Deployment Guide

GPO & Policy Deployment

Step-by-step instructions for IT administrators to force-install Beaver Browser on managed machines using Group Policy, Google Admin Console, Firefox policies, and Microsoft Intune.

Your company code, Extension ID, and pre-filled config files are available in the dashboard under Settings → Deploy.

01🗺️

Overview

Browser	Method	Key artifact
Chrome	Google Admin Console	Extension ID + update URL
Chrome / Edge	Windows GPO (Active Directory)	Extension ID + update URL
Chrome / Edge	Microsoft Intune	Extension ID + update URL
Firefox	policies.json (file drop)	XPI download URL
Firefox	Windows GPO	XPI download URL + ADMX

02🟡

Chrome — Google Admin Console

Recommended for Google Workspace organizations. Applies to Chrome and all Chromium-based browsers managed by Google Admin.

1Go to admin.google.com and navigate to Devices → Chrome → Apps & extensions → Users & browsers.

2Select the organizational unit (OU) you want to target.

3Click + (bottom-right) → Add Chrome app or extension by ID.

4Enter your Extension ID from Settings → Deploy → Chrome/Edge tab.

5Set the installation policy to Force install.

6Set the Update URL to your company-specific URL (copy from dashboard).

7Click Save. Chrome pushes the extension silently to all managed devices in the OU within the next policy cycle (up to 24h).

03🪟

Chrome / Edge — Windows GPO

For on-premise Active Directory environments. The same Extension ID and update URL work for both Chrome and Edge.

Install ADMX templates

Download the Chrome ADMX bundle or Edge ADMX bundle, then copy the .admx and .adml files to:

C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\
C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US\

If you use a central policy store, copy to \\DOMAIN\SYSVOL\DOMAIN\Policies\PolicyDefinitions instead.

Configure force-install via GPO Editor

For Chrome: navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Google Chrome → Extensions → Configure the list of force-installed apps.

For Edge: navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Microsoft Edge → Extensions → Control which extensions are installed silently.

Enable the policy and add the force-install entry (copy from dashboard):

{EXTENSION_ID};https://app.beaverbrowser.com/extension/updates?companyCode={YOUR_CODE}

Alternative: deploy via .reg file

Download the pre-filled .reg file from Settings → Deploy → Windows GPO tab, then deploy via a GPO startup script:

reg import BeaverBrowserExtension.reg

Apply and verify

gpupdate /force

Then open chrome://policy or edge://policy and verify the extension appears under ExtensionInstallForcelist.

04🦊

Firefox — policies.json (recommended)

The simplest Firefox deployment method. Firefox reads policies.json at startup from a fixed path — no GPO or registry changes required.

Get the pre-filled file

Download policies.json from Settings → Deploy → Windows GPO tab → Firefox. It is pre-filled with your company code.

Place the file

OS	Path
Windows	`C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\distribution\policies.json`
macOS	`/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/distribution/policies.json`
Linux	`/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/policies.json`

Warning: "SignatureRequired": false is required because the extension is not distributed through addons.mozilla.org. Without it, Firefox refuses to install the XPI.

Deploy to all machines

Push the file using SCCM, PDQ Deploy, Ansible (copy module), or Intune shell script. Once in place, Firefox installs the extension automatically on next launch.

05🪟🦊

Firefox — Windows GPO

Manage Firefox via Active Directory Group Policy using Mozilla's ADMX templates.

Install Mozilla ADMX templates

Download the Mozilla policy templates and copy firefox.admx, mozilla.admx, and their .adml files to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\.

Configure force-install

Navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Mozilla → Firefox → Extensions → Extensions to Install.

Enable the policy and add your XPI URL (copy from dashboard):

https://app.beaverbrowser.com/extension/download?companyCode={YOUR_CODE}&browser=firefox

Disable signature requirement

Navigate to Mozilla → Firefox and set Do not check signatures for extension installs (SignatureRequired) to Disabled.

Warning: If SignatureRequired is not set to false, Firefox will show "could not be installed because it could not be verified".

gpupdate /force

Verify in Firefox at about:policies — the extension install URL should appear under ExtensionsInstall.

06☁️

Microsoft Intune (Edge / Chrome)

Option A — Pre-built export (recommended)

1Go to Groups → Export → Intune in the dashboard and download the JSON config.

2In the Intune admin center, go to Devices → Configuration → Create → New Policy.

3Platform: Windows 10 and later, Profile type: Settings catalog.

4Import the downloaded JSON, assign to your target device group, and save.

Option B — Manual configuration

In the Settings catalog, search for:

Edge: Microsoft Edge › Extensions › Control which extensions are installed silently
Chrome: Google Chrome › Extensions › Configure the list of force-installed apps

Enter the force-install entry from Settings → Deploy → Chrome/Edge tab. Policy propagates within 8 hours or trigger sync manually.

07🔧

Troubleshooting

Extension shows as "blocked by policy"

The ExtensionInstallBlocklist policy contains a wildcard (*). Open chrome://policy and check for it. Add your Extension ID to ExtensionInstallAllowlist to permit it while keeping the blocklist.

Firefox: "could not be installed because it could not be verified"

Add "SignatureRequired": false to your policies.json or set the GPO key SignatureRequired to Disabled (see Section 05).

Extension installed but not registering in dashboard

The company code in the update URL does not match the one in your dashboard. Go to Settings, copy your company code, and verify it matches the URL configured in your GPO / Google Admin / Intune policy exactly (case-sensitive).

Navigator appears without employee email (shows as "Unknown")

The employee needs to be signed into Gmail or Outlook in the browser. For Google Workspace users, ensure the employee is signed into Chrome with their work account. For Microsoft 365 users, ensure Outlook Web App is open or the employee is signed into Edge with their work account.