Google Chrome Enterprise Deployment

If you manage Chrome browsers or Chromebooks with Google Admin Console (Chrome Enterprise), you can enforce Control D DNS policies using DNS over HTTPS (DoH) with identifiers. This guide walks you through choosing an endpoint strategy, configuring Control D, and pushing settings to your users.

Overview

At a high level, you will:

  1. Decide whether to use one Endpoint for an entire OU or one Endpoint per User Group.
  2. Create an Endpoint in Control D and link it to the desired Profile (policy).
  3. Configure DNS over HTTPS with identifiers in Google Admin Console using a template URL.
  4. Verify Clients in the Control D dashboard once users sign in and start browsing.

Plan your deployment

You have two main options for how to structure Endpoints in Control D:

Option 1: Single Endpoint per Organizational Unit (OU)

Use this if:

  • All users in a given OU should have the same policy.
  • You want a simpler setup with fewer Endpoints to manage.

Pros

  • Only one Endpoint to create and maintain.
  • Simple mental model: 1 OU → 1 Endpoint.

Cons

  • Harder to apply different policies to different user groups within that OU.
  • Less granular reporting if users from many groups share the same Endpoint.

Option 2: Separate Endpoint per User Group

Use this if:

  • You want different policies for different user groups (e.g., Staff, Students, Guests).
  • You want cleaner Analytics per group.

Pros

  • Easy to see traffic and apply policies per User Group.
  • More flexible if requirements change over time.

Cons

  • You must repeat the setup once per Group.
  • Slightly more effort to maintain.

Recommendation

If you need different policies for different sets of users, create one Endpoint per User Group. If everyone should share the same policy, a single Endpoint per OU is simpler.


Step 1 — Create an Endpoint in Control D

  1. In the Control D dashboard, go to Endpoints.

  2. Create a new Endpoint:

    • Give it a meaningful name (e.g., Chrome – Staff, Chrome – Students, or Chrome – All Users).
    • Link it to the Profile (policy) you want to enforce for that OU or Group.
  3. Once the Endpoint is created, locate its DoH resolver URL. It will look like this:

    https://dns.controld.com/YOUR_RESOLVER_ID
  4. Copy this URL; you’ll need it for the Google Admin Console.


Step 2 — Configure DNS over HTTPS with identifiers in Google Admin Console

  1. Go to the Google Admin Console.

  2. Navigate to:

    Devices → Settings → DNS over HTTPS with identifiers (Exact path/label may vary slightly depending on your Admin Console version.)

  3. In the DNS-over-HTTPS templates with identifiers box, enter:

    https://dns.controld.com/YOUR_RESOLVER_ID/${USER_EMAIL}

    Replace YOUR_RESOLVER_ID with the ID from your Control D Endpoint URL.

  4. Save your changes.

Why ${USER_EMAIL}?

The ${USER_EMAIL} variable lets Chrome send DNS queries with a per-user identifier. In Control D, each Client will be named after the user’s email address, so you can see who generated the traffic and apply per-user troubleshooting or reporting if needed.


Step 3 — Rollout and expected behavior

After you save the policy:

  1. The next time a managed Chromebook user signs in, the new DoH setting will be applied to their Chrome session.

  2. As soon as they access the Internet:

    • Their device will start sending DNS queries to Control D over HTTPS.
    • A new Client will appear under the Clients list for the configured Endpoint in the Analytics section of the Control D dashboard.
  3. Each Client entry will be named after the user’s email address (from ${USER_EMAIL}).

You can click on a Client in the Control D dashboard to:

  • View that user’s DNS activity.
  • Confirm that the correct Profile is being enforced.
  • Troubleshoot any access or filtering issues.

Verifying the setup

To confirm everything is working:

  1. Have a test user sign in to a managed Chromebook.

  2. Browse to a few websites that should be allowed and a few that should be blocked based on your Profile.

  3. In Control D, go to Analytics → Clients:

    • Look for a Client matching the user’s email.
    • Open it and confirm that their queries and blocks align with your configured rules.

If you don’t see the Client:

  • Confirm the device is enrolled and receiving Chrome policies.
  • Double-check the DoH template URL (resolver ID and ${USER_EMAIL}).
  • Verify that the Endpoint is linked to the correct Profile in Control D.

That’s it — your Chrome Enterprise environment should now be using Control D via DNS over HTTPS with per-user identifiers.