Configuring Headers for Headless Selenium Browser

Other Questions Headless Browser
1

I’m trying to execute a basic test using a headless browser. While attempting to capture a screenshot of my staging site, I only see a blank screen, whereas production sites like www.google.co.uk load perfectly. This makes me think that we might need to configure the headers to access our staging site.

Does anyone have insights on how to accomplish this using Selenium with a headless browser?

Here’s my current code snippet:

public void executeHeadlessTest() throws IOException {
    DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
    capabilities.setJavascriptEnabled(true);
    capabilities.setCapability(PhantomJSDriverService.PHANTOMJS_EXECUTABLE_PATH_PROPERTY, "phantomjs");
    WebDriver driver = new PhantomJSDriver(capabilities);

    driver.get("https://mywebsite.staging.com/");
    captureScreenshot("StagingWebsite");
}
2

If your staging site is behind basic authentication or requires specific headers, you might need to include these in your Selenium setup. For a headless browser, you could use Chrome or Firefox in headless mode instead of PhantomJS, which is deprecated. You can set custom headers using ChromeOptions or Firefox options. Additionally, ensure that environmental factors like VPN or firewalls aren’t blocking access. Check your staging site’s authentication methods too; there could be IP whitelisting or tokens required that are not currently being handled in your setup.

3

try switching to a headless chrome or firefox instead of phantomjs, its more reliable now. Use the setCapability method to include any needed headers, or try setting headers using DevTools if you’re on chrome. if network issues, check if staging needs VPN or special DNS. good luck!