CODEWITHSUNDEEP
google-chromegoogle-chrome-extension
Oz6848
Oz6848

Reputation: 329

Add external extension by using registry

I use Windows 7(64bit) and repeat steps in Google Document.

This is what I added in register.

In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Google\Chrome\Extensions\nbfjanngloflombfddlmkgnambnfhgjc
path="C:\Extension.crx"
version="2.1"

But extension isn't install.

Before testing .crx file distribution,

I installed and uninstalled this extension with unpacked files many times by UI(chrome://extensions) for development and tested setting policy by using register. (But I removed all of them now.)

Does it cause any problem?

But when I tested same thing in another clean PC(Windows XP 32bit) nothing is changed, too.

I already checked some common mistakes in Google Document several times, but I can't find any mistakes.

- Not specifying the same id/version as the one listed in the .crx
- Key created in the wrong location in the registry
- Registry entry points to the wrong path to the .crx file (or path specified but no filename)
- Permissions problems on a network share

Are there other common mistakes I should check to install external extension?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 10172

Answers (2)

FuzzyAmi
FuzzyAmi

Reputation: 8137

According to this page - https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/external_extensions - it is no longer possible to use the registry method to install locally-hosted .crx files. in fact, the only allowed extension are those from Google's Extension gallery.

See a quote below from Google's policy page:

An extension that's installed automatically is known as an external extension. Google Chrome supports two ways of installing external extensions:

-Using a preferences JSON file (Mac OS X and Linux only)
-Using the Windows registry (Windows only)

Both ways support installing an extension hosted at an update_URL. In the Windows registry, the update_URL must point to the Chrome Web Store where the extension is hosted.

Upvotes: 3

Rob W
Rob W

Reputation: 349042

  1. The extension-ID cannot be chosen at random.
    I've installed your .crx file in Chromium 18 (Linux), and Chrome 18 (Windows 7 in VirtualBox), and the correct extension-ID is: lhmigopickaaleaaelbppeabnbdgcdhe
  2. The version number has to match. In the manifest.json file, in the extension, I see "version": "1.0". So, the version entry in the registry has to be 1.0.
  3. I was not able to install the extension via the registry using the steps from the Documentation. I've found two right ways to install the extension through the registry. Create a .reg file, and paste the text below to install the extension:

set_page_color_chrome-extension.reg (based on this file, md5: 10a1b95c249a2481bc88d3d1aead0e33).

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions\lhmigopickaaleaaelbppeabnbdgcdhe]
"version"="1.0"
"path"="C:\\set_page_color.crx"

Replace HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE with HKEY_CURRENT_USER if you're running in permission trouble, or if you want to install the extension only for the current user.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions