Chrome Browser Cloud Management Complete Guide

Chrome Browser Cloud Management Complete Guide

Chrome Browser Cloud Management (CBCM) is now called Chrome Enterprise Core. Google’s announcement describes it as “Chrome Enterprise Core (formerly Chrome Browser Cloud Management)”. It lets businesses manage Chrome browsers on many devices from the cloud. This guide covers what it is, setting it up, creating organizational units, applying policies and extensions remotely, and reporting.

Chrome Enterprise Core Overview and Pricing

Chrome Enterprise Core manages Chrome browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android from the Google Admin console. Admins can enforce policies, install or block extensions, and view reports on browser versions, extensions and applied policies. Users do not have to sign in or have Google Accounts to receive policies. Google offers it at no additional cost. Extra security features such as data loss prevention are part of the paid Chrome Enterprise Premium.

Setting Up Cloud Management

Google’s Chrome Enterprise Core setup guide has four steps: sign up, enroll browsers, turn on reporting, and set policies. To enroll browsers:

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console with an administrator account.
2. Go to Menu > Devices > Chrome > Managed browsers. If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core only, go to Menu > Chrome browser > Managed browsers.
3. Select the organizational unit the browsers should join, click Enroll at the top, and copy the enrollment token.
4. Deploy the token to each computer. See our enrollment guide for the per-platform steps.

Creating Organizational Units

Organizational units help group users and devices to apply specific settings. Following Google’s help:

1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu > Directory > Organizational units.
2. Hover over the parent organization and click Create new organizational unit.
3. Enter the name and, optionally, a description for the unit.
4. Click Create to finalize.

Applying Policies and Extensions Remotely

To apply policies and manage extensions remotely:

1. Go to Menu > Devices > Chrome > Apps & extensions (or Menu > Chrome browser > Apps & extensions) in the Google Admin console.
2. Click Users & browsers at the top and pick the organizational unit on the left.
3. Click an app or extension and, under Installation policy, choose an option such as Force install, then click Save.
4. Adjust browser policies in Menu > Devices > Chrome > Settings (or Menu > Chrome browser > Settings). Settings usually apply within minutes but can take up to 24 hours.

Reporting

Detailed reports need reporting turned on first, as in Google’s reporting help:

1. In the Admin console, go to Menu > Devices > Chrome > Settings and select the top-level organizational unit.
2. Go to Browser reporting, click Managed browser reporting, select Enable managed browser cloud reporting, and click Save.
3. Restart Chrome on users’ devices. Each browser’s details then appear in the Managed browsers list. Reports are sent once every 24 hours by default.

Platform-Specific Instructions

Windows, macOS, and Linux

On these platforms, enrolled browsers are managed from the Google Admin console as described above. To check what a browser received, open chrome://policy on that computer. To clear browsing data locally, select More > Delete browsing data or use Ctrl+Shift+Delete (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+Delete (Mac).

Android and iOS

Chrome Enterprise Core also manages Chrome on mobile devices. Google has separate setup guides for Android and iOS.

For more on how the different policy sources fit together, see our guide to Chrome policies.