Automate Google Chrome extension installation

Question

I am working on creating a Google Chrome extension. We have it included in an automated build system and since it is constantly being worked on we need a solution to be able to package the extension as a .crx file which according to http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/packaging.html can easily be scripted.

My question is after packaging the extension is there a known method either through the command-line or some other programmatic way, to install the newly packaged extension in an automated manner?

If someone knows how or has any reference material that I can be pointed towards I would greatly appreciate any help that is offered. Thank you.

Answer 1

You may be able to use external extensions. You will need to generate the external_extensions.json file or add your extension to the registry.

http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/dev/external_extensions.html

Answer 2

Have a look at auto-updating. You would install the extension once, setting it to auto-update. When you get a new build of it, it should auto-update when chrome next checks. The default interval for checking for updates is several hours, but you can perform a manual update (from the extensions page), or by launching chrome using

chrome.exe --extensions-update-frequency=45

to set the update frequency to (for example) 45 seconds.

Your build should just update the extension xml file to let chrome know that a new version is available.