SysTrack Browser Extension

This article shows how to install the SysTrack browser extension, find its extension IDs, set up the Web Tracking List and Google Only Mode, and troubleshoot the extension. The SysTrack browser extension collects key web usage data, including page titles, load times, focus times, and full URLs of visited pages. It also captures detailed navigation timing metrics, such as page load duration, redirects, domain lookups, connection times, and the individual stages of the web page loading process. For details, see Web Data Collection.

The SysTrack browser extension can be installed automatically or manually.

Supported Operating Systems and Browsers for the SysTrack Browser Extension

The SysTrack browser extension supports web usage tracking on the following operating systems and browsers.

Windows:

• Microsoft Edge

• Google Chrome

• Mozilla Firefox

• Legacy Internet Explorer

macOS:

• Microsoft Edge

• Google Chrome

• Mozilla Firefox

• Safari

Linux:

• Microsoft Edge

• Google Chrome

• Mozilla Firefox

For detailed information about supported versions, see Supported Operating Systems and Platforms.

Web Management

Use Web Management to configure browser extension installation and web tracking behavior.

To access Web Management settings:

1. Go to Configure > System Configuration > Roles.

2. Select the role to change, or create a role. You can't edit factory roles.

3. In the lower section of the page, select Additional Settings > Web Management.

From this page, you can:

• Select browsers on which to install the SysTrack browser extension

• Configure the Web Tracking List

• Configure Google Only Mode

To save your changes to the role, click Save Changes.

Install the SysTrack Browser Extension

Windows and Linux

The SysTrack agent can automatically install the SysTrack browser extension in supported browsers on Windows and Linux systems. To do this, select the appropriate browser checkboxes in Web Management:

• Install Chrome extension

• Install Chromium Edge extension

• Install Firefox extension

• Install Internet Explorer extension

All four checkboxes are selected by default.

Alternatively, for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, you can install the browser extension via Chrome Web Store.

macOS

To install the SysTrack browser extension on managed macOS systems, use a mobile device management (MDM) solution such as JAMF or Intune:

• For Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, deploy the extension using Group Policy.

• For Firefox, download the extension file and deploy it.

• For Safari, download and unzip the app. Most MDM tools cannot deploy a .app file directly. Package the app as a .pkg or .dmg file with your MDM tool or another packaging tool, and then deploy the package. For more information, see Distribute packages to Mac computers.

Lakeside Software signs and notarizes the SysTrack Safari app but does not provide a .pkg or .dmg file. If your MDM tool installs .pkg files with an MDM command, sign the package with a certificate that the Mac can verify, for example your Apple Developer ID Installer certificate.

After deployment, users enable the extension in Safari settings. On supervised Macs with macOS 15 or later, you can turn on the extension through your MDM tool if it supports Safari extension management.

To install the SysTrack browser extension on unmanaged macOS systems:

• For Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, install the browser extension via Chrome Web Store.

• For Firefox, download and install the browser extension and enable it in Firefox settings.

• For Safari, download, unzip, and open the app. Then enable the extension in Safari settings.

Download the Firefox SysTrack browser extension (.xpi):

Download the SysTrack Safari browser extension (.zip):

SysTrack Browser Extension IDs

If your security policies allow only approved browser extension IDs, use the following table to obtain the corresponding IDs for the SysTrack Browser Extension.

For Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome, there are two SysTrack browser extensions with different IDs. The SysTrack agent installs one of them. The other one is the Chrome Web Store version.

For Safari, use the extension bundle ID for browser extension policies and the app bundle ID for application-level policies.

Web Tracking List

Use the Web Tracking List to specify URL patterns and control which web pages the SysTrack browser extension tracks.

To configure the Web Tracking List:

1. Select Web Tracking List Enable.

2. In Web Tracking List, enter patterns that define the web pages to track.

3. Choose which parts of URLs the browser extension collects:

   • Select Collect Full Web URL (default): Collects the complete URL that a user accesses.

   • Clear Collect Full Web URL to collect only the initial domain and no page-specific information.

EXAMPLE: For the page https://www.lakesidesoftware.com/contact-us/, only https://www.lakesidesoftware.com/ is collected when Collect Full Web URL is cleared.

Tracking Behavior

• If Web Tracking List Enable is selected and the Web Tracking List field is empty, no web pages are tracked.

• If Web Tracking List Enable is cleared, all web pages are tracked. Web Tracking List Enable is cleared by default.

Pattern Requirements

Patterns in the Web Tracking List field must follow these rules:

• Patterns are case-sensitive.

• Wildcards are supported:

  • ? matches a single character.

  • * matches a sequence of characters.

EXAMPLES:

• Track both HTTP and HTTPS versions of a site: http*://www.example.com/

• Track only the main page: http://www.example.com/

• Track all pages within a site: http://www.example.com/*. This pattern records multiple subpages but does not include variations in protocol, subdomain, or missing trailing slashes.

