Block unwanted websites only on Chrome.Solved

Hey so we want our users to access only certain URLs through Chrome browser.
So in app configurations we filled “Block access to a list of URLs” field wit [“*”] and
“Allow access to a list of URLs” with the URLs in the form [“hexnode.com”]
But now after setting and applying policy, we are not able to access any url at all. Is there something I am doing wrong? Pls help.

Try leaving Block access to a list of URLs field empty and just add the urls u want to access in Allow access to a list of URLs field.
If you want to verify the same after applying to devices, check in chrome://policy page in chrome app in device and make sure the values are shown correctly against URLWhitelist and URLBlacklist.

@ivy we tried out your solution and here’s what happened.  whitelisted urls are displayed for URLWhitelist in the Chrome policy. But here’s the catch. Urls that are not whitelisted could be accessed as well. So still looking for ideas…

Hello @eli, we appreciate you reaching out to us.
Our team tested the case you mentioned with “*” in the block list and could not recreate the mentioned error. Therefore, we suggest you configure the policy once again, keeping in mind the following:

• Ensure that you have entered the correct web address. Also, add the alternate web address in the Allow access to a list of URLs field.

Please try this out and keep us posted on any updates. Also, if you have any other queries, feel free to reach out to us anytime!

Regards
Emma Jones
Hexnode UEM

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Emma.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Emma.

@emma-jones Could u explain what are all the right ways to deal with “*” in the url field?

Welcome back @ivy, great to see you again!
While filling URLs in the field,  https://*, http://hexnode.com/* and * only provide the desired outcome. “*” anywhere else in the URL does not lead to the expected results.

As an example, for the following entries filled in the “Block access to a list of URLs” field:

• https://* – Denies all HTTPS requests to any domain.
• * – Denies all requests, including URL schemes, except those in “Allow access to a list of URLs”.
• http://hexnode.com/* – Denies all HTTP requests to hexnode.com and any subdomains but allows HTTPS and FTP requests.

Cheers!
Emma Jones
Hexnode UEM

I got it figured out, just used the Hexnode Kiosk browser and App Configured that.

Can anyone confirm the ability to blacklist all websites using App Configurations on devices that do not have Knox?

I have tried using the following to block all sites without any success:

*

*.*

“*”

[“*”]