Knowledge Base

Applies To

Browsium Catalyst 2.0 or later

Summary

To function properly, Browsium Catalyst requires browser extensions to be installed and enabled in Internet Explorer, Chrome, and (optionally) Firefox. All of the extensions can be centrally managed via Group Policy per the guidance in the Catalyst Administration Guide. If the Catalyst extension for Chrome is not centrally managed, it is possible for an end user to delete the extension and cause Catalyst to stop working on that PC, as evidenced by the Catalyst Controller attempting to start and silently failing.

This article explains how to work around the problem by reacquiring the Catalyst extension for Chrome from the Chrome web store.

Details

When the Catalyst Client is installed, the Catalyst extension for Chrome is side-loaded into Chrome. This extension must be manually enabled, or enabled via Group Policy per the instructions in the Catalyst Administration Guide. If the extension is enabled via Group Policy, end users will not be able to change its state to disabled, or delete the extension. If the extension is not managed, end users can delete it from the Chrome://Extensions page, which causes Catalyst to break. Uninstalling and reinstalling the Catalyst client is not sufficient to repair the configuration because deleting an extension puts it on Chrome’s blacklist.

To repair this configuration, the extension must either be manually installed from the Chrome Web Store, or the Chrome User Data folder (found at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome) must be deleted and allowed to rebuild itself the next time Chrome is launched. This latter option works well for the Catalyst extension, but may have unintended consequences for other Chrome extensions. Browsium therefore recommends manually installing the Catalyst extension from the Chrome Web Store by following this guidance:

1. Open Chrome and choose Options/Tools/Extensions, or visit chrome://extensions directly.
2. If the Catalyst extension is missing from the extensions list, continue to step 3. If it is present but visible as a white puzzle-piece icon (instead of the purple Ct icon), delete it by clicking on the trash can.
3. Navigate to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/browsium-client-extension/{Chrome extension ID}”. You can find the corresponding ID for your specific Browsium Catalyst/Client version in the Catalyst Administration Guide. For users with version 4.3.1 of the Browsium Client you can navigate directly to the Google extensions page for Catalyst 4.3.1
4. Click on the blue “+ FREE” button to add the Catalyst extension to Chrome.
5. IMPORTANT: Log off Windows or reboot the PC to allow Chrome to properly initialize and load the Catalyst extension. If you have a Catalyst configuration loaded on the PC, you may need to do this step twice.
6. Confirm that the Catalyst Controller process is running and test your Rules to ensure Catalyst is functioning properly. If not, please contact Browsium Support.

Note: This guidance is only required when recovering from a deleted Catalyst extension for Chrome. A standard installation of the Catalyst Client will install the Catalyst extension for Chrome, with no need to visit the Chrome Web Store.

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