Google Only Mode

Google Only Mode allows you to collect limited web history for Google applications only. Google Only Mode is off by default. This mode supports Google DEX Pack data collection when no other web data is required.

To enable Google Only Mode:

1. Select Google Only Mode.

2. Review the default Google application URLs.

3. If your organization uses custom URLs for Google applications, update the default values accordingly.

The following Google application URLs are populated by default:

• Google – Sheets

• Google – Docs

• Google – Mail

• Google – Calendar

• Google – Meet

• Google – Chat

• Google – Slides

• Google – Forms

• Google – Drive

Updating the Browser Extension to Manifest V3

If you use a SysTrack version earlier than 10.11, the browser extension supports only Manifest V2, which Google no longer supports.

To upgrade the extension to Manifest V3, install the browser extension via Chrome Web Store.

Troubleshoot the SysTrack Browser Extension

The following entries describe common problems with the SysTrack browser extension, their causes, and how to fix them.

Other Browser Extensions Are Blocked by Administrator

Other Chrome or Edge extensions that you deploy with Group Policy stop working or cannot be installed, for example the Microsoft Single Sign-On extension. The browser shows that they are blocked by your administrator.

Cause: the SysTrack agent installs its extension with a machine-level policy. Chrome and Edge ignore a user-level list of force-installed extensions when a machine-level list exists.

To fix this problem:

1. In the roles of the affected systems, clear Install Chrome extension and Install Chromium Edge extension in Web Management, and click Save Changes.

2. Run Read Configuration on the affected systems, and then close and reopen the browser.

3. Add the Chrome Web Store version of the SysTrack extension to the same user-level policy as your other extensions. For the steps, see Install the Browser Extension via Chrome Web Store.

For more information, see the knowledge base articles Browser Extension Conflicts with SysTrack Agent and Chrome Plugin Causes Other Non-SysTrack Plugins to Stop.

Extension Is Blocked on Computers Not Joined to a Domain

On Windows computers that are not joined to a domain, Chrome and Edge block the SysTrack extension that the agent installs.

Cause: on these computers, Chrome and Edge force-install only extensions from their own stores. Chrome also allows other extensions on computers that are joined to Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) or enrolled in Chrome Browser Cloud Management.

To see the extension policies that the browser applies, open chrome://policy in Chrome or edge://policy in Edge. To collect web data on these computers, install the browser extension via Chrome Web Store.

For more information, see the knowledge base article LsiWebhook Extension.

Extension Is Not Installed or Is Disabled by a Role

The SysTrack extension is missing or disabled in a browser, although other systems have it.

Cause: a role in the configuration of the system clears the install checkbox for that browser in Web Management. The factory role Web Collection selects all four install checkboxes.

To fix this problem:

1. Go to Configure > System Configuration > Configurations, and select the configuration of the affected systems.

2. In the Effective Settings section, clear Display only non-default values, and then select Additional Settings > Web Management. Check which install checkboxes are cleared.

3. Find the role that clears the checkbox, select the checkbox in that role, and click Save Changes.

4. Run Read Configuration on the affected systems to apply the change right away.

For more information, see the knowledge base article Resolve Disabled Chrome Extensions in SysTrack.

Duplicate Web Data from Two Extensions

SysTrack records the same web usage data twice for Chrome or Edge.

Cause: the extension that the SysTrack agent installs and the Chrome Web Store version both run in the browser.

To fix this problem, clear Install Chrome extension and Install Chromium Edge extension in the roles of the systems that use the Chrome Web Store version. For the steps, see Install the Browser Extension via Chrome Web Store.

No Data in Resolve Web Apps

Data does not appear in Resolve > Web Apps after web apps are set up in Configure.

To fix this problem, check these settings:

• In the configuration of the system, Collect Full Web URL is selected.

• The web apps in Configure use top-level URLs, so that SysTrack records all subpages of each web app.

• If Web Tracking List Enable is selected, the Web Tracking List includes wildcard patterns for each web app, for example *docs.google.com*.

For more information, see the knowledge base article Web Apps Data Missing in Resolve.

Web Tracking List Does Not Track the Expected Pages

Web history or web apps show no records for pages that you expect the Web Tracking List to track.

Cause: patterns in the Web Tracking List are case-sensitive, and a pattern without wildcards matches only that exact URL.

To fix this problem, add * wildcards to the patterns, for example *example.com*, and check that Web Tracking List Enable is selected. For the pattern rules, see Pattern Requirements in Web Tracking List.

To check that a Windows system received the setting, make sure that the registry value WebTrackingListEnabled is set to 1 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Lakeside Software\LsiAgent\WebMonThread. If it is not, run Read Configuration on the system.