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      1 <h1>Hosting</h1>
      2 
      3 <p>
      4 This page tells you how to host <code>.crx</code> files
      5 on your own server.
      6 If you distribute your extension, app, or theme solely through the
      7 <a href="http://chrome.google.com/webstore">Chrome Web Store</a>,
      8 you don't need this page.
      9 Instead, consult the
     10 <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome_webstore/">store help</a> and
     11 <a href="http://code.google.com/chrome/webstore/index.html">developer documentation</a>.
     12 </p>
     13 
     14 <p>
     15 By convention, extensions,
     16 installable web apps, and themes are served&mdash;whether
     17 by the Chrome Web Store or by a custom server&mdash;as
     18 <code>.crx</code> files.
     19 When you upload a ZIP file with the
     20 <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/developer/dashboard">Chrome Developer Dashboard</a>,
     21 the dashboard creates the <code>.crx</code> file for you.
     22 </p>
     23 
     24 <p>
     25 If you aren't publishing using the dashboard,
     26 you need to create the <code>.crx</code> file yourself,
     27 as described in <a href="packaging.html">Packaging</a>.
     28 You can also specify
     29 <a href="autoupdate.html">autoupdate</a> information to ensure that
     30 your users will have the latest copy of the <code>.crx</code> file.
     31 </p>
     32 
     33 <p>
     34 A server that hosts <code>.crx</code> files
     35 must use appropriate HTTP headers,
     36 so that users can install the file
     37 by clicking a link to it.
     38 </p>
     39 
     40 <p>
     41 Google Chrome considers a file to be installable
     42 if <b>either</b> of the following is true:
     43 </p>
     44 
     45 <ul>
     46   <li>
     47     The file has the content type
     48     <code>application/x-chrome-extension</code>
     49   </li>
     50   <li>
     51     The file suffix is <code>.crx</code>
     52     and <b>both</b> of the following are true:
     53     <ul>
     54       <li>
     55         The file <b>is not</b> served with
     56         the HTTP header <code>X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff</code>
     57       </li>
     58       <li>
     59         The file <b>is</b> served
     60         with one of the following content types:
     61         <ul>
     62           <li> empty string </li>
     63           <li> "text/plain" </li>
     64           <li> "application/octet-stream" </li>
     65           <li> "unknown/unknown" </li>
     66           <li> "application/unknown" </li>
     67           <li> "*/*" </li>
     68         </ul>
     69       </li>
     70     </ul>
     71   </li>
     72 </ul>
     73 
     74 <p>
     75 The most common reason for failing to recognize an installable file
     76 is that the server sends the header
     77 <code>X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff</code>.
     78 The second most common reason
     79 is that the server sends an unknown content type&mdash;one
     80 that isn't in the previous list.
     81 To fix an HTTP header issue,
     82 either change the configuration of the server
     83 or try hosting the <code>.crx</code> file at another server.
     84 </p>