Deployment Guide

Windows Group Policy Deployment

Windows Chrome Edge Firefox

Deploy and configure Ghostery across your Windows domain using Active Directory Group Policy Objects (GPO). This guide covers force installation and managed configuration for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers.

Prerequisites

• Windows Server with Active Directory Domain Services
• Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)
• Administrative access to create/edit GPOs
• Browser-specific ADMX templates installed

ADMX Templates

Before configuring browser extension policies, you need the appropriate ADMX administrative templates installed on your domain controller or local machine.

Download Links

Installing ADMX Templates

1. Download the template package for your target browser from the links above.
2. Extract the ADMX files from the downloaded package.
3. Copy files to PolicyDefinitions:
   • Domain-wide: \\domain\SYSVOL\domain\Policies\PolicyDefinitions\
   • Local machine: C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\
4. Copy language files (ADML) to the appropriate language subfolder (e.g., en-US).

Deploy to Google Chrome

Force Install the Extension

1. Open Group Policy Management and create or edit a GPO linked to your target OU.
2. Navigate to:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Google → Google Chrome → Extensions
3. Enable "Configure the list of force-installed apps and extensions"
4. Add the following entry:

   mlomiejdfkolichcflejclcbmpeaniij;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

Configure Extension Settings

To configure Ghostery behavior (disable onboarding, lock settings, etc.), add registry entries under:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\mlomiejdfkolichcflejclcbmpeaniij\policy

Add the following registry values:

Custom Filters Examples

The customFilters policy accepts an array of adblock filter rules. In the registry, this is stored as a subkey with numbered REG_SZ values (starting at 1). Filters fall into two categories: network filters (block/allow HTTP requests) and cosmetic filters (hide page elements).

Network Filters

Cosmetic Filters

To deploy custom filters via a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\mlomiejdfkolichcflejclcbmpeaniij\policy\customFilters]
"1"="||tracking.vendor.com^"
"2"="||telemetry.service.com^$xhr"
"3"="||ads.vendor.com^$script,third-party"
"4"="intranet.company.com##.promo-banner"
"5"="portal.company.com###ad-sidebar"
"6"="@@||cdn.company.com^"
"7"="saas-tool.com##+js(set, ads.enabled, false)"

Or via PowerShell in a GPO startup script:

$regPath = "HKLM:\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\mlomiejdfkolichcflejclcbmpeaniij\policy\customFilters"
New-Item -Path $regPath -Force
$filters = @(
    '||tracking.vendor.com^',
    '||telemetry.service.com^$xhr',
    '||ads.vendor.com^$script,third-party',
    'intranet.company.com##.promo-banner',
    'portal.company.com###ad-sidebar',
    '@@||cdn.company.com^',
    'saas-tool.com##+js(set, ads.enabled, false)'
)
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $filters.Count; $i++) {
    New-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name ($i + 1) -Value $filters[$i] -PropertyType String -Force
}

Deploy to Microsoft Edge

Force Install the Extension

1. Open Group Policy Management and create or edit a GPO linked to your target OU.
2. Navigate to:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Microsoft Edge → Extensions
3. Enable "Control which extensions are installed silently"
4. Add the following entry:

   fclbdkbhjlgkbpfldjodgjncejkkjcme;https://edge.microsoft.com/extensionwebstorebase/v1/crx

Configure Extension Settings

Configure Ghostery settings via registry under:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\3rdparty\extensions\fclbdkbhjlgkbpfldjodgjncejkkjcme\policy

Use the same registry values as Chrome (see table above).

Deploy to Mozilla Firefox

Firefox extension deployment via GPO requires a different approach using managed storage manifests.

Force Install the Extension

1. Open Group Policy Management and edit your GPO.
2. Navigate to:
   Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Mozilla → Firefox → Extensions
3. Enable "Extensions to Install"
4. Add the Firefox Add-ons URL:

   https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/ghostery/latest.xpi

Configure Extension Settings

Firefox uses a JSON manifest file for managed storage. Create a file with the following content:

{
  "name": "firefox@ghostery.com",
  "description": "Ghostery managed configuration",
  "type": "storage",
  "data": {
    "disableOnboarding": true,
    "disableUserControl": true,
    "trustedDomains": ["your-company.com"]
  }
}

1. Save this file to a network share accessible by all computers, e.g.:
   \\domain\NETLOGON\ghostery\ghostery-config.json
2. Create a registry key pointing to this file:
   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\ManagedStorage\firefox@ghostery.com
   Set the (Default) value to the full path of your JSON file.

Verify Deployment

After applying the GPO and running gpupdate /force on target machines:

Chrome

Navigate to chrome://policy and verify the extension appears in the ExtensionInstallForcelist.

Edge

Navigate to edge://policy and verify the extension appears in the force-install list.

Firefox

Navigate to about:policies and verify the extension is listed under Extensions.