Trouble deploying Chrome Headless automation script on cloud platform

Other Questions Puppeteer
1

Hey everyone, I’m stuck with a weird issue. I’ve got this cool automation script using Chrome Headless that works perfectly on my Windows machine. But when I try to push it to the cloud, it’s giving me a headache!

The script is supposed to grab a webpage and save it as a PDF. Simple stuff, right? Well, not when the cloud gets involved. It keeps complaining about missing libraries or something.

Here’s a snippet of what I’m trying to do:

const browserBot = require('headless-browser');

async function savePage() {
  const browser = await browserBot.start();
  const tab = await browser.openTab();
  await tab.navigate('https://example.com');
  await tab.savePDF('example.pdf');
  await browser.close();
}

savePage();

When I run this on the cloud, I get a bunch of errors about shared libraries and failed launches. Any cloud ninjas out there who can help me figure out what I’m missing? How do I get this to play nice in the cloud environment?

2

Have you considered using a headless browser library specifically designed for cloud environments? Puppeteer is a solid choice that works well in containerized setups. It comes bundled with a version of Chromium, which eliminates dependency issues.

Here’s a quick example of how you might refactor your code:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

async function savePage() {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch({args: ['--no-sandbox']});
  const page = await browser.newPage();
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  await page.pdf({path: 'example.pdf'});
  await browser.close();
}

savePage();

This approach should be more cloud-friendly. Remember to include the --no-sandbox flag when launching the browser, as it’s often necessary in cloud environments due to security restrictions. Also, ensure your cloud instance has enough memory allocated, as headless browsers can be resource-intensive.

3

hey man, i feel ur pain. cloud stuff can be a real hassle sometimes. have u tried using a docker container? it packages all your dependencies. just ensure chrome is installed in it and u should be good. good luck!

4

I’ve been down this road before, and it can be frustrating. The issue you’re facing is likely due to missing dependencies in your cloud environment. When you’re working with headless browsers, especially Chrome, you need to ensure all the necessary libraries are installed on the cloud instance.

First, check if your cloud platform has Chrome installed. If not, you’ll need to install it along with its dependencies. For Linux-based cloud environments, you might need to run something like:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y chromium-browser

Also, make sure you have all the required shared libraries. Chrome often needs libraries like libx11-xcb1, libxcomposite1, libxcursor1, etc. You can install these with a similar apt-get command.

Lastly, consider using a pre-built Docker image that includes Chrome and all its dependencies. This can save you a lot of headaches when deploying to different environments.

If you’re still hitting walls, try running your script with increased verbosity or debugging flags to get more detailed error messages. That’ll help pinpoint exactly what’s missing or going wrong in the cloud setup.