Testing with a headless browser on Heroku

Other Questions Headless Browser
1

I am looking for guidance on performing headless browser testing on Heroku. We have a Selenium script that operates in Firefox. Is it possible to modify the existing code slightly to configure the browser options for a headless execution? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

2

Yes, it is possible to perform headless browser testing on Heroku using Selenium scripts with Firefox. You can configure the browser options to run in headless mode by modifying your existing code slightly. Here are the steps to achieve that:

  1. Install Dependencies: Ensure that the necessary dependencies are included in your requirements.txt (for Python) or equivalent for the language you’re using. You will need Selenium and the Geckodriver. For Python, it should look something like this:
selenium
webdriver-manager
  1. Modify Code for Headless Execution: Update your Selenium script to set up Firefox in headless mode. Here’s an example in Python:
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options

# Set up headless Firefox
firefox_options = Options()
firefox_options.add_argument('--headless')
firefox_options.add_argument('--disable-gpu')
firefox_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')

# Path to the GeckoDriver
driver_path = '/app/.chromedriver/bin/geckodriver'
driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=driver_path, options=firefox_options)

# Your existing Selenium code
...
driver.quit()
  1. Configure Heroku Buildpacks: Heroku needs specific buildpacks to run headless browsers. Add the following buildpacks in your Heroku application settings (order matters):
  • https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-apt
  • https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-chromedriver
  • https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-google-chrome
  1. Create an Aptfile: If using the heroku-buildpack-apt, include an Aptfile in your project root with the following content for Firefox:
firefox
  1. Deployment: Push your changes to Heroku as you normally would (e.g., using git push heroku main). Heroku will use the specified buildpacks and Aptfile to install Firefox and dependencies.

By following these steps, your Selenium scripts should be able to run in headless mode on Heroku with minimal modifications. This setup ensures compatibility and smooth operation of your headless browser tests.

3

Yes, it’s possible to perform headless browser testing on Heroku with your Selenium scripts using Firefox. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you set it up correctly and ensure smooth execution in Heroku’s environment.

  1. Install Dependencies: Ensure all necessary dependencies are included in your project files, such as the requirements.txt for Python. For your Selenium script to work with Firefox, you might need the following:
selenium
webdriver-manager
  1. Set Up Headless Mode: Modify your Selenium script to enable headless mode. Below is an example of how you can configure Firefox in headless mode using Python:
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options

# Set up headless Firefox
firefox_options = Options()
firefox_options.add_argument('--headless')
firefox_options.add_argument('--disable-gpu')
firefox_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')

# Path to the GeckoDriver
# You might need to adjust the path based on Heroku's filesystem
driver_path = '/app/.chromedriver/bin/geckodriver'
driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=driver_path, options=firefox_options)

# Your existing Selenium code
...
driver.quit()
  1. Configure Heroku Buildpacks: To run headless browsers on Heroku, you need specific buildpacks. Add the following buildpacks in your Heroku app settings (sequence matters):
  • https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-apt
  • https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-chromedriver
  • https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-google-chrome
  1. Creating an Aptfile: The heroku-buildpack-apt allows you to specify additional packages to be installed. Create an Aptfile in your project root and add the following content for Firefox:
firefox
  1. Handling Environment Variables: Heroku’s filesystem and runtime environment might require specifying certain environment variables. For instance, you can set the FIREFOX_BIN to ensure Firefox is detected correctly:
heroku config:set FIREFOX_BIN=/app/vendor/firefox/firefox
  1. Deployment: Once you’ve set up your project, push your changes to Heroku. Use the following Git commands to deploy:
git add .
git commit -m 'Configured headless browser for Heroku'
git push heroku main

By following these steps, your Selenium scripts should be able to run in headless mode on Heroku. This setup helps to ensure that you can perform automated browser testing without requiring a visible browser window, which is ideal for CI/CD pipelines.

4

Yes, you can perform headless browser testing on Heroku with your Selenium scripts using Firefox. Here’s how to do it with some additional insights to ensure smooth execution on Heroku’s environment. The steps involve setting up the necessary dependencies, configuring the headless mode for the browser, handling buildpacks, and adding required configurations directly on Heroku.

  1. Install Dependencies: First, make sure you have all necessary dependencies. For a Python project, your requirements.txt should include Selenium and other required packages. For example:
selenium
webdriver-manager

You can also include dependencies directly in your project such as geckodriver and the heroku-buildpack-apt.

  1. Configure Headless Mode: Update your Selenium script to enable headless mode in Firefox. Here’s an example in Python:
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options

# Set up headless Firefox options
firefox_options = Options()
firefox_options.add_argument('--headless')
firefox_options.add_argument('--disable-gpu')
firefox_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')

# Initialize WebDriver with headless option
driver = webdriver.Firefox(options=firefox_options)

# Add your Selenium script's main logic
# ...

# Quit WebDriver
finally:
    driver.quit()
  1. Add Buildpacks: Headless browser functionality requires specific buildpacks on Heroku. Here’s how you can add them to your Heroku app:
heroku buildpacks:add https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-apt
heroku buildpacks:add https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-chromedriver
heroku buildpacks:add https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-google-chrome

Note that order matters. The custom buildpacks must be added in the correct sequence before deployment.

  1. Create and Configure Aptfile: The heroku-buildpack-apt requires an Aptfile in your project’s root directory. Include necessary packages such as firefox to be installed on the Heroku dyno:
firefox
  1. Handling geckodriver: Ensure the geckodriver is specified correctly. Firefox may not be properly detected if geckodriver is missing. Hence, adding/installing it explicitly in an Aptfile can help prevent runtime issues.
  2. Environment Variables: In some cases, you might need to set environment variables for Firefox to read configurations correctly. You can set these variables directly in Heroku’s dashboard or using the Heroku CLI:
heroku config:set FIREFOX_BIN=/app/vendor/firefox/firefox
  1. Deployment: After making these changes, deploy your application to Heroku as usual with git commands like:
git add .
git commit -m 'set up headless browser with Heroku'
git push heroku main

By following these steps, your Selenium scripts should run smoothly in a headless browser on the Heroku platform. This ensures your continuous integration/automation tests run reliably in a cloud-based environment without the need for GUI support.