Looking for details on older releases? Here is a summary of Gopher for Chrome updates by release date.
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Gopher for Chrome: Previously the feedback icon, located at the bottom of the sidebar in the Labs Gopher tools, opened to a Google form. This update redirected the feedback icon to the Labs Club Feature Requests page.
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- Click the Feedback icon. The Feature Requests page opens. Click Start new topic. Next, enter a title and description, then click Submit topic.
- Click the Feedback icon. The Feature Requests page opens. Click Start new topic. Next, enter a title and description, then click Submit topic.
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Gopher for Chrome Webapp: Previously the feedback icon, located under Support in the left navigation pane, opened to a Google form. This update redirected the feedback icon to the Labs Club Feature Requests page.
- See Submit a labs feature request
- See Joining the Labs club
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Previously, in the Gopher for Chrome Webb app, Device Cache the > 18 months option for Auto Update Expiry was the only option not selected by default. These options could cause confusion about whether Gopher for Chrome reports all devices. In this release, we've updated the Auto Update Expiry options to all default as selected, including > 18 months.
The Manage Device Cache option on the Utilities menu of Gopher for Chrome is renamed to Access Web App. The name change conveys that you are accessing the web app more clearly.
This release adds the Audit Log Events tab to the Device Info page in the Gopher for Chrome Web app. Events for the selected device from the past 30 days (max 100 events) show on the tab.
Reminder: You can access the web app from the Utilities or Reports tabs in Gopher for Chrome.
Audit Log Events Tab
Gopher for Chrome > Utilities > Gopher Buddy Settings > Device Search > [Select Device] > Audit Log Events
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In the Gopher for Chrome Web App, search for and select a device to open the Device Info page.
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Select the Chrome Audit Events tab.
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You’ll need to authorize an additional API scope the first time you access the tab. Only super admins can grant the authorization by clicking Authorize. Others will have to ask a super admin to re-authorize Gopher for Chrome. Once successfully authorized, you can open the tab and view events.
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The following event information displays; Event Type, Date, Reason, User, and Description.
This release brings improvements to the Gopher for Chrome Web app, including:
- Introducing filters for the Device Cache
- Search by partial number/id for the Device Search
- Device edit capabilities from the Device Info page
- New OS / Chrome fields in Basic Information
Reminder: You can access the web app from the Utilities or Reports tabs in Gopher for Chrome.
Filtering the Device Cache by Device State and Auto Update Expiry
Gopher for Chrome > Web app> Device Cache
- Two filters now appear at the right of the Device Cache page: Device State and Auto Update Expiry. These filters control the data that appears in all of the graphs on the page. As you select and deselect filter criteria, all the graphs update automatically. By default, the Device Status filter is All. The default for the Auto Update Expiry filter (AUE) is only >18 months deselected. Typically > 18 months will be the largest group and the farthest from AUE.
- The Device State filter includes All, Active, Delinquent, Pre Provisioned, Deprovisioned, Disabled, Inactive, Return Arrived, Return Requested, Shipped, and Unknown. The list of states you see in the filter depend on your fleet.
- The Auto Update Expiry filter includes All, > 18 months, 12-18 months, 6-12 months, 3-6 months, and Expired. The list of Auto Update Expiry you see in the filter depend on your fleet.
- Each filter criteria includes the total count of devices at the right of that criteria. This total is static; it does not change as filters change. Note: The legacy number of devices cached and telemetry data for cached devices at the top right of the page are also static numbers; they do not change when filters change.
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Example: To see active devices that have not expired, select only Active for Device State and deselect Expired for Auto Update Expiry.
- See the Filtering the Device cache in the Web app article.
Device Search by partial number/id
Gopher for Chrome > Web app> Device Search
- Previously the device search let you search for a specific device by entering the whole serial number, asset Id, or Device Id. Now you can search using the whole or partial number/id. The search must be at least 3 characters. The matching devices display in a list.
- Click the View column to select a device and open its Device Info.
- See the Searching for devices in the Gopher for Chrome web app article.
Editing Device Information fields
Gopher for Chrome > Web app> Device Search ~ View Device
- Previously, you could not update device information. With this release, the device OU is editable from the device chip at the top right. Also, the following Custom Fields are editable from the Basic Info tab:
- Annotated Asset ID: The asset identifier as noted by an administrator or specified during enrollment. Maximum length is 200 characters. Can be empty.
- Annotated User: The user of the device as noted by the administrator. Maximum length is 100 characters. Can be empty.
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Annotated Location: The address or location of the device as noted by the administrator.
Maximum length is 200 characters. Can be empty. - Organization Unit: This field lets you move the device by changing the OU
- Notes: This field lets you record your actions—for example, the OU previous OU and the reason for moving a device.
