Secure Shell (stable) deprecated app updated to 0.40

[Mike Frysinger]

i've just released Secure Shell (stable) 0.40 (the deprecated app) which updates some text & icons to make it easier to differentiate from the extension.

Secure Shell (nassh) ChangeLog:

0.40, 2021-12-17, Restyle icons.
* manifest & icons: Make them visually different from the extension.

-mike

[Mike Frysinger]

what you describe is misbehavior in Chrome itself that extensions have no control over. unfortunately, if you click repair, Chrome will also wipe your settings. if you don't have a backup and don't want to lose those, get another computer and run the app there to export the settings before repairing things.

the app still works fine for EOL systems like yours (I specifically added version checks to not show the warnings), but I can't make the description dynamic based on the version.

-mike

On Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 12:00 Eric Sunshine <ericsu...@gmail.com> wrote:

The Secure Shell app stopped working for me a few days ago on Chrome OS. I'm not able even to launch the app. The Chrome extensions manager says "This extension may have been corrupted" and shows a "Repair" button which re-installs the same "corrupt" app, thus doesn't help. I'm using the app since I can't use the Secure Shell extension since the "Install" button at the Chrome Web Store is disabled with the explanation "Chrome of version at least 86 is required" and my Chrome OS is stuck at version 84.0.4147.136 (and I can't upgrade because Google end-of-life'd this old hardware).

At first I thought that this very recent "disabling" of Secure Shell app was intentional since it has been deprecated, however, upon seeing the post to which I'm responding, in which no mention is made of disabling the app, I'm wondering if 0.40 was instead somehow accidentally corrupted or accidentally made incompatible with the old Chrome/Chrome OS version I'm running.

Thoughts?

[Eric Sunshine]

The Secure Shell app stopped working for me a few days ago on Chrome OS. I'm not able even to launch the app. The Chrome extensions manager says "This extension may have been corrupted" and shows a "Repair" button which re-installs the same "corrupt" app, thus doesn't help. I'm using the app since I can't use the Secure Shell extension since the "Install" button at the Chrome Web Store is disabled with the explanation "Chrome of version at least 86 is required" and my Chrome OS is stuck at version 84.0.4147.136 (and I can't upgrade because Google end-of-life'd this old hardware).

At first I thought that this very recent "disabling" of Secure Shell app was intentional since it has been deprecated, however, upon seeing the post to which I'm responding, in which no mention is made of disabling the app, I'm wondering if 0.40 was instead somehow accidentally corrupted or accidentally made incompatible with the old Chrome/Chrome OS version I'm running.

Thoughts?

On Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 1:39:09 PM UTC-5 Mike Frysinger wrote:

[Eric Sunshine]

Thanks for the response.

I had already hit the "Repair" button multiple times, so presumably
the settings were gone anyhow. Therefore, I went ahead and uninstalled
and reinstalled Secure Shell app from scratch. Unfortunately, this
didn't fix the problem. Chrome extensions manager still reports that
the extension is corrupt even after a fresh install, and the icon for
the app is still disabled/greyed-out so I can't even launch it. It was
working fine until a few days ago when (presumably) it got upgraded
automatically to 0.40. (I understand about "DEPRECATED" in the app
title; this problem report, however, is about Chrome thinking the app
is corrupt and not allowing me to launch it.)

Beyond reporting that Chrome extensions manager says the app is
corrupt and that the icon for launching it is greyed out, I'm not sure
how to go about diagnosing the problem to add value to this problem
report. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Eric Sunshine]

I misspoke slightly. After a fresh install of Secure Shell app, the
icon is no longer greyed out, however, the other problems remain.
Specifically, Chrome extensions manager says that the extension is
corrupt, and launching the app does "nothing" (it never launches). I
presume that it is crashing at launch time, but don't know how to go
about diagnosing the problem. (chrome://crashes/ does not show any
crashes.)

[Mike Frysinger]

unfortunately, Chrome has gone through periods of corrupting extensions more often, and since you're on an EOL device, you're prob stuck in one of those times.

if you don't have any local state (like Downloads or Crostini), you could try powerwashing.  basically you'd delete your account from the device and resync everything from the cloud.

the app update here only changed the icons & description.

-mike

On Sat, Mar 12, 2022 at 1:17 PM Eric Sunshine <ericsu...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Eric Sunshine]

Thanks. I noticed that extensions manager was also reporting some
"factory installed" Google offline Drive extension as corrupt, as
well, so you may be right about the fault being on the Chrome side.

I may end up trying a powerwash. This Chromebook is too old to support
Crostini, so I needn't worry about that (though I may want to backup
my Termux installation which I use in lieu of Crostini).

[J Ender]

Yup, power-washing is a no go.

I noticed my icon bailing to deprecated a not-too-long-ago to an unhappy face.  But, I was able to use ssh to login places, right up until I had to powerwash for an unrelated reason (tonight).

>unfortunately, if you click repair, Chrome will also wipe your settings.

