Trouble with Robot class for file downloads in Jenkins' headless browser

Other Questions Headless Browser
1

Hey everyone,

I’ve hit a snag with my automation project. I’m using the Robot class to handle file download pop-ups in Internet Explorer. It’s smooth sailing on my local machine, but things go south when I run the script on Jenkins with a headless browser.

public class DownloadHandler {
    public void handlePopup() {
        Robot bot = new Robot();
        bot.keyPress(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER);
        bot.keyRelease(KeyEvent.VK_ENTER);
    }
}

This code snippet works like a charm locally, but it’s a no-go on Jenkins. I’m scratching my head trying to figure out a workaround. Any ideas on how to tackle file downloads in a headless environment? Maybe there’s a better approach I’m overlooking?

I’d really appreciate any tips or tricks you folks might have up your sleeves. Thanks in advance for your help!

2

I’ve faced similar challenges with headless browsers in CI environments. The Robot class isn’t ideal for this scenario as it relies on a GUI, which isn’t present in headless mode.

Instead, I’d suggest configuring your WebDriver to automatically download files without prompts. For Internet Explorer, you can use DesiredCapabilities to set this up:

DesiredCapabilities caps = DesiredCapabilities.internetExplorer();
caps.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.NATIVE_EVENTS, false);
caps.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.INTRODUCE_FLAKINESS_BY_IGNORING_SECURITY_DOMAINS, true);
caps.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.IGNORE_ZOOM_SETTING, true);
caps.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.ENABLE_PERSISTENT_HOVERING, false);

This approach has worked well for me in Jenkins environments. It bypasses the download prompt altogether, streamlining the process in headless mode. Remember to set an appropriate download directory in your WebDriver configuration as well.

3

hey alexj, have u tried using HTMLUnit? its a headless browser that handles downloads without popups. might be worth checkin out for ur jenkins setup. it’s pretty lightweight too, so it could speed things up. just an idea to toss into the mix!

4

Have you considered using a different browser for your Jenkins setup? Chrome or Firefox in headless mode might be more accommodating for file downloads. You could use WebDriverManager to handle driver setup automatically.

For Chrome, you can set download preferences like this:

ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
Map<String, Object> prefs = new HashMap<>();
prefs.put("download.default_directory", "/path/to/download/dir");
options.setExperimentalOption("prefs", prefs);
options.addArguments("--headless");

This approach avoids the need for Robot class interactions and works well in headless environments. It’s been reliable in my experience with CI/CD pipelines.