable the Browsium Internet Explorer Extension via Group Policy

Recent versions of Microsoft Edge (Legacy) require user confirmation before any new extension (or “add-on”) is enabled unless that extension is set to ‘enabled’ during the deployment process. The most common way to enable the Browsium Internet Explorer Extension during deployment is by utilizing Group Policy to make the necessary registry changes on client PCs. Alternative methods to modify the registry on client PCs, such as using a registry editing tool, a Visual Basic Script or making the changes to the registry with software distribution tools.

Group Policy - Understanding the ‘Add-on List Policy’

Administrators can control the use of specific browser extensions through the add-on list policy. Administrators can choose to enable or disable an extension as well as allow a specific extension to be managed by the user.

Policy Name: add-on list

Path: User Configuration or Computer Configuration node; Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer\Security Features\Add-on Management. To set this policy, an administrator can enable the policy and enter the GUID/CLSID of the Browsium extension to the Add-on List and set the value to 1.

Determining the GUID/CLSID of the Browsium Internet Explorer Extension

After installing the Browsium Client, go to the Tools menu in Internet Explorer and choose Manage add-ons.

You’ll then be presented with the Manage Add-ons interface where you should see Browsium Internet Explorer Extension in the list among the Toolbars and Extensions that are currently loaded in Internet Explorer.

Right Click on the Browsium Internet Explorer Extension and choose “More Information” from the dropdown menu.

The CLSID, (Class ID) will appear in the dialog box.

Click the “Copy” button and then paste the contents of this dialog box (including the Class ID) to Notepad for later reference and save the text file. When you make the registry changes documented above, you will need to use the Class ID to identify the extension in the policy.

To set this policy with a manual or automated registry entry, an administrator can create a registry value based on the GUID/CLSID of the extension in either of the following keys and then set the desired value. When you enter the GUID/CLSID be sure to include the open brace at the beginning and the close brace at the end.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext\CLSID\{CLSID}

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext\CLSID\{CLSID}

Each add-on is a value in this registry key with the following properties.

Name: GUID of add on which is {B3A6DA95-9243-48E9-AF2E-52F4FF155B9D}

Type: REG_SZ

Value:

0 - Add-on is disabled and cannot be managed by the end user.
1 - Add-on is allowed and cannot be managed by the end user.

The Add-on (CLSID) lists are empty by default.

Enable the Browsium Client Extension for Google Chrome

To ease your Group Policy setup, several templates can guide you through the configurable options. Group Policy templates, and associated guidance, are provided by Google and can be found on Google’s support site. You may find additional settings (beyond those documented here) that you may wish to enforce or enable based upon your organization’s preferences.

By default, Chrome automatically disables all extensions that are side loaded (installed by a 3^rd^ party program, like the Browsium Client installation package), requiring users to enable them manually. The only way to centrally enable the Browsium Client Extension for Chrome for enterprise deployment is via Group Policy for domain-joined systems.

The policy Configure the list of force-installed extensions (a.k.a. ExtensionInstallForcelist) allows you to specify a list of extensions that will be installed silently and enabled by default, without user interaction. This policy also works for side-loaded extensions, effectively overriding the default behavior in Chrome.

Each item of the list is a string that contains an extension ID and an update URL, separated by a semicolon (;). The extension ID is the 32-letter string found e.g. on chrome://extensions when in ‘Developer mode’. The update URL must point to an Update Manifest XML document as described at http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/autoupdate.html. Note that the update URL set in this policy is only used for the initial installation; subsequent updates of the extension will use the update URL indicated in the extension’s manifest.

For each item, Google Chrome will retrieve the extension specified by the extension ID from the update service at the specified update URL and silently install it. Users will be unable to uninstall extensions that are specified by this policy. If you remove an extension from this list, it will be automatically uninstalled by Google Chrome. Extensions specified in this list are also automatically whitelisted for installation; the Configure extension installation blacklist (a.k.a. ExtensionInstallBlackList) does not affect them.

