Disable "Chrome is out of date" dialog box (Linux / Ubuntu)

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kfchoong

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Aug 22, 2019, 1:38:29 AM8/22/19
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Hi,

Is there a way to disable the "Chrome is out of date" dialog box permanently? Seems like the only "working" solution for now is to use the --check-for-update-interval switch and set it to a large value like 604800.

This might work in the scenario where the browser is closed often, however, as my requirement is for the browser to be running for weeks and maybe months, the --check-for-update-interval is not suitable.

Is there another way around this?

PhistucK

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Aug 22, 2019, 1:43:58 AM8/22/19
to kfch...@gmail.com, Chromium-discuss
Must you use Chrome? Would Chromium be sufficient?
(I am only suggesting this because it sounds like an isolated internal environment or an instance that only loads internal stuff. If not, then Chromium is not a good solution and so is yours - not updating the browser for months can eventually lead to malware creeping up on the machine or websites that stop working because they require the latest version)

PhistucK


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Kar Fai Choong

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Aug 22, 2019, 2:43:47 AM8/22/19
to PhistucK, Chromium-discuss
Actually, I am using Chromium. Sorry for the typo in the earlier post.

I am using Chromium for a digital signage solution running on Ubuntu platform. In my case, it really isn't a problem for malware or security as the browser will not be used to access external websites. The reason why I am not updating is that I am using a  Chromium version with GPU acceleration and it is working well. Newer versions of Chromium is giving problems with GPU acceleration.




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PhistucK

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Aug 22, 2019, 5:02:03 AM8/22/19
to Kar Fai Choong, Chromium-discuss
I guess you mean you use the specific Ubuntu distribution of Chromium, not the snapshot builds that the Chromium provides for testing.
In this case, I would guess there is no way to turn it off from within Chromium, then, but maybe you should check with the distributor of the package/package author (not the Chromium project).
Those distributions are usually open source, so you can perhaps build Chromium yourself using the same way they do and disable this feature in your customized build.

One other option you have is to externally intercept the update-check network request (using a proxy perhaps) and return a no-update-needed type of response.

PhistucK

Kar Fai Choong

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Aug 22, 2019, 5:29:46 AM8/22/19
to PhistucK, Chromium-discuss
Thanks for your tip. I will try to intercept the network request. I could probably edit the /etc/hosts file to prevent Chromium from connecting the server. BTW, do you know what is the domain/host used to check for updates?



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Joshua Pawlicki

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Aug 22, 2019, 12:29:48 PM8/22/19
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IIRC the check-for-update-interval switch on Linux controls how frequently it is checking whether or not the version on disk matches the running version (i.e. you need to restart the browser to use the new version). The actual upgrade is handled by apt or rpm, which you may not want to block at a network level. You could look into using `apt-mark hold` or a similar command to prevent upgrading the Chromium package from your distribution, which should disable the reboot-to-update prompt.
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