- To edit only the device’s org, hover over the organization unit at the top to show the edit icon.
- To edit these fields, click the edit icon
in the Custom Fields section at the bottom left.
Edit the information and click Save. - See the Editing Device Information fields in the Web app article.
Visual changes and additional OS / Chrome included with Basic Information
Gopher for Chrome > Web app> Device Search ~ View Device ~ Basic Info
- The device chip has been added to the top right and remains visible as you select tabs.
- The fields on the Basic Info tab are now organized into sections; Hardware Details, OS / Chrome, and Custom Fields.
- Basic Information has three new fields in the OS / Chrome section; Last OS Update Check, Last OS Update, and Last Reboot Time.
Gopher for Chrome > Utilities > Gopher Buddy Settings > Settings Reset
- Only super admins can reset the settings.
- Only the settings reset. Gopher Buddy session information will not be deleted.
- See the Reset Gopher Buddy settings, session capture issues article.
- See the Reset Gopher Buddy settings, session capture issues article.
Gopher for Chrome > Launch Sidebar > Utilities > Gopher Buddy Settings > Support >
Feedback
Gopher for Chrome > Launch Sidebar > Reports> Cache Admin Settings > Support >
Feedback
Do you have a suggestion that could improve our tools? We would love to hear from you. We’ve added the Feedback icon to the sidebar of our Labs Tools to give you 1-click access to our feedback form.
- See the What is the best way to submit a feature request? article.
Gopher for Chrome > Launch Sidebar
Do you have a suggestion that could improve our tools? We would love to hear from you. We’ve added the Feedback icon to the sidebar of our Labs Tools to give you 1-click access to our feedback form.
- See the What is the best way to submit a feature request? article.
Load from Admin console IP Address data
Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Admin Console
- When loading devices from the Admin console, the Devices tab now includes the Last Known IP and Last Known WAN IP columns in the Reported Activity section.
- See the Load devices from the Admin console article.
- See the Load devices from the Admin console article.
Load from Admin console telemetry data
Gopher for Chrome > Set Visible Columns
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Last known IP address fields now appear in Set Visible Columns in the Reported Activity section.
- See the Include/exclude and show/hide device data columns article.
- See the Include/exclude and show/hide device data columns article.
Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Device Cache
- When loaded from Device Cache, the Device Cache tab now includes the Last Known IP and Last Known WAN IP columns in the Reported Activity section.
- See the Load devices from the Device cache article.
- See the Load devices from the Device cache article.
Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Admin Console
- A new toggle, Include device telemetry data appears on the sidebar, Import tab. The toggle gives you the option to include telemetry data in the import. When set to ON, the Device Telemetry section appears after the Hardware State and contains columns for Battery Health, Storage Used, Total Storage (GB), and Available Storage (GB). The toggle is OFF by default.
- See the Load devices from the Admin console article.
- See the Load devices from the Admin console article.
Device search is a new feature in the Gopher for Chrome web app. With search, Super admin and delegated admin users can search devices by serial number, asset id, or device id. From the search results, clicking any column opens the Device Info page with information for only that device.
Setup
- Device search uses the roles setup for Gopher for Chrome for delegated admins.
- Popups need to be enabled as there may be an additional OAuth request box popup when launching the search.
Search for a device
- Access the Gopher for Chrome web app.
- In the left navigation pane, click Device Search.
- Search defaults to Serial Number. Select Asset id or Device id from the drop-down to search by id.
- Enter the device serial number, asset id, or device id.
- Click Search. The matching device appears on the page.
- To open the Device Info page for this device, click any column in the search results. The page opens to Basic Info.
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Click Device Search at the top left to search again.
Gopher for Chrome > Utilities
- Previously, the Quick Find and Update tab of the Gopher for Chrome sidebar opened Quick Find and Update. The tab is now replaced with the Utilities tab, giving all users access to the Quick Find and Update and Manage Device Cache options.
- Super admins who have Premium access have an additional option; Gopher Buddy Settings.
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- See the Quick find and update article.
- See the Gopher for Chrome web app explained article.
Total Storage (GB) and Available Storage added to Device Telemetry when importing Device Cache
Gopher for Chrome > Load manage devices from … ~ Device Cache
- To provide more insight into storage, the Total Storage and Available Storage are new columns in the Device Telemetry section of the Device Cache tab. The values round to the nearest whole GB.
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See the Load devices from the device cache article.
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Gopher for Chrome > Reports > Device Telemetry > Battery Health by OU
- The Battery Health by OU report now only includes active devices. Previously, deprovisioned devices were included in the report, inflating the number of devices reported.
- See the Run the battery health by OU report article.
Note: We recommend installing from Sheets rather than the Admin console Marketplace.