A by-product of the ExtensionInstallForceList policy is that managed extensions are silently installed in Chrome, enabled by default, and block users from disabling or removing them. This is desired for enterprise deployment of Browsium Client. If this policy is ‘Not Configured’, users can delete any extension in Chrome, including Browsium Client Extension, from the Extensions page. This is undesirable, as side-loaded extensions that are deleted are automatically blacklisted and re-enabling them is tricky (but achievable). Contact Browsium Support if this happens.

To force-enable the Browsium Client Extension for Chrome and lock it down so users can’t disable or delete it, you will use the Configure the list of force-installed extensions policy. This process requires an XML Manifest, which references the Proton extension’s .crx file. Both must be available on a server or in the Chrome web store. Browsium is hosting these files for all customers on browsium.com.

Follow these steps to ensure that this method is properly configured using Group Policy for your domain-joined systems. These instructions assume you’re using the ADM template. The Group Policy location will change if using ADMX.

As of Chrome 33, the ExtensionInstallForceList policy is only enforced for domain-joined systems. All client PCs in your environment must be joined to a Windows domain or you will not be able to centrally manage the Browsium Client Extension. Attempting to configure ExtensionInstallForceList via the Local Policy Editor will result in unpredictable behavior of the extension.

Install Browsium Client software.
Download the Group Policy templates for Chrome from the Google support site.
Import the Google Chrome Group Policy template into your Group Policy editor.
Enable the policy Configure the list of force-installed extensions.http://dl.google.com/dl/edgedl/chrome/policy/policy_templates.zip
Enter the following value by selecting the ‘Show…’ button in the Options window and apply the setting.\

(This is the Browsium Client Extension ID followed by the URL for the manifest XML document, with no spaces in the string.)

adociibhpcfhbfkahfbdkakmehnmnkgd;http://crx.browsium.com/browsium-chrome-4.9.1.xml

The Browsium Client Extension for Chrome may have a different version number from the other Browsium Client and Proton components as maintenance versions are released. See the version number section of the Proton Version History KB article for details on the release date and version number for the Browsium Client Extension for Chrome.

Enable the Browsium Client Extension for Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox does not allow client software to install an extension and enable it by default. Nor does it contain a centralized management facility to keep users from tampering with extensions like Internet Explorer and Chrome. However, Browsium Client includes a facility to automatically enable the extension every time the user logs onto the system, so administrators can ensure that the Firefox extension is always enabled.

To enable the Browsium Client Extension for Firefox automatically, create the following registry value:

… for 32-bit Windows systems:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Enable Browsium Extension (REG_SZ) =
“C:\Program files\Browsium\Client\BrowsiumController.exe” /ef

… for 64-bit Windows systems:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Enable Browsium Extension (REG_SZ) =
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Browsium\Client\BrowsiumController.exe” /ef

Enable the Browsium Client Extension for Microsoft Edge (Legacy)

Microsoft Edge (Legacy) requires systems to be domain joined and logged in with a domain user account to use the Browsium Client extension. In addition, application sideloading needs to be enabled.

To do this, you will need to configure the following Group Policy setting:

Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\App Package Deployment\Allow all trusted apps to install

This setting must be set to ‘Enabled’ or the Browsium Client extension will not be installed and enabled for Microsoft Edge.

Enable the Browsium Client Extension for Microsoft Edge (Chromium)

Microsoft provides Group Policy templates that allow you to force installation of extensions based on a provided list of extension IDs and sources.

Download the Edge (Chromium) Group Policy templates if you do not already have them imported — (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download — You will need to list a version/build before the “Get Policy” link will become enabled.)
Locate the ExtensionInstallForceList policy, configure it and add the extension ID

ebiecfallkolbcgiafkjlfapnlnlhijf;http://crx.browsium.com/browsium-chrome-4.9.7.xml