Google Chrome is a popular web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 and quickly gained popularity due to its speed, simplicity, and robust features. Chrome is available for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
In my previous blog post I have discussed about how to create a local administrator account on a Mac device using Intune. You can also create a local admin on a Windows device using Intune.
You can easily deploy Google chrome browser on Intune managed Mac devices using Intune admin center. Google chrome browser setup file is available to download as a PKG Installer and DMG Installer type. DMG file is not an Installer for the app but medium to distribute the application. You can compare this format to Windows ISO file format.
You may not find a .dmg file for all the apps on the internet. But If you have .app file available then you can use Disk Utility Application on a macOS device to create a disk image file (DMG) and then add the .app files into it.
Whereas PKG based application is an Installer package which contains all necessary application components, scripts, metadata in a one .pkg file required for Installation of the application.
How to Download Google chrome Offline Installer for Mac
You can download Google chrome offline Installer for Mac using the link: Download Google chrome for Mac.
Depending upon the Installer type you choose to go ahead with for Google chrome, the deployment steps will be slightly different. For example: If you choose download Google chrome DMG file and deploy it on end user devices then you will need to use macOS app (DMG) App type to create a deployment on Intune admin center.
If you choose to download PKG installer type for deploying Google chrome app then its best to choose Line-of-business app option. You don’t need to convert .pkg installer to .intunemac files, you can directly deploy pkg files to Mac devices. There is another option to deploy .Pkg Installer file which is by using macOS app (PKG) app type deployment method.
I will show you the steps to create deployment of Google chrome for both of these Installer types from Intune admin center. I prefer Line of business apps method of deployment for PKG Installer, because using this method you can manage complete life-cycle of the application by selecting Install as Managed as Yes.
When you choose Install as Managed to Yes, you can uninstall google chrome by simply adding a device to Uninstall assignment section of the app on Intune admin center.
Deploy PKG Installer of Google Chrome on macOS using Intune
When you want to deploy PKG setup file of google chrome app on Mac devices using Intune, you have two way to deploy .pkg apps via Intune. First one is using Line-of-business app and Second one is macOS app (PKG).
The different between Line-of-business app and macOS app (PKG) deployment is that the Line of business app deployment can Install the app as managed application and macOS app (PKG) option is for unmanaged applications. The difference is mainly when the package installs the app in /Applications/ directory (managed) or Outside of /Applications/ directory (Unmanaged).
To create Intune deployment for Google Chrome using PKG Installer, please follow below steps:
- Download Google chrome PKG app
- Login on Microsoft Intune admin center
- Click on Apps > macOS > macOS apps
- Click on + Add to start the creation of deployment
- App type: Line-of-business app
- Click on Select button to proceed
App Information
Click on Select app package file to select .pkg application installer. Browse to App package file and then click on OK button to proceed.
- Name: Provide a unique name of the application. This name will appear on Company Portal app.
- Description: Provide a description of the application. This description will show on Company Portal app.
- Publisher: Provide the publisher name.
- Minimum Operating system: Select Minimum operating system as a condition for application installation. As all of my organization’s devices are on macOS Ventura 13.0.
- Ignore App version: Select Ignore app version to Yes or No based on below criteria:
- Select Ignore app version = Yes If you want to app to be Installed when its not found on the target device. If the app is already there but the version number is different, it will be ignored and app will not be deployed.
- Select Ignore app version = No If you want to app to be Installed when its not found on the target device or the app version you are deploying is different than the one already Installed on the target device.
Generally when you are deploying a self updating application like Google chrome or Zoom, you should select Ignore the app version to Yes.
- App bundle ID (CFBundleIdentifier) and App version (CFBundleShortVersionString): These details should get pre-populated for you as com.google.Chrome and <app version number>. However if you need to find this information then you can follow below steps:
To find CFBundleIdentifier and CFBundleShortVersionString information, you can Install Google chrome pkg file (the same file you are deploying via Intune) on a test mac device and then use below commands on macOS terminal to find this info:
defaults read /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/Info CFBundleIdentifierdefaults read /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString
- Install as Managed: Select Yes. Please note “A macOS LOB app can only be installed as managed when the app distributable contains a single app without any nested packages and installs to the /Applications directory“.
- Logo: macOS LOB apps must have a logo. If they don’t have a logo, it will not be displayed on the company portal app under Apps section.
Rest of the Information is optional to fill. However if you have all the information about this application, Its recommended to fill in all the information. This will be helpful for other team members to know more about this particular application and could be helpful while troubleshooting any issues.
Assignments
There are three group assignments options. Required, Available for enrolled devices and Uninstall. Add it to Required assignment to make the application installation mandatory and to deploy it as soon as possible.
