I’m trying to automate a task using Selenium on Ubuntu. The script runs fine when I manually start a virtual display, but I want to set it up as a cron job. Here’s what I’ve done so far:
sudo Xvfb :99 -ac
export DISPLAY=:99
firefox
This works when I run it in the terminal. But how do I make it work with cron? Will the Python script have access to the virtual display if I start it as a different user? I’m not sure about the best way to handle this. Any tips on setting up a headless browser for automated Selenium tasks would be really helpful. Thanks!
yo grace, i’ve got a sweet trick for u. skip the xvfb hassle and go straight for chrome’s headless mode in ur python script:
from selenium import webdriver
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
options.add_argument(‘–headless’)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
do ur thing here
works like a charm with cron jobs, no display shenanigans needed. just make sure chromedriver’s installed and you’re golden!
For Selenium automation with a headless browser on Ubuntu, I’d recommend using Firefox in headless mode directly. This approach simplifies the setup and works well with cron jobs.
In your Python script, you can configure Firefox like this:
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options
options = Options()
options.add_argument(‘-headless’)
driver = webdriver.Firefox(options=options)
Your automation code here
driver.quit()
This method doesn’t require Xvfb or virtual display management. It’s more efficient and runs smoothly as a cron job. Just make sure you have the geckodriver installed and in your PATH.
For cron, set the necessary environment variables in the crontab or use a wrapper script to set them before running your Python script. This ensures all required dependencies are accessible.
Hey there! I’ve dealt with similar headless browser setups for automation. Here’s what worked for me:
Instead of using Xvfb directly, I found it easier to use the ‘pyvirtualdisplay’ Python package. It handles the virtual display creation and management seamlessly.
In your Python script, you can do something like:
from pyvirtualdisplay import Display
display = Display(visible=0, size=(1920, 1080))
display.start()
# Your Selenium code here
display.stop()
This approach eliminates the need for separate Xvfb commands and environment variable setup. It works great with cron jobs too, since the virtual display is created and managed within the Python process.
For the browser, I’d recommend using Chrome or Firefox in headless mode. It’s more efficient and doesn’t require a virtual display at all. You can set it up like this:
from selenium import webdriver
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
options.add_argument('--headless')
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need any clarification.