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Driver Sessions

Starting and stopping a session is for opening and closing a browser.

Creating Sessions

Creating a new session corresponds with the W3C command for New session

The session is created automatically by initializing a new Driver class object.

Each language allows a session to be created with arguments from one of these classes (or equivalent):

  • Options to describe the kind of session you want; default values are used for local, but this is required for remote
  • Some form of HTTP Client configuration (the implementation varies between languages)
  • Listeners

Local Driver

The primary unique argument for starting a local driver includes information about starting the required driver service on the local machine.

  • Service object applies only to local drivers and provides information about the browser driver
    driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)
      driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :chrome, options: options

Remote Driver

The primary unique argument for starting a remote driver includes information about where to execute the code. Read the details in the Remote Driver Section

Quitting Sessions

Quitting a session corresponds to W3C command for Deleting a Session.

Important note: the quit method is different from the close method, and it is recommended to always use quit to end the session

{< gh-codeblock path="examples/java/src/test/java/dev/selenium/getting_started/FirstScript.java#L29" >}
{< gh-codeblock path="examples/dotnet/HelloSelenium.cs#L13" >}
{< gh-codeblock path="examples/javascript/test/getting_started/firstScript.spec.js#L28" >}
{< gh-codeblock path="examples/kotlin/src/test/kotlin/dev/selenium/getting_started/FirstScriptTest.kt#L35" >}

1 - Browser Options

These capabilities are shared by all browsers.

In Selenium 3, capabilities were defined in a session by using Desired Capabilities classes. As of Selenium 4, you must use the browser options classes. For remote driver sessions, a browser options instance is required as it determines which browser will be used.

These options are described in the w3c specification for Capabilities.

Each browser has custom options that may be defined in addition to the ones defined in the specification.

browserName

Browser name is set by default when using an Options class instance.

	ChromeOptions chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
	String name = chromeOptions.getBrowserName();
    options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome

browserVersion

This capability is optional, this is used to set the available browser version at remote end. In recent versions of Selenium, if the version is not found on the system, it will be automatically downloaded by Selenium Manager

	ChromeOptions chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
	String version = "latest";
	chromeOptions.setBrowserVersion(version);
    options.browser_version = 'stable'
      options.browser_version = 'latest'

pageLoadStrategy

Three types of page load strategies are available.

The page load strategy queries the document.readyState as described in the table below:

StrategyReady StateNotes
normalcompleteUsed by default, waits for all resources to download
eagerinteractiveDOM access is ready, but other resources like images may still be loading
noneAnyDoes not block WebDriver at all

The document.readyState property of a document describes the loading state of the current document.

When navigating to a new page via URL, by default, WebDriver will hold off on completing a navigation method (e.g., driver.navigate().get()) until the document ready state is complete. This does not necessarily mean that the page has finished loading, especially for sites like Single Page Applications that use JavaScript to dynamically load content after the Ready State returns complete. Note also that this behavior does not apply to navigation that is a result of clicking an element or submitting a form.

If a page takes a long time to load as a result of downloading assets (e.g., images, css, js) that aren’t important to the automation, you can change from the default parameter of normal to eager or none to speed up the session. This value applies to the entire session, so make sure that your waiting strategy is sufficient to minimize flakiness.

normal (default)

WebDriver waits until the load event fire is returned.

Move Code

      driver.quit();
    }
  }

    driver.get("http://www.google.com")
using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

namespace pageLoadStrategy {
  class pageLoadStrategy {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
      var chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
      chromeOptions.PageLoadStrategy = PageLoadStrategy.Normal;
      IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
      try {
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");
      } finally {
        driver.Quit();
      }
    }
  }
}
      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.page_load_strategy = :normal
    it('Navigate using normal page loading strategy', async function () {
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setPageLoadStrategy('normal'))
        .build();

      await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/blank.html');
import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

fun main() {
  val chromeOptions = ChromeOptions()
  chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NORMAL)
  val driver = ChromeDriver(chromeOptions)
  try {
    driver.get("https://www.google.com")
  }
  finally {
    driver.quit()
  }
}

eager

WebDriver waits until DOMContentLoaded event fire is returned.