Did that, as well. Whoops.

The correct action was to pack this app, and never update?

Are there any ssh alternatives that do work?  Not looking forward to using my phone for ssh logins.

[Mike Frysinger]

you could try downloading the release and loading it as an unpacked app.

1. download https://storage.googleapis.com/chromeos-localmirror/secureshell/releases/SecureShellApp-0.39.crx
2. rename it from .crx to .zip
3. unzip it
4. edit the manifest.json and add this:
   "key": "MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDixnK8f4AuZrV+QZx7iiONG/SAiU5VrjlXD2KxRGvI6tDJrLvUin+GpcuMH1d/Qrc0+PmCzJ1duAiD/9F2q8kiYwQ1C3gZmztYneAiVX+3/OvXHr/idyueNQ5XFvBnMCpKD0KqPEksP80utV417fuaHAY4NFjofLZyWUvu23XHRwIDAQAB"
   
5. go to chrome://extensions/
6. enable "developer mode" there -- i don't know where the toggle is in your system, but look in the upper right
7. click "load unpacked"
8. select the unpacked folder
9. it'll show up as a separate app

-mike

[Eric Sunshine]

This manual installation technique works, resulting in a properly functioning Secure Shell app 0.39. (The extensions page in Chrome does report a "crashReportPrivate requires dev channel or newer but this is stable channel" error, but the app itself works fine.) Thanks!

In fact, using same installation technique, Secure Shell app 0.40 can also be installed successfully and results in a working app. I verified that the contents of the two .crx packages differ only in the ways you mentioned earlier (changed icons, minor necessary changes to manifest.json, etc.), so the problem does not seem to be with the 0.40 .crx specifically, but rather elsewhere. Chrome extensions reports 0.40 as corrupt only when it is installed from the web store. Curious.

[Mike Frysinger]

right, i suggested 0.39 over 0.40 so you don't get the confusing icons/descriptions.  but you have the source now, so feel free to make whatever changes you want :p.

glad it works.

-mike

[Eric Sunshine]

Understood. I decided to stick with 0.39 for its more recognizable icon.

Thanks for all your help!

[J Ender]

Tried the link, got this error:

This file has wandered off somewhere. Please check your download location setting and try again.

Tried 'save as', with rename to .zip (two birds, one stone).

Edited .json to include stuff within what appears to be an enclosing set of brackets "{}", added comma, kept space after ": "

...{"email": "chrome-secure-s...@google.com"},
"key": "MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDixnK8f4AuZrV+QZx7iiONG/SAiU5VrjlXD2KxRGvI6tDJrLvUin+GpcuMH1d/Qrc0+PmCzJ1duAiD/9F2q8kiYwQ1C3gZmztYneAiVX+3/OvXHr/idyueNQ5XFvBnMCpKD0KqPEksP80utV417fuaHAY4NFjofLZyWUvu23XHRwIDAQAB"
}

Can only save outside of zip archive, so unpacked everything else, and put edited .json in place of the one from the zip.

Failed to remove existing things in Extensions, got these under apps (see attachment, apparently missing something to use the attach graphics here)

Can you confirm the ID number?  okddffdblfhhnmhodogpojmfkjmhinfp

Launches something in-tab (yay!)

Allowed login.

Have not messed with 'Errors' button.  Not sure if I need to keep unpacked version, or if I can trash (or zip up, and try again).

Thanks guys!  This is working enough for me, hoping the 'launch as own window' and other cosmetic treatments works - but functionality is enough to get things done.

[Eric Sunshine]

On Tue, Mar 29, 2022 at 8:18 AM J Ender <brc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Edited .json to include stuff within what appears to be an enclosing set of brackets "{}", added comma, kept space after ": "

> Can only save outside of zip archive, so unpacked everything else, and put edited .json in place of the one from the zip.

Correct.

> Failed to remove existing things in Extensions, got these under apps (see attachment, apparently missing something to use the attach graphics here)

I had removed the "corrupt" version of SecureShellApp before trying to
install the "unpacked" 0.39.

> Can you confirm the ID number? okddffdblfhhnmhodogpojmfkjmhinfp

Yes, that's correct.

> Launches something in-tab (yay!)
> Allowed login.

Good.

> Have not messed with 'Errors' button.

Don't need to. It reports an error message related to development, but
that doesn't impact functioning of the app itself.

> Not sure if I need to keep unpacked version, or if I can trash (or zip up, and try again).

Yes, you need to keep the unpacked version around since Chrome doesn't
copy it anywhere, which is a bit unfortunate, but having a working
SecureShellApp again is (hopefully) worth the lack of tidiness.

> Thanks guys! This is working enough for me, hoping the 'launch as own window' and other cosmetic treatments works - but functionality is enough to get things done.

To make it launch in a window rather than a tab, right-click on the
SecureShellApp icon in the launcher/menu, go to the "New window"
submenu, and select "New window" instead of "New tab" to make
window-mode the default.