Install Cloud Filter Extension on macOS

This article applies to organisations with a Cloud setup, and those with a 'Hybrid' setup (both On-Premise Appliance and Cloud).

 

To install Cloud Filter Extension on macOS, you must deploy both an installer and a browser extension.

Important

We only support using the Cloud Filter Extension on macOS with Google Chrome, not Microsoft Edge.

 

Before you begin

Your macOS devices must:

  • Be enrolled in a Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform.
  • Not be configured to use a non-transparent proxy.
  • Be running macOS 10.14 (Mojave) or newer.
  • Have Google Chrome installed for all users in the main Applications folder on the device.
  • Have an MDM rule that stops users from running applications or browsers other than Google Chrome:
    • Block running applications from the /Users/ folder.
    • Allow running applications from these folders:
      • /Applications/
      • /System/Library/
      • /Library/
      • /bin/
      • /usr/bin/
  • Have Rosetta 2 installed if they use ARM-based chipsets rather than Intel-based processors.

Step 1: Install the Cloud Filter Extension

  1. Go to software.smoothwall.com
  2. In the Cloud Filter Unified Client section, select macOS to download the smoothwall-unified-client-x-macos.zip file, then extract the .pkg file.
  3. Deploy the file to the default location on macOS devices using your MDM.
  4. On each device, run sudo "/Library/Application Support/Smoothwall/Unified Client/configure.sh" install X where X is replaced by each of these options.

    Example

    sudo "/Library/Application Support/Smoothwall/Unified Client/configure.sh" install --serial UNCL000000000000

Option Usage
--serial SERIAL

Required.

Replace SERIAL with your Unified Client Serial Number (UNCL).
--tenant TENANT

Required only for a multi-tenant setup.

Replace TENANT with your Tenant ID.
--username-transformation DOMAIN

Optional. 

Specify a domain which will be automatically added to usernames when connecting to the Smoothwall servers. 

  • If the domain ends with a backslash (e.g. "EXAMPLE\"), it will be prepended to the username. 
  • If it starts with an "at" symbol (@), it will be appended (e.g. "@example.com").
--ipc-port PORT

Optional. 

Smoothwall Cloud Filter Extension uses port 38380 by default. If you are experiencing port conflicts, you can use this option to specify a different unused port.

 

Step 2: Configure the browser

In your MDM, you must configure Google Chrome with the listed policies.

Step 3: Install the Cloud Filter Extension

Use a Configuration Profile in your MDM to deploy ExtensionInstallForcelist to Google Chrome, with:

  • State: Enabled
  • Value: jbldkhfglmgeihlcaeliadhipokhocnm;http://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx

Step 4: Verify the installation

  1. Open Google Chrome on a macOS device and go to the Diagnostics page.
  2. Check that the Filter Mode is Mode 2 and the user is correct. If it shows Mode 1 or the wrong user, check your settings and reinstall the Cloud Filter Extension.

Tip

If you have admin/sudo privileges, you can inspect or share the log files for the Cloud Filter Extension. Open the file management area on the device and go to this pathway: /Library/Application Support/Smoothwall/Unified Client/data/logs

 

Uninstall Cloud Filter Extension

  1. Remove the Google Chrome policies, and the extension will uninstall the next time Google Chrome starts.
  2. To stop the extension from running and remove the configuration and logs, run sudo "/Library/Application Support/Smoothwall/Unified Client/configure.sh" uninstall --delete-all