After you have access to your Google Admin console, here's how to enroll the devices where you want to manage Chrome browsers. You'll then be able to enforce policies for any users who open Chrome browser on an enrolled device.
Step 1: Generate enrollment token
Authorized partners: To be able to generate the enrollment token, your customers first need to accept the Chrome Enterprise Core License Agreement.
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Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
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In the Admin console, go to Menu
Devices
Chrome
If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu
Chrome browser
- (Optional) On the left, select the top-level organization. Or, select the organizational unit where you want to generate a token that will enroll browsers directly to that specific organizational unit. For information, see Add an organization unit.
- At the top, click Enroll.
Note: If this is your first browser enrollment, you are prompted to accept the Chrome Enterprise Core Terms of Service. - Click Copy enrollment token to clipboard
.
- Click Done.
Step 2: Enroll browsers with the enrollment token
Enroll browsers on WindowsOption 1: Use the Group Policy Management Editor
Before you begin: If your organization doesn't use mobile device management (MDM) tools to deploy your configuration settings, consider using Option 2: Edit the registry file, described below.
Using Windows Server Management to access the Group Policy Management Editor, add the value of the enrollment token that you copied above to the CloudManagementEnrollmentToken policy in:
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Administrative templates
Google
For details about how to install and configure policy templates, go to Set Chrome Browser policies on managed PCs.
Option 2: Edit the registry file
Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome, set CloudManagementEnrollmentToken to the generated token you copied above.
Clear the current enrollment if one exists using:
-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Enrollment
-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Google\Enrollment
(Optional) By default, if enrollment fails, for example if the enrollment token is invalid or revoked, Chrome will start in an unmanaged state. Instead, if you want to prevent Chrome browser from starting if enrollment fails, set CloudManagementEnrollmentMandatory under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome to true
Notes:
- The token must be set at a local machine level. It won't work at the user level. If you are repurposing an existing machine that has already been enrolled in Chrome Enterprise Core, you need to remove management tokens from it. For details, read Stop managing Chrome browser.
- If the machines you are enrolling are imaged from the same Microsoft Windows source, make sure that you have used Microsoft's System Preparation tool (Sysprep) with the
/generalizeoption so that each enrolled machine has a unique identifier. Make sure that the MachineGUID is unique so that Chrome Enterprise Core identifies each device as an individual machine.
You can check the value of MachineGuid in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\MachineGuid
Option 3: Download the reg file
Click Download .reg file. The downloaded .reg file automatically adds the token and clears the current enrollment when run.
When you use the reg file, Chrome browser will still respect the CloudManagementEnrollmentMandatory policy in Option 1, blocking launch if enrollment fails. See the note above if you're enrolling machines imaged from the same Windows source.
Option 4: Deploy an enrollment token in VMware Workspace One
You can use VMware Workspace ONE to generate a Chrome Enterprise Core enrollment token and enroll your Chrome browsers. See Enroll browsers with VMware Workspace One (Windows and macOS).
Option 1: Use a policy
Before you begin: If your organization doesn't use mobile device management (MDM) tools to deploy your configuration settings, consider using Option 2: Download the text file, described below.
Push the token to your browser as a policy named CloudManagementEnrollmentToken. To set policies on Apple Mac devices, you must use mobile management software, such as, Apple Profile Manager, Jamf, Workspace ONE, and so on.
Note: If you choose to manually set policies, be aware that macOS will delete the policy files on every sign-in. Learn more about setting up policies on Mac in the Quick Start Guide and help center.
(Optional) By default, if enrollment fails (for example if the enrollment token is invalid or revoked), Chrome will start in an unmanaged state. If you instead want to prevent Chrome browser from starting if enrollment fails, set CloudManagementEnrollmentMandatory to true
Option 2: Download the text file
Click Download file. If needed, create a /Library/Google/Chrome/ folder on your device. Put the file under /Library/Google/Chrome/. You need to add the text file at device level. It won't work if you add it at user level.
(Optional) By default, if enrollment fails (for example if the enrollment token is invalid or revoked), Chrome will start in an unmanaged state. If you instead want to prevent Chrome browser from starting if enrollment fails, create a file called CloudManagementEnrollmentOptions under /Library/Google/Chrome/ with the text Mandatory (case sensitive). This file must be encoded as a .txt file, but should not have the .txt filename extension.
If a token is pushed using both methods above, Chrome will use the value present in the policy and ignore the file. The token is stored in a directory under the home directory on the user's Mac. Each macOS user must enroll separately.
Option 3: Deploy an enrollment token in Jamf Pro
You can use Jamf Pro version 10.19 or later to generate a Chrome Enterprise Core enrollment token and enroll your Chrome browsers. See Enroll browsers with Jamf Pro (macOS).
Option 4: Deploy an enrollment token in VMware Workspace One
You can use VMware Workspace ONE to generate a Chrome Enterprise Core enrollment token and enroll your Chrome browsers. See Enroll browsers with VMware Workspace One (Windows and macOS).
The token can be pushed by creating a text file called CloudManagementEnrollmentToken, under /etc/opt/chrome/policies/enrollment. This file must only contain the token and nothing else. Alternatively, you can click Download file (Mac & Linux).
(Optional) By default, if enrollment fails (for example if the enrollment token is invalid or revoked), Chrome will start in an unmanaged state. If you instead want to prevent Chrome browser from starting if enrollment fails, create a file called CloudManagementEnrollmentOptions under /etc/opt/chrome/policies/enrollment/ with the text Mandatory (case sensitive). This file must be encoded as a .txt file, but should not have the .txt filename extension.
