Google Chrome Extension Installation using Registry Entries?

Question

I have my own extension which I want to install without user interaction. I packed it into a .crx file and entered these values in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions\[ID]
"version"="1.0"
"path"="[crx Path]"

I tried both current user and local machine without success.

This was working before. My extension can be installed by using developer mode and dragging and dropping the crx file into chrome extensions. But I want to install without user interaction.

Is registry installation not allowed anymore?

Answer 1

even though you create a registry entry, Chrome will not use the local crx file for installation. you need to supply: update_url with string value set to "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx".

Upon chrome launch, Google will fetch the extension from web-store and show notification that'd let user install the extension.

Back in old days you'd side-load extensions. Those days are long gone. Now you need to publish extension in webstore, and point update_url to store.

There are some exceptions (specifically for enterprise users with group policy settings) as mentioned in comments.