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RLZ Command in ChromeOS: Legacy Promotion Analysis Tool

The rlz command in ChromeOS was used for managing cohort tagging to analyze promotions. This feature was deprecated in 2013 but remains available in the ChromeOS developer shell (crosh) for legacy purposes. The RLZ system enabled the recording of certain lifecycle events, such as installation or first search, and forwarded this information to Google.

Note: This command is deprecated and no longer actively supported.

Syntax

rlz <status | enable | disable>

Options

  • status: Displays the current RLZ status.
  • enable: Enables RLZ tracking for promotional analysis.
  • disable: Disables RLZ tracking.

Purpose and Legacy

The RLZ system was designed to track the following events during the lifecycle of ChromeOS:

  • Installation of the product
  • First Google search performed
  • Setting the homepage to Google
  • Activating specific promotional access points

For more technical details, refer to the RLZ open-source documentation.

Use Cases

This command was particularly useful for extensions that required promotional tracking and analytics, but its functionality has since been superseded. While no new development should depend on this command, it remains in crosh for historical compatibility.

Example Usage

# Check RLZ status
rlz status

# Enable RLZ tracking
rlz enable

# Disable RLZ tracking
rlz disable

Deprecated Status

The RLZ command was officially deprecated in 2013, and its related APIs are no longer part of active development. New implementations should avoid reliance on this command, and users should consider alternative analytics solutions.

Additional Resources

For historical context and detailed documentation: - RLZ open-source repository - Chromium Blog: In the Open, For RLZ - Google Chrome Privacy Whitepaper