Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings

wrx7m

I am trying think of the best way to have a shortcut for launching Chrome in Icognito mode with specific proxy settings. Thanks to @JaredBusch for this idea. The only way I have found to get it working is running it in CLI. I can create a shortcut to a bat file. Is there a way to make it an actual shortcut (.lnk) with arguments like in GPP/GPO?

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

DustinB3403

You can create shortcuts with GPO, this I know for sure.

I'd have to find where it is as it's been a while since I've had to do this, but it is doable.

DustinB3403

Here is an example of it.

wrx7m

@DustinB3403 said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

You can create shortcuts with GPO, this I know for sure.

I'd have to find where it is as it's been a while since I've had to do this, but it is doable.

Yeah, I tried to get it going with a GPO, but it isn't putting the shortcut on the desktop. Not sure if it is the "path" that is the problem or something else. I thought I would ask prior to getting too deep in the weeds.

wrx7m

I also tried creating a shortcut manually and adding that path. It doesn't let you save the shortcut.

DustinB3403

Your target would point directly to the script, and your start in would be where you want the file.

I literally just made this as simple as "Create new shortcut" > Location of the item >

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

Save.

You could then take that shortcut and put that into the GPO to create on everyone's desktop.

wrx7m

@DustinB3403 OK. So first create script, then create GPO with shortcut to the script to set on users' desktops.

DustinB3403

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@DustinB3403 OK. So first create script, then create GPO with shortcut to the script to set on users' desktops.

Yeah

wrx7m

@DustinB3403 Thanks. I will try that out.

wrx7m

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

I created a script that I placed on a server share. I then manually created a shortcut to it on the desktop. When running, it launches Chrome in icognito and connects to the proxy server correctly. However, the CMD windows stays open and says

CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory.
UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.

I have tried adding @ECHO OFF and used PUSHD to create a mapped drive to the sever share, but it still does that. Any suggestions?

black3dynamite

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

I created a script that I placed on a server share. I then manually created a shortcut to it on the desktop. When running, it launches Chrome in icognito and connects to the proxy server correctly. However, the CMD windows stays open and says

CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory.
UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.

I have tried adding @ECHO OFF and used PUSHD to create a mapped drive to the sever share, but it still does that. Any suggestions?

Have you tried creating the shortcut using Group Policy Preferences?

wrx7m

@black3dynamite said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

I created a script that I placed on a server share. I then manually created a shortcut to it on the desktop. When running, it launches Chrome in icognito and connects to the proxy server correctly. However, the CMD windows stays open and says

CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory.
UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.

I have tried adding @ECHO OFF and used PUSHD to create a mapped drive to the sever share, but it still does that. Any suggestions?

Have you tried creating the shortcut using Group Policy Preferences?

I just tried that. It isn't creating the shortcut. It says it is applying the policy, but shows under computer configuration, even though I have the shortcut in the User Configuration.

black3dynamite

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@black3dynamite said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

@wrx7m said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

I created a script that I placed on a server share. I then manually created a shortcut to it on the desktop. When running, it launches Chrome in icognito and connects to the proxy server correctly. However, the CMD windows stays open and says

CMD.EXE was started with the above path as the current directory.
UNC paths are not supported. Defaulting to Windows directory.

I have tried adding @ECHO OFF and used PUSHD to create a mapped drive to the sever share, but it still does that. Any suggestions?

Have you tried creating the shortcut using Group Policy Preferences?

I just tried that. It isn't creating the shortcut. It says it is applying the policy, but shows under computer configuration, even though I have the shortcut in the User Configuration.

I've had more success using Replace instead of Create. When I used that policy it was linked at the domain level but my security filtering applied to users in a specific group only.

wrx7m

I tried replace, create and update and also turning off item level targeting and setting security filtering to Auth users. Still doesn't work.

wrx7m

OK. Finally got it to show up. I had to move the shortcut creation to Computer configuration and set the "Location" to "All Users Desktop" for it to show up. However, when running the bat file, it still opens a CMD window. This one is all blank. I tried adding exit to the script, but it doesn't close the window.

wrx7m

OK. Finally. It pops up briefly and closes as the Chrome windows opens. The bat file would be -

@ECHO OFF
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server="http://squid.domain.com:3128" --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"
Exit

If anyone can figure out a way to get a regular shortcut to run with those parameters, I would appreciate that.

wrx7m

Managed to create a shortcut manually with the Windows wizard. Right-click>New shortcut. I modified the syntax to exlude the quotes around the proxy server and removed the http://. This is the syntax I put in the path field:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito --proxy-server=squid.domain.com:3128 --user-data-dir="%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\ChromeProxy01\User Data"

After finishing, it automatically filled in the "Start in" field with

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application"

It also grabbed the Chrome icon.

Unfortunately, I still can't get the shortcut created using GPO. It just won't create it.

wrx7m

I guess I can create a logon script that runs a robocopy to copy the shortcuts from a share to the users' desktops.

Obsolesce

Why are you shortcutting to a script and not Chrome shortcut with those arguments?

wrx7m

@Obsolesce said in Creating a Shortcut for Chrome Incognito with Proxy Settings:

Why are you shortcutting to a script and not Chrome shortcut with those arguments?

Windows wouldn't let me create a shortcut with the initial arguments in that syntax. Per the second to last post, I have since been able to create the proper syntax for the shortcuts. I had to remove the http:// and quotes around the proxy server option.

My problem now lies in how best to deploy the Chrome shortcuts. For whatever reason, a GPO doesn't create the shortcut. The same GPO will create a shortcut to the script, just not the specialized Chrome shortcut.

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