Note: To ensure that enrollment and reporting work correctly, /etc/machine-id should be unique per machine.
For details on how to manage Chrome browser on Android devices, see Set up Chrome Enterprise Core for Android.
For details on how to manage Chrome browser on iOS devices, see Set up Chrome Enterprise Core for iOS.
Step 3: Confirm enrollment
After setting the enrollment token using one of the methods in Step 2, on the managed device, quit Chrome browser (if it's open) and then launch it again. You can use your Admin console to confirm enrollment.
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Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
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In the Admin console, go to Menu
If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu
- (Optional) On the left, select an organizational unit. By default, all browsers are shown.
- (Optional) To see additional details, click a machine's name.
Notes:
- If you have multiple installations of Chrome browser on a single device, they will show up in the browser list as a single managed browser.
- Enrollment tokens are only used during enrollment. After enrollment, they can be revoked in the Admin console. However, enrolled browsers will still be registered.
- On Windows, only system installations are supported because Chrome browser requires admin privileges to register.
Just after registering, not many fields are populated. You need to enable browser reporting to access detailed reporting information. For more information, see Step 4: Enable Chrome browser reporting.
Manage tokens and devices
For each organizational unit, there can only be one active enrollment token. If you need to pause enrollment, you can permanently revoke the token for a specific organizational unit and regenerate a new one. You’ll use the new token to enroll new browsers. Devices that you already enrolled with the revoked token remain active and enrolled.
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Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
-
In the Admin console, go to Menu
If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu
- (Optional) On the left, select an organizational unit. By default, all browsers are shown.
- At the top, click Enroll.
- Click Revoke and regenerate token.
- Click Copy
to copy the new enrollment token.
- Click Done.
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Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
-
In the Admin console, go to Menu
If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu
- (Optional) On the left, select an organizational unit. By default, all browsers are shown.
- At the top, click Enroll.
- Click View token history.
Unenrolling a browser from Chrome Enterprise Core removes the cloud policies that were on the device, and sets its device token as invalid the next time Chrome is opened, or the next time Chrome tries to contact Chrome Enterprise Core. Platform policies and cloud-based user policies are not affected. Unenrolling devices from Chrome Enterprise Core also deletes the data that's already uploaded to the Admin console.
Consider automating Chrome Enterprise Core unenrolment using the sample UnenrollBrowser script.
To unenroll a Chrome browser:
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Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
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In the Admin console, go to Menu
If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu
- (Optional) On the left, select an organizational unit. By default, all browsers are shown.
- Check the box next to the browser that you want to delete.
- At the top, click More
If you need to read or modify the enrollment token of a Chrome browser manually, it can be found at this location:
- Windows—Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome and check CloudManagementEnrollmentToken.
- Mac—Go to /Library/Google/Chrome/CloudManagementEnrollmentToken. Or, if the token was deployed with a configuration profile, use your preferred mobile device management tool to access it.
- Linux—Go to /etc/opt/chrome/policies/enrollment and check CloudManagementEnrollmentToken.
If you need to read or modify the device token of a Chrome browser manually, it can be found at this location:
- Windows—The device token is written to two locations, which should match. To check the value, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Google\Enrollment or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Google\Chrome\Enrollment and check dmtoken.
- Mac—Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome Cloud Enrollment or /Library/Application Support/Google/CloudManagement. The device token file name is a hash of the device’s serial number and can sometimes be difficult to identify.
- Linux—Go to $user_data_dir/policy/Enrollment. The device token file name is the DeviceID, as listed at chrome://policy.
Note: To see the user data directory ($user_data_dir), which contains the device token, go to chrome://version, find the Profile Path, and remove the last path component. For example, the user data directory for a profile in ~/.config/google-chrome/Default is ~/.config/google-chrome.
Note: Deleting the device token while keeping the enrollment token will result in the Chrome browser re-enrolling itself on its next restart.
If you accidentally delete a device in the Admin console, you can re-enroll it.
On the managed device:
- Close Chrome browser.
- Delete the device token.
- Windows—Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Google\Enrollment and delete dmtoken. Then, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Enrollment and delete dmtoken.
- Mac—Go to ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome Cloud Enrollment and /Library/Application Support/Google/CloudManagement. The device token file name is a hash of the device’s serial number and can sometimes be difficult to identify.
- Linux—Go to $user_data_dir/policy/Enrollment. The device token file name is the DeviceID, as listed at chrome://policy.
Note: To see the user data directory ($user_data_dir), which contains the device token, go to chrome://version, find the Profile Path, and remove the last path component. For example, the user data directory for a profile in ~/.config/google-chrome/Default is ~/.config/google-chrome.
- Open Chrome browser.
Note: Do not delete the enrollment token on the managed device.
Questions
When are enrollment tokens used?
Enrollment tokens are only used during enrollment. They can be revoked after enrollment and enrolled browsers will still be registered. For detailed information on enrollment tokens, see the Chrome Enterprise Core whitepaper.
Does this token enrollment process require admin privileges on Windows?
Yes. On Windows, only system installations are supported.
What gets uploaded during the enrollment process?
During the enrollment process, Chrome browser uploads the following information:
- Device ID
- Enrollment token
- Machine name
- OS platform
- OS version
- Windows BIOS serial number
Why don't I see a Chrome management section in my Admin console?
If you have the legacy free edition of G Suite, Chrome management isn't currently available in your Admin console. Support for legacy free edition will be rolled out in the future.
Should a system image include a device token?
No. Each device you set up must use a unique device token. If you use a system image to deploy Chrome browser, make sure that the image does not include a device token. Otherwise, every device will try to use the value from the image and your deployment will fail.
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