IT guide to deploying the Pendo Launcher

This article summarizes the components and instructions for installing Pendo by deploying the Pendo Launcher on your applications. Broadly, this is a two-step process:

1. Install the browser extension (Pendo Launcher) for your end users (visitors, typically employees).
2. Configure the extension on end-user devices.

Before you get started

Before you start, review the Plan your Pendo Launcher implementation article to help you decide on your target browsers and operating systems, on your Visitor ID source, and on the metadata you want to pull into Pendo.

Step 1 in this article includes a table of the deployment options available to you based on target browsers and operating systems.

Step 2 in this article includes a table of the available Visitor ID and metadata options depending on your chosen browsers and operating systems.

Step 1. Install the browser extension for your end users

The first step to deploying the Pendo Launcher extension is to install it on end users’ browsers using a managed settings policy. All supported browsers support managed installation of browser extensions in one of two forms:

• Force installation (recommended). The extension is installed on the end user’s browser and can’t be removed.
• Standard installation. The extension is installed on the end user’s browser and can be removed by the end user.

Pendo recommends force-installing for all users. If some resources in your company need to remove the extension for development or other purposes, you can create a subgroup of users that receive the standard-installed extension. For information about the browser-specific details for the ExtensionSettings attribute used to apply this policy, see the relevant documentation for:

• Chrome: ExtensionSettings: Extension management settings
• Microsoft Edge: A detailed guide to configuring extensions using the ExtensionsSettings policy
• Firefox: Mozilla policy-templates README.md: ExtensionsSettings

The following installation methods represent different approaches to applying your chosen extension policy.

Installation methods

You can use the following methods for managed installs of the Pendo Launcher browser extension. The optimal choice for your organization depends on your existing IT configuration and tooling. Before choosing your methods for installation, decide on an approach for sourcing your Visitor ID and metadata, which are also needed for Step 2 in this article. 

Depending on the methods you choose, you might be able to install and configure using the same tooling. For example, using Chrome Admin Console for your installation allows you to configure your API Key using Chrome Admin Console as well.

Note: We are in the process of updating the documentation for each of the methods listed in the following table.

* Chrome doesn’t support use of the Admin Console and OS-specific deployment methods at the same time. If your company uses one of these options for any other Chrome extensions, you must use the same deployment method to deploy the Pendo Launcher.

Step 2. Configure the extension on end-user devices

Configuring the Pendo Launcher extension involves choosing how you want to configure your API key (required), Visitor IDs (required), and metadata (recommended). From the table, choose:

• One option for configuring the API key for each of your target browser-OS combinations (required).
• One option for configuring the Visitor ID for each of your target browser-OS combinations (required).
• One or more sources of metadata for each of your target browser-OS combinations (optional).

If possible, we recommend that you choose the same option for configuring your API key and Visitor ID.

Additionally, we recommend that you choose at least one source of metadata. Metadata enhances Pendo analytics and guide targeting. Some metadata sources can be used in tandem. 

Note: We are in the process of updating the documentation for each of the configuration options listed in the following table.

{
  “id”: “john.doe@example.com”,
  “office”: “Raleigh”,
  “role”: “engineer”
}