Move Code

      driver.quit();
    }
  }

    driver.get("http://www.google.com")
using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

namespace pageLoadStrategy {
  class pageLoadStrategy {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
      var chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
      chromeOptions.PageLoadStrategy = PageLoadStrategy.Eager;
      IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
      try {
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");
      } finally {
        driver.Quit();
      }
    }
  }
}
      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.page_load_strategy = :eager
    it('Navigate using eager page loading strategy', async function () {
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setPageLoadStrategy('eager'))
        .build();

      await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/blank.html');
import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

fun main() {
  val chromeOptions = ChromeOptions()
  chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.EAGER)
  val driver = ChromeDriver(chromeOptions)
  try {
    driver.get("https://www.google.com")
  }
  finally {
    driver.quit()
  }
}

none

WebDriver only waits until the initial page is downloaded.

Move Code

      driver.quit();
    }
  }

    driver.get("http://www.google.com")
using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

namespace pageLoadStrategy {
  class pageLoadStrategy {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
      var chromeOptions = new ChromeOptions();
      chromeOptions.PageLoadStrategy = PageLoadStrategy.None;
      IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(chromeOptions);
      try {
        driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://example.com");
      } finally {
        driver.Quit();
      }
    }
  }
}
      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.page_load_strategy = :none
    it('Navigate using none page loading strategy', async function () {
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setPageLoadStrategy('none'))
        .build();

      await driver.get('https://www.selenium.dev/selenium/web/blank.html');
import org.openqa.selenium.PageLoadStrategy
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

fun main() {
  val chromeOptions = ChromeOptions()
  chromeOptions.setPageLoadStrategy(PageLoadStrategy.NONE)
  val driver = ChromeDriver(chromeOptions)
  try {
    driver.get("https://www.google.com")
  }
  finally {
    driver.quit()
  }
}

platformName

This identifies the operating system at the remote-end, fetching the platformName returns the OS name.

In cloud-based providers, setting platformName sets the OS at the remote-end.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.firefox
      options.platform_name = 'Windows 10'

acceptInsecureCerts

This capability checks whether an expired (or) invalid TLS Certificate is used while navigating during a session.

If the capability is set to false, an insecure certificate error will be returned as navigation encounters any domain certificate problems. If set to true, invalid certificate will be trusted by the browser.

All self-signed certificates will be trusted by this capability by default. Once set, acceptInsecureCerts capability will have an effect for the entire session.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.accept_insecure_certs = true
      let driver = await env
        .builder()
        .setChromeOptions(options.setAcceptInsecureCerts(true))
        .build();

timeouts

A WebDriver session is imposed with a certain session timeout interval, during which the user can control the behaviour of executing scripts or retrieving information from the browser.

Each session timeout is configured with combination of different timeouts as described below:

Script Timeout

Specifies when to interrupt an executing script in a current browsing context. The default timeout 30,000 is imposed when a new session is created by WebDriver.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.timeouts = {script: 40_000}

Page Load Timeout

Specifies the time interval in which web page needs to be loaded in a current browsing context. The default timeout 300,000 is imposed when a new session is created by WebDriver. If page load limits a given/default time frame, the script will be stopped by TimeoutException.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.timeouts = {page_load: 400_000}

Implicit Wait Timeout

This specifies the time to wait for the implicit element location strategy when locating elements. The default timeout 0 is imposed when a new session is created by WebDriver.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.timeouts = {implicit: 1}

unhandledPromptBehavior

Specifies the state of current session’s user prompt handler. Defaults to dismiss and notify state

User Prompt Handler

This defines what action must take when a user prompt encounters at the remote-end. This is defined by unhandledPromptBehavior capability and has the following states:

  • dismiss
  • accept
  • dismiss and notify
  • accept and notify
  • ignore
      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.unhandled_prompt_behavior = :accept

setWindowRect

Indicates whether the remote end supports all of the resizing and repositioning commands.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.firefox
      options.set_window_rect = true

strictFileInteractability

This new capability indicates if strict interactability checks should be applied to input type=file elements. As strict interactability checks are off by default, there is a change in behaviour when using Element Send Keys with hidden file upload controls.

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.strict_file_interactability = true

proxy

A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests between a client and a server. In simple terms, the traffic flows through the proxy server on its way to the address you requested and back.

A proxy server for automation scripts with Selenium could be helpful for:

  • Capture network traffic
  • Mock backend calls made by the website
  • Access the required website under complex network topologies or strict corporate restrictions/policies.

If you are in a corporate environment, and a browser fails to connect to a URL, this is most likely because the environment needs a proxy to be accessed.

