Install on Chrome for macOS using configuration profiles

This article covers the process to auto-install the Pendo Launcher extension on the Chrome web browser on a Mac computer using Mobile Device Management (MDM) tooling, which involves:

1. Creating a .plist file on your own device.
2. Pushing the .plist file to your end-user devices.
3. Validating that the installation was successful.

The installation process doesn’t identify the visitors (end-users) or include metadata about them. Pair this installation with a follow-up configuration to identify visitors to Pendo. You can find a list of these options in the IT guide to deploying the Pendo Launcher.

For complete documentation on enterprise management of Chrome, see Google’s article: Set Chrome app and extension policies (Mac).

Prerequisites

This installation method isn't compatible with the Google Admin console method of extension installation, even for other non-Pendo extensions. If you already use Google Admin console for managing Chrome extensions, you must use that method for the Pendo Launcher as well.

Before you continue, we recommend that you read our Plan your browser extension implementation and IT guide to deploying the Pendo Launcher articles.

Extension ID

We refer to the Chrome extension ID as the extension ID. The extension ID for the Pendo Launcher is the same for all customers: epnhoepnmfjdbjjfanpjklemanhkjgil. This extension ID is referenced later in the installation process. It's used by the browser to identify which extension should be installed.

You can also find the extension ID in the Chrome Web Store listing of the Pendo Launcher: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pendo-launcher/epnhoepnmfjdbjjfanpjklemanhkjgil

Step 1. Create a .plist file

Create a file on your own machine called com.google.Chrome.plist. Copy the following code into the file and save:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>ExtensionSettings</key>
    <dict>
      <key>epnhoepnmfjdbjjfanpjklemanhkjgil</key>
      <dict>
      <key>installation_mode</key>
      <string>force_installed</string>
      <key>update_url</key>
      <string>https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx</string>
      <key>toolbar_pin</key>
      <string>force_pinned</string>
      </dict>
    </dict>
  </dict>
</plist>

If you'd like users to have the option to uninstall the Pendo Launcher extension, you can change the keyword force_installed to say normal_installed instead.

If you don't want to automatically pin the extension to the user's toolbar, you can remove the key toolbar_pin and its associated string, force_pin.

Step 2. Push the .plist file to your end-user devices

The preference domain for the configuration profile is com.google.Chrome. If your tooling requires the .plist file to be converted to a configuration profile before uploading, you can use the open source tool, mcxToProfile.

Your MDM tooling has specific instructions on how to deploy a custom configuration profile. Below is a list of documentation for some of the most common MDM tools used for Mac devices:

• Jamf. You can also see our own documentation: Install on Chrome for macOS using Jamf.
• Kandji
• Hexnode
• Workspace ONE

Step 3. Validate the installation

Pendo recommends gradual rollout of the installation, beginning with a device that you have physical access to. After the configuration profile is pushed to a given device, confirm its presence to validate your deployment process, and then confirm that the extension is installed to validate the content of your delivered profile.

Confirm the presence of the configuration profile

There are two ways to confirm a configuration profile is successfully installed:

Apple system settings

1. On your Mac, choose System Settings in your Apple menu.
2. Select Privacy and Security in the sidebar.
3. Select Profiles. You might need to scroll down to find it.
4. Search for your configuration profile, which is the name configured in your MDM tool, to check that it's present. Double-click the profile to see the plist information.

The command line

1. Open the Mac terminal app.
2. Enter the command cd /Library/Managed\ Preferences to navigate to the managed preferences folder.
3. Verify that the com.google.Chrome.plist file is present.
4. Enter the command defaults read /Library/Managed\ Preferences/com.google.Chrome.
5. Verify the contents match the following:

{
    ExtensionSettings =     {
        "epnhoepnmfjdbjjfanpjklemanhkjgil" =         {
            "update_url" = "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx";
            "installation_mode" = "force_installed";
            "toolbar_pin" = "force_pinned";
        };
    };
}

Validate the content of your delivered profile

After you've confirmed that the configuration file is present, validate that the file is formatted correctly by checking that the browser correctly force-installs the extension.

1. Open Chrome on a device that has the configuration profile present. If the Chrome app is already running, quit and re-open it.
2. In your Chrome browser, navigate to the chrome://extensions page by copying and pasting that exact text into your URL bar.
3. Find the Pendo Launcher, listed under Extensions. If you chose force_installed when creating the configuration profile, there is no option to disable the extension from the page.