Self host & Autoupdate Google Chrome Extension

4
votes

I want to host my extension on my own server. I found this page: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/hosting

which says at the beginning:

Warning: As of Chrome 33, Windows users can only download extensions hosted in the Chrome Web store, except for installs via enterprise policy or developer mode (see Protecting Windows users from malicious extensions). As of Chrome 44, no external installs are allowed from a path to a local .crx on Mac (see Continuing to protect Chrome users from malicious extensions).

This seems to suggest that you can't host extensions on your own anymore, only via Chrome Store. Is that correct or is there a way to host your own Chrome extensions?

1
google-chromegoogle-chrome-extension

1 Answers

6
votes

They disable it to continue protecting Chrome users from malicious extensions.

Apart from users installing extensions from the Chrome Web Store, the following deployment options will be supported:

  • For OSX and Linux, extensions can be installed via a preferences JSON file.

  • For Windows, extensions can be installed via the Windows registry.

  • In the Windows registry and in an OS X preferences JSON file, ensure that the update_url registry key points to the following URL: https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx. Local .crx installs via the path registry key are deprecated. Note that this deployment option works only for Chrome Web Store hosted extensions, and update_url cannot point to any other host other than https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx.

  • For Enterprises, to continue to support group policy to install extensions, irrespective of where the extensions are hosted. Note that any extension which is not hosted on the Web Store and installed via GPO on a machine which has not joined a domain will be hard-disabled.

Check this page for more information.