Using Selenium with Firefox Driver on Linux: A Step-by-Step Guide

When working with Selenium and Firefox driver on Linux, one of the common issues that users face is the 'Profile not found' error. This error occurs when the sandbox restricts Firefox's ability to access the system temporary directory. In this article, we will explore how to resolve this issue using geckodriver to launch Firefox inside a sandbox.

Using geckodriver to launch Firefox inside a sandbox can fail with a 'Profile not found' error if the sandbox restricts Firefox's ability to access the system temporary directory. To overcome this challenge, you need to configure your geckodriver settings accordingly.

Firstly, ensure that you have downloaded and extracted the latest gecko driver from the official repository using wget. Once you have extracted the files, navigate to the drivers directory and extract the geckodriver-v0.29.1-linux64.tar.gz file using Tar:

Tar -xzf geckodriver-v0.29.1-linux64.tar.gz -C drivers/

Now that you have the gecko driver installed, let's create a sample script (a simple downloader) to demonstrate how to use Selenium with Firefox driver on Linux.

Firstly, install Python and pip using apt-get:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip

Next, install virtualenv to manage your project dependencies:

pip3 install virtualenv

Now, let's create a virtual environment for our project:

mkdir -pv selenium-firefox/drivers

Add the following path to your system environment variables:

sudo nano /etc/environment

Once you have set up your virtual environment, navigate to the directory where you want to create your Selenium script. Create a new file called browser.py and add the following code:

from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options

from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

firefoxOptions = Options()

# Set the path of the geckodriver executable

firefoxOptions.add_argument('-headless')

driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path='./drivers/geckodriver', options=firefoxOptions)

Now, let's add some functionality to our script. For instance, we can use the Selenium WebDriver to download a file:

# Find the login element

PersistLogin = driver.find_element_by_id('rememberme')

# Click on the login button

driver.find_element_by_name('login').click()

# Download a list of files

downloadList = driver.find_elements_by_id('download-single-form')

# Click on each download link

for link in downloadList:

link.click()

# Close the browser window

driver.quit()

In this example, we have used Selenium to launch Firefox inside a sandbox and automate some basic tasks such as logging in and downloading files. By following these steps, you can successfully use Selenium with Firefox driver on Linux.

Remember that you can use pandas for data manipulation if necessary. Additionally, if you encounter any issues while setting up your geckodriver or virtual environment, refer to the official documentation for troubleshooting tips.

Selenium firefox driver linux