Initial Setup

Welcome! Installing GoGuardian is quick and easy. This guide will walk you through the process of getting your organization up and running in four simple steps:

• 1. Locate your GoGuardian Extensions 
• 2. Force-Install the Extensions
• 3. Configure your Google Admin Console
  • 3a. User settings
  • 3b. Device settings
• 4. Import your Organizational Unit Structure (OUs) into GoGuardian

NOTE: If your organization currently has GoGuardian Admin or GoGuardian Teacher, your extensions should be good to go! We recommend checking Google Admin Console settings from Step 3 just in case.

1. Locate your GoGuardian Extensions

Every GoGuardian account has a unique pair of Chrome extensions. To find your organization's extensions, sign-in to GoGuardian using your Admin credentials and visit https://account.goguardian.com/#/getting-started/deploy.

If you have access to GoGuardian Admin, your extensions can also be found by clicking your user icon and selecting Quick Install Guide. (See Below)

Keep this window open for the next step!

2. Force-Install the Extensions 

1. Using your Admin Credentials, sign in to admin.google.com
2. Click Device Management
3. Click Chrome Management
4. Click User & Browser Settings
5. In User Settings, under Organizations, click the OU that contains the User Accounts that you intend to filter and monitor.  
6. Scroll down to Force-installed Apps and Extensions
7. Click Manage force installed apps
8. Click Specify A Custom App
9. Refer back to the GoGuardian Setup window for the App IDs and URLs
10. Copy and paste the first App ID and URL into their respective fields, then click Add.
11. Copy and paste the second App ID and URL into the respective fields, then click Add.
    Note: Both extensions have unique URLs. 
12. Click Save to close the force-install dialog box. 
13. Click the second Save button at the bottom right corner of your screen.

Now that the extensions are installed, let's configure the rest of Google Admin Console. 

3. Configure your Google Admin Console Settings

3a. Configure User Settings

From the Google Admin Home screen, click through
Device Management > Chrome Management > User & Browser Settings
In the left sidebar, select the OU that contains the user accounts you intend to filter and monitor, then configure the following policies to match these values.

Protip: Use the Find tool to quickly locate policies (Command+F  or Ctrl+F).

1. Policy: Chrome Management for Signed-in Users
   Value: Apply All User Policies when users sign into Chrome...
   Priority: Optional (caution)
   Description: Enforces Chrome policies when users sign into the Chrome Browser on Windows, Macs, and Linux devices. Setting this to "Do Not Apply..." will prevent GoGuardian from working on non-ChromeOS devices and prevent other Chrome Policies from being pushed to your users on non-ChromeOS devices. 
   
   
2. Policy: Allowed Types of Apps and Extensions 
   Value: Extension - Must be Checked (other types are optional)
   Priority: Required
   Description: Disabling (unchecking) types will prevent apps of that kind from being installed by admins or users. Apps and extensions can be managed by other means. 
   
   
3. Policy: Force-installed Apps and Extensions
   Value: Both GoGuardian Extensions should be installed as outlined above.
   Priority: Required
   Description: Install both of your GoGuardian extensions here, as explained above.
   
   
4. Policy: Allow or Block Apps and Extensions
   Value: Block All Apps and Extensions... 
   Priority: Optional, but HIGHLY recommended 
   Description: Third-party apps and extensions can be used to bypass GoGuardian. We strongly recommend blocking all other apps and extensions with this policy and manage a list of approved apps using the policy below. If "Allow All Apps" is selected, Apps and Extensions can be managed using GoGuardian Admin Policies. Note: GoGuardian can only filter apps and extensions installed from the Chrome Web Store.
   
   
5. Policy: Allowed Apps and Extensions
   Value: Add any approved apps and extensions to this list.
   Priority: Required, if "Block All Apps..." is enabled.
   Description: This policy is used to manage approved apps and extensions. Make sure to add both GoGuardian extensions to this list, in addition to your approved apps. 
   
   
6. Policy: Block Extensions by Permission
   Value: Either value is optional, however, please see Description below
   Description: Both GoGuardian extensions require the following permissions, so please ensure the following are not blocked: 
   • alarms
   • detect idle
   • notifications
   • memory metadata
   • identity
   • storage
   • web requests
   • geolocation
   • CPU metadata
   • block web requests
   • native messaging

   This section can be skipped if not configured.

7. Policy: Task Manager
   Value: Block users from ending processes with the Chrome task manager
   Priority: Optional, but recommended 
   
   
8. Policy: Incognito Mode
   Value: Disallow Incognito Mode
   Priority: Required
    
9. Policy: Safe Browsing
   Value: Always Enable Safe Browsing
   Priority: Optional, but recommended
   
   
10. Policy: Google Safe Search for Google Web Search Queries
    Value: Always Use Safe Search...
    Priority: Optional, but recommended
    
    
11. Policy: Restrictive Mode for YouTube
    Value: No Policy Set
    Priority: Optional
    Description: This policy is enforced in addition to GoGuardian Policies and may result in conflicting rules. Google's policy is enforced first, but can be avoided if users sign out of YouTube. We strongly recommend using GoGuardian Policies for filtering YouTube Content, as they're enforced whether a user is signed in or not. 
    
    
12. Policy: Screenshot
    Value: Enable Screenshot
    Priority: Required
    Description: Disabling screenshots will cause problems with GoGuardian Teacher and Smart Alerts.
    
    
13. Policy: Developer Tools
    Value: Never Allow the use of built-in developer tools
    Priority: Required
    Description: Developer tools can be used to disable extensions. Google also recommends disabling these tools in most cases. 

3b. Configure Device Settings

From the Google Admin Home screen, click through
Device Management > Chrome Management > Device Settings
In the left sidebar, select the OU that contains your Chromebooks, then configure the following policies to match these values.

Protip: Use the Find tool to quickly locate policies (Command + F  or Ctrl + F).

1. Policy: Forced Re-Enrollment
   Value: Force Device to Re-enroll in this domain
   Priority: Recommended 
   
   
2. Policy: Allow Guest Mode
   Value: Do not allow guest mode
   Priority: Required
    
3. Policy: Sign In Restrictions
   Value: Restrict Sign-in to a list of users
   Priority: Required
   Description: In the field, add your district's domain and subdomains preceded with a wildcard/asterisk. If you have multiple domains, separate each subdomain with a comma.
   Example:
   *@goguardian.com, *@students.goguardian.com, *@teachers.goguardian.com

Firewall Restrictions

If your campus has a restrictive firewall or additional content filter, you may need to open up connections to our services. Please see this article for more information: Additional Firewalls and Content Filters. 

GoGuardian for Windows

Any GoGuardian product that requires the GoGuardian extensions will complete the same Windows setup. GoGuardian Admin, Teacher, and Beacon are all applicable on Windows. For Windows setup instructions, please click here.