To remotely manage your Chromeboxes and other Chrome devices, you need to subscribe to a Chrome Enterprise Upgrade. There are 3 types of services as listed by Google and you choose the one that best suits your project. When you subscribe, you specify the number of subscription licenses that you need, based on how many Chrome devices you want to enroll. How you pay for licenses (subscription type) depends on what service you subscribe to. All the licenses allow you to lock the device into a single app kiosk mode, manage networks, policies, and remotely troubleshoot devices. This gives you confidence that your devices are secure and not being hijacked with unwanted content. Your Arreya digital signage channel will be the only app shown on your device.
If you have any questions about Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, need to purchase upgrades, or purchase Chrome devices check out the Arreya store.
Chrome Enterprise Upgrade can be purchased either standalone or bundled with ChromeOS devices.
ChromeOS devices with bundled upgrades / Chrome Enterprise Devices
Best recommendation
Bundled with Chrome Device, no extra license to purchase
Perpetual, one-time cost
ChromeOS devices with bundled upgrades are the easiest way to get started as the license is tied to the device and doesn’t require any extra steps to provision licenses to your Chrome devices. Bundled upgrades allow complete control and management of Chrome devices via the Google Admin console. Bundled upgrades are perpetual, and last the life of the device. Look for Chrome devices labeled “Enterprise” or “Bundled” to make sure you get a device with a bundled license.
Standalone Kiosk & Signage Upgrade
Renews annually
Specifically for kiosk and digital signage use
The Kiosk & Signage Upgrade gives you most of the same functionality as the bundled upgrade, but doesn’t allow you to manage policies for users, and can only be used in single app kiosk mode. This upgrade is also billed annually, but is offered at a lower cost compared to other upgrades. These licenses are great if you want to use a device that doesn’t come with a bundled upgrade, ChromeOS Flex devices, or if you prefer annual billing.
Chrome Enterprise Non-Profit Upgrade (Perpetual)
Non-profit organizations only
Discounted price
Perpetual
Chrome Enterprise Non-Profit Upgrade allows access to the same features as bundled perpetual upgrades at a lower cost for non-profit organizations. The license allows you to configure policies and settings for Chrome devices, manage users, manage apps, configure networks, and more. The perpetual license is valid for the life of the device but can be transferred to a like device in the event of a device issue.
Chrome Enterprise Education Upgrade (Perpetual)
Education organizations only
Discounted price
Perpetual
Chrome Enterprise Education Upgrade allows access to the same features as bundled perpetual upgrades at a lower cost for education organizations. The license allows you to configure policies and settings for Chrome devices, manage users, manage apps, configure networks, and more. The perpetual license is valid for the life of the device but can be transferred to a like device in the event of a device issue.
Chrome Enterprise Upgrade Annual
Renews annually
Allows managed guest sessions and user policies
The Chrome Enterprise Upgrade Annual license gives you the same functionality as the bundled upgrade including managed guest sessions and user policy management. This upgrade is billed annually, and is offered at a lower cost compared to other upgrades. These licenses are great if you want to use a device that doesn’t come with a bundled upgrade, if you need to use managed guest sessions, manage users, or if you prefer annual billing.
For more information on each service type of Chrome Management License, refer to the description in the Arreya online store.
Chrome Service
Upgrade term available
Description
ChromeOS device bundled with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade
Perpetual
Best recommendation
Bundled with Chrome Device, no extra license to purchase Perpetual, one-time cost
For a full list of supported devices, see ChromeOS devices.
Standalone Kiosk & Signage Upgrade
Annual
Renews annually
Specifically for kiosk and digital signage use
No managed guest sesssion No user policy management
Standalone Chrome Nonprofit Upgrade
Perpetual
Non-profit organizations only
Discounted price
Perpetual
Standalone Chrome Enterprise Upgrade
Annual
Renews annually
Allows managed guest sessions and user policies
Standalone Chrome Education Upgrade
Perpetual
Education organizations only
Discounted price
Perpetual
Services governed by the Chrome Services License Agreement
Chrome Enterprise Upgrade services allow you to configure settings and enforce policies for specific Chrome devices. You can control user access, customize features, configure network access, and more. Choose the service that’s right for your organization type.
Chrome Kiosk & Signage Upgrade service gives you access to the settings you need to configure, deploy, and monitor a Chrome device as a single-app kiosk. It’s perfect for a device that’s used exclusively as a kiosk, such as a digital sign or point-of-sale system in a store. However, it can’t be used for public-session kiosks (managed guest sessions). This service is only available to business customers.
So which one is right for you?
For most Arreya digital signage subscribers, we recommend the Bundled Chrome Enterprise Upgrades. The upgrade is tied to the device, and is a one time cost for the life of the device. There is no annual cost for updates or renewals. For projects that have a set cut off time, Standalone Kiosk & Signage Upgrades may be the cost friendly. Contact us to discuss 319-294-6671, info@arreya.com or For more information go to Service and subscriptions.
An important feature for troubleshooting device issues, is the ability to remotely reboot a Chrome device or take a screenshot of the screen.
After logging in to your Admin console, go to Devices > Chrome Devices and click a serial number to get into the individual device settings.
On the left side of the screen you’ll see your options for Reboot, Remote Desktop, and Take a Screenshot
This screen also has information regarding system information, and troubleshooting features like Remote Desktop, Capture Logs, and Move.
Pressing [Reboot] will send a command to the Chrome device to reboot. You will either get a success message, or an error if the device is offline or it’s unable to communicate with the device.
Pressing [Remote Desktop] will start a dialog for you to remotely view your screen in real time.
Pressing [Take a Screenshot], next to Screen Capture will take a screenshot of what is currently on the screen. This can be used to determine what is showing on the screen currently.
The Screen Capture and Remote Desktop functions will return an error if a user has interacted with the Chrome device, pressed a touch screen, used a keyboard or mouse, etc. This is a security feature to prevent sensitive information from being accessed on a user’s screen.
This guide walks through how to create an OU and user for setting up Chrome Devices with Chrome Device Management(CDM). This is all that is required to use our “White Glove” configuration service. If you wish to configure your own devices you will need to complete the device setup instructions – https://arreya.com/kb/configuring-chrome-device-chrome-device-management-managed-kiosk-mode/
Part 1 – Creating an OU in an existing Google admin console
Navigate to “Organizational units” using the icon on the admin console home screen
Click on the “Yellow +”
It will open up a “Create new organizational unit” dialog box where you can make a new OU and give it a description and it will create a Sub Organizational Unit.
Click “Create” to finish.
This OU will serve as the container for all of your chrome devices
Part 2 – Adding a temporary user for device pairing or our “white glove” service
Now you can provide the email address and password for the account you just set up to us and we will be able to enroll your devices in the account. We will not have access to anything outside of the privileges you gave us and you can remove the account once setup is complete if you desire