Selenium WebDriver provides a way to proxy settings:

Move Code

import org.openqa.selenium.Proxy;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;

public class ProxyTest {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Proxy proxy = new Proxy();
    proxy.setHttpProxy("<HOST:PORT>");
    ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
    options.setCapability("proxy", proxy);
    WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);
    driver.get("https://www.google.com/");
    driver.manage().window().maximize();
    driver.quit();
  }
}
using OpenQA.Selenium;
using OpenQA.Selenium.Chrome;

public class ProxyTest{
public static void Main() {
ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
Proxy proxy = new Proxy();
proxy.Kind = ProxyKind.Manual;
proxy.IsAutoDetect = false;
proxy.SslProxy = "<HOST:PORT>";
options.Proxy = proxy;
options.AddArgument("ignore-certificate-errors");
IWebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);
driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("https://www.selenium.dev/");
}
}
      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
      options.proxy = Selenium::WebDriver::Proxy.new(http: 'myproxy.com:8080')
let webdriver = require('selenium-webdriver');
let chrome = require('selenium-webdriver/chrome');
let proxy = require('selenium-webdriver/proxy');
let opts = new chrome.Options();

(async function example() {
opts.setProxy(proxy.manual({http: '<HOST:PORT>'}));
let driver = new webdriver.Builder()
.forBrowser('chrome')
.setChromeOptions(opts)
.build();
try {
await driver.get("https://selenium.dev");
}
finally {
await driver.quit();
}
}());
import org.openqa.selenium.Proxy
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions

class proxyTest {
fun main() {

        val proxy = Proxy()
        proxy.setHttpProxy("<HOST:PORT>")
        val options = ChromeOptions()
        options.setCapability("proxy", proxy)
        val driver: WebDriver = ChromeDriver(options)
        driver["https://www.google.com/"]
        driver.manage().window().maximize()
        driver.quit()
    }
}

2 - HTTP Client Configuration

These allow you to set various parameters for the HTTP library

    client = Selenium::WebDriver::Remote::Http::Default.new(open_timeout: 30, read_timeout: 30)
    expect(client.open_timeout).to eq 30

3 - Driver Service Class

The Service classes are for managing the starting and stopping of local drivers. They cannot be used with a Remote WebDriver session.

Service classes allow you to specify information about the driver, like location and which port to use. They also let you specify what arguments get passed to the command line. Most of the useful arguments are related to logging.

Default Service instance

To start a driver with a default service instance:

    driver = new ChromeDriver(service);
  }

Note: Java Service classes only allow values to be set during construction with a Builder pattern.

Selenium v4.11

    service = webdriver.ChromeService()
    driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=service)

Note: Python Service classes only allow values to be set as arguments to the constructor.

            var service = ChromeDriverService.CreateDefaultService();
            driver = new ChromeDriver(service);

Note: .NET Service classes allow values to be set as properties.

    service = Selenium::WebDriver::Service.chrome
    @driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :chrome, service: service

Note: Ruby Service classes allow values to be set either as arguments in the constructor or as attributes.

Driver location

Note: If you are using Selenium 4.6 or greater, you shouldn’t need to set a driver location. If you cannot update Selenium or have an advanced use case, here is how to specify the driver location:

        new ChromeDriverService.Builder().usingDriverExecutable(driverPath).build();

Selenium v4.11

    service = webdriver.ChromeService(executable_path=chromedriver_bin)

Selenium v4.9

            var service = ChromeDriverService.CreateDefaultService(GetDriverLocation(options));

Selenium v4.8

    service.executable_path = driver_path

Driver port

If you want the driver to run on a specific port, you may specify it as follows:

Logging

Logging functionality varies between browsers. Most browsers allow you to specify location and level of logs. Take a look at the respective browser page:

4 - Remote WebDriver

Selenium lets you automate browsers on remote computers if there is a Selenium Grid running on them. The computer that executes the code is referred to as the client computer, and the computer with the browser and driver is referred to as the remote computer or sometimes as an end-node. To direct Selenium tests to the remote computer, you need to use a Remote WebDriver class and pass the URL including the port of the grid on that machine. Please see the grid documentation for all the various ways the grid can be configured.

Basic Example

The driver needs to know where to send commands to and which browser to start on the Remote computer. So an address and an options instance are both required.

    ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
    driver = new RemoteWebDriver(gridUrl, options);