How to Install Prey on Chromebooks

Prey for Chromebooks has arrived, and it's here to stay! With this, we've added a sixth operating system to the wide arrange of OSs that Prey can support: ChromeOS.

In order to protect your Chromebooks with Prey, you will need to have the Prey client installed in your device. This process is somewhat different than other installation processes, and it might take a bit longer, but you will find everything you need to know in this article, just by following this simple step-by-step. Let's start!

Install the Prey Extension from the Google Admin Console

Access the Google Admin console from this link and then select the Apps & Extensions section. 

Afterwards, select the organizational unit on which you want to deploy the extension. This unit needs to have at least one device added to it, and the Prey extension will be installed in all the devices in said unit. Then, under the Users & Browsers tab, select the yellow + button on the lower right-hand corner of the screen, and from the deployed options select Add from Chrome Web Store.

In the search bar, type in “ Prey Anti Theft” in the search bar and click on Select.

Under Installation policy, switch “Allow install” to “Force install + pin”, as per the image below.

Once the installation policy is set to Force install + pin, click Save on the top-right hand corner of the screen. After a few minutes, the extension should be installed in all devices associated to that organizational unit. Please note that, while at this point, Prey is installed in your Chromebooks, they will not be able to connect to the Prey servers until after you finish the entire process.

Retrieve a CSV Device List from the Google Admin Console

From the Devices menu in your Google Admin console, select Chrome Devices as per the image below:

Afterwards, select the organizational unit that you want to protect, and click the  button on the top-right hand side of the screen. Once the list of devices is selected, hit the download link in the Your Tasks section, and a CSV file with all the devices assigned to the organizational unit will be downloaded to your computer. You will need this file for the next (and final) step.

Upload your CSV File to your Prey Panel

Now that Prey is installed, and you have the list of devices with the extension, it's time to configure them in order to start protecting them. In your Prey panel, click the Settings tab, and then select Unattended Installation.

Click on the Choose File button and select the CSV file downloaded in the previous step, then hit Add Devices and that's it! After the devices connect to the internet, you will be able to see them in your Device list, and you'll be able to start tracking and running actions on them. Congratulations!

Installing Prey for Chromebooks via the Web Store

While the best way to install Prey for Chromebooks is via the Google Admin console, if you do not have access to it, you can still enjoy some of the benefits of having Prey to protect your device. To install it, just log into the Web Store and search for Prey Anti Theft, and then install the extension.

When using Prey installed in this manner, please take the following considerations into account:

• Due to the nature of Chromebooks, anyone using your device will be able to remove the extension.
• If anyone logs in to your Chromebook with any account that is not the one you used to install Prey, the extension will not work and you will not be able to track nor execute actions on the device.
• The installation will not include any hardware information, so you will not be able to execute any actions that rely on hardware information, nor review it in your Prey panel. This will also have the unintended consequence that if you add additional Chromebooks, they will possibly share the same name, making differentiation more difficult.
• Once you install the extension, make sure it is pinned, otherwise it will not work.

While it is possible to use Prey in your Chromebook this way, it is much more limiting and your device could be vulnerable to bad faith actors in ways that it wouldn't be if you had used the installation method outlined above; for that reason, we highly recommend using this installation method only for trying Prey out, and then consider creating a Google Admin console account for a smoother process.