SoftwareCentral · Client

Removing the browser question

When a SoftwareCentral: link starts the client, the browser may ask the user first, for security reasons. Sometimes the question is shown so briefly that users cannot answer it. Allow the link in each browser, and the question disappears.

Microsoft Edge Google Chrome Internet Explorer

1 Microsoft Edge

KeyValue nameValue (REG_SZ)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\URLAllowlist1SoftwareCentral://*

If there already is a value named 1, use the next number in the sequence.

Registry Editor: the Edge URLAllowlist key with the value SoftwareCentral://*
Microsoft Edge.

2 Google Chrome

VersionKeyValue nameValue (REG_SZ)
102 and laterHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\URLAllowlist1SoftwareCentral://*
77 to 101HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\URLWhitelist1SoftwareCentral://*

If there already is a value named 1, use the next number in the sequence.

Registry Editor: the Chrome URLAllowlist key with the value SoftwareCentral://*
Chrome 102 and later.
Registry Editor: the Chrome URLWhitelist key with the value SoftwareCentral://*
Chrome 77 to 101.

3 Internet Explorer

KeyValue nameValue (DWORD)
HKEY_USERS\[UserSID]\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ProtocolExecute\SoftwareCentralWarnOnOpen0
Registry Editor: the Internet Explorer ProtocolExecute SoftwareCentral key with WarnOnOpen set to 0
Internet Explorer.
Set it for everyone at once The PowerShell script in Installing the client sets the Edge and Chrome keys together with the registration. The same policies can be set with the browsers' administrative templates in a Group Policy, or with Intune.

4 Best practice

  • Check the Internet Explorer value for each user. The WarnOnOpen value is stored under the user's own SID, so it is set per user, not per computer.
  • Check that the client registration succeeded. The Edge key is written when the client is registered, and a failed registration is written to the log.

5 Troubleshooting

SymptomCauseWhat to do
Internet Explorer still asks before it opens SoftwareCentral. The WarnOnOpen value for the user is 1. Set WarnOnOpen to 0 under the user's SID, as in section 3.
Microsoft Edge still asks before it opens SoftwareCentral. The value under the Edge URLAllowlist key is missing. Check the key and value in section 1, and add them if they are missing.
The log says “Failed to register protocol 'SoftwareCentral' to the URI Scheme on client 'computer'.” The registration of the SoftwareCentral address did not complete. Read the entry in the Log, fix the cause, and register the client again.