- See the Run the battery health by OU report article.
In this update, we’ve concentrated our focus on Battery Health monitoring, providing you with another tool for gaining insight across your Chromebook fleet. Specifically, monitoring the condition or state of all batteries across your fleet. Using this information you can plan device repairs, recycling, and replacements.
There is minimal setup before you can use battery health and storage monitoring. Learn more
- The Battery Health State widget is new to the Gopher for Chrome Web app. It provides a domain-wide view of the devices, showing the number of devices in each health state.
Gopher for Chrome > Run Reports > Device Cache > Cache Admin Settings- See the View the battery health widget article for more information.
- The Battery Health report lets get information on specific devices in each state. After running the report, use the Google Sheets column filters to drill down on a specific subset of devices.
Gopher for Chrome > Run Reports > Device Telemetry > Poor Battery Health- See the Run the poor battery health report article for more information.
- The Battery Health by OU report has one row per OU with the count of devices for each battery health status, along with a link to the admin console page with the Chrome settings for that OU.
Gopher for Chrome > Run Reports > Device Telemetry > Battery Health by OU- See the Run the battery health by OU report article for more information.
- Storage and battery data is added to the Device Cache sheet. When loading your devices via the Device Cache, you can now see the battery health and storage used per device. You can use this information to filter and bulk clean up devices.
- See the Load devices from the device cache and Clear user profiles articles for more information.
Gopher for Chrome > Run Reports > Device Cache > Cache Admin Settings
In this update, we’ve concentrated our focus on Battery Health monitoring, providing you with another tool for gaining insight across your Chromebook fleet. Specifically, monitoring the condition or state of all batteries across your fleet. Using this information you can plan device repairs, recycling, and replacements.
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The Battery Health State widget has been added to the Gopher for Chrome Web app. It provides a domain-wide view of the devices, showing the number of devices at each health state.
Gopher for Chrome > Run Reports > Device Telemetry > Poor Battery Health
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The Battery Health Report lets get information on specific devices at each state. After running the report, use the Google Sheets column filters to drill down on a specific subset of devices.
Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Device Cache
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The installer for the Gopher Buddy extension has been updated. The previous installer required you to authenticate before accessing the install wizard. The updated wizard does not require authentication and opens differently if the extension was or was not already installed. Here’s what’s changed:
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The release install link has changed.
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The behavior of the link has changed:
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If the Gopher Buddy extension is not installed, the installation wizard opens to step 1.
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If the Gopher Buddy extension is installed, the page opens to the Setup Panel, Assign Admin Account tab.
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See the Install and setup Gopher Buddy article which walks you through the installation via sheets.
Note: We recommend installing from Sheets rather than the Admin console Marketplace.
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Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Device Cache
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For Gopher Premium users, a new toggle Include data collected from the Gopher Buddy extension appears on the Bulk updates tab when Update from Device Cache is selected. The toggle gives you the option to include data collected from the Gopher Buddy extension in the import. When set to ON, Gopher Buddy data appears in the Gopher Buddy Session Data (read-only) section of the Device Cache tab.
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See the Load devices from the device cache and include Gopher Buddy data in Gopher for Chrome articles.
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Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Device Cache
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The Last Sync column is a new column in the Device Details section of the Device Cache tab, between Status and Last Enrollment Time. This tab gets created when you load managed devices from the device cache.
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See the Load devices from the device cache article.
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Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Device Cache
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In the Load Devices drop-down, Cached quick device fleet report changed to Device cache.
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See the Load devices from the device cache article.
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Gopher for Chrome > Bulk actions > Updated from Device Cache
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The following device properties are editable in the Device Cash sheet: Org unit path, Annotated user, Annotated asset ID, Annotated Location, and Notes.
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A new choice appears on the Bulk updates tab: Update from Device Cache.
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See the Bulk update from device cache article.
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Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Cached quick device fleet report
Admin console
- When loading from the Cached quick device fleet report, the report would not run if the user had not visited the reports tab and authorized reports. In this release, if the user has not authorized reports, the Authorize button appears on the tab. Users must click Authorize before the Load to Sheet button appears.
- See the Load Devices article.
Gopher for Chrome > Load managed devices from > Admin console
- Chrome OS zero-touch enrollment is where a pre-provisioning partner (device manufacturer, distributor, or reseller) sends instructions to Google to automatically enroll a Chrome device into a customer’s domain after a device is turned on and connected to the internet. This release adds is Pre-provisioned as a Device Status filter when loading managed devices from the Admin console.
- See the Load Devices article.
- During manual entry of device id/serial numbers, Load to sheet is not available if there are duplicate entries. This update adds a warning message showing the number of duplicates, a list of the first 10 duplicates, and a Fix It button to remove duplicates.
- See the Load Devices article.