Click on Add group and select an Azure AD group containing users or devices. If you prefer a more controlled deployment to specific devices only, then make sure to only add macOS devices in the Azure AD group. Once your testing is successful and you want to deploy this application on all Organization devices, you can click on + Add all devices.
Review + create
On Review + create page, review the app deployment information and click on Create to finish.
Deploy DMG Installer of Google Chrome on macOS using Intune
You can follow below steps to deploy DMG Installer file of Google chrome on Mac devices using Intune:
- Download Google chrome DMG app
- Login on Microsoft Intune admin center
- Click on Apps > macOS > macOS apps
- Click on + Add to start the creation of deployment
- App type: macOS app (DMG)
- Click on Select button to proceed
App Information
Click on Select app package file to select .dmg application installer. Browse to App package file and then click on OK button to proceed.
- Name: Provide a unique name of the application. This name will appear on Company Portal app.
- Description: Provide a description of the application. This description will show on Company Portal app.
- Publisher: Provide the publisher name.
Rest of the Information is optional to fill. However if you have all the information about this application, Its recommended to fill in all the information. This will be helpful for other team members to know more about this particular application and could be helpful while troubleshooting any issues.
Requirements
In the requirements tab, select Minimum operating system as a condition for application installation. As all of my organization’s devices are on macOS Ventura 13.0. I will be selecting this option. Click on Next to proceed.
Detection rules
In the Detection rules tab, Select Ignore app version to Yes or No based on below criteria:
- Select Ignore app version = Yes If you want to app to be Installed when its not found on the target device. If the app is already there but the version number is different, it will be ignored and app will not be deployed.
- Select Ignore app version = No If you want to app to be Installed when its not found on the target device or the app version you are deploying is different than the one already Installed on the target device.
Generally when you are deploying a self updating application like Google chrome or Zoom, you should select Ignore the app version to Yes.
In the Included apps section, Provide App bundle ID (CFBundleIdentifier) and App version (CFBundleShortVersionString) information of the app. To find CFBundleIdentifier and CFBundleShortVersionString information, you can Install Google chrome dmg file (the same file you are deploying via Intune) on a test mac device and then use below commands on macOS terminal to find this info:
defaults read /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/Info CFBundleIdentifier
defaults read /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString
If you do not prefer macOS terminal to find this info, then you can also use Finder app to locate Info.plist file for Google chrome. You can use below steps to locate this file:
- Go to Finder > Go > Go to Folder…
- Search for /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/ path.
- Double click on searched path and find Info.plist file in Contents folder.
- Double-click on the file and search for
CFBundleIdentifierandCFBundleShortVersionStringvalues in the file.
Once you have got all the information, you can enter it in Detection rules tab, click Next and proceed.
Assignments
There are only two group assignments options. Required and Uninstall. Click on Add group and select an Azure AD group containing users or devices. If you prefer a more controlled deployment to specific devices only, then make sure to only add macOS devices in the Azure AD group. Once your testing is successful and you want to deploy this application on all Organization devices, you can click on + Add all devices.
Review + create
On Review + create page, review the app deployment information and click on Create to finish.
Intune Policy Refresh Cycle
The Device will Sync / Check in to start the app deployment process. It may take some time for the process to start. Therefore, if you are testing it on a test device, you can force initiate Intune refresh cycle on macOS device which will speed up the process. You can also use Powershell to force initiate Intune refresh cycle.
Also, you can restart the device first which also starts the device check-in process. Manual sync is not mandatory on user’s devices as the device check-in process happens automatically. But if you are testing this app deployment on a test device then this can speed up your testing and can save some time.
End user Experience
Let’s check the end user experience and see if the application is Installed as per the app deployment. After the device check-in process completes, the application will be installed on the device. You can go to the Applications directory to find Google Chrome in the list.
Finder > Go > Applications
Monitor app deployment using Intune admin center
You can monitor the app deployment from Intune admin center. Go to Apps > macOS > click on the application > Overview page will show the status of Installation similar to as shown in below screenshot.
In case of any issues or deployment failures, you can click on Device install status or User install status to know more details about the error description and error code.
macOS Intune deployment troubleshooting
If you face any issues with application deployment, you can refer to IntuneMDMDaemon*.log and IntuneMDMAgent*.log files. To find out the more information about how to locate these files on macOS device, you can refer to my other blog post: How To Collect Intune Logs From MacOS Device.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have seen how to deploy Google chrome application on macOS devices using Intune. As you have seen there are two methods to deploy this app. You can choose either DMG type Installer or PKG type Installer, the steps for both the scenarios are given in this blog post. Google chrome app installation on the target device took couple of minutes after forcing the device check-in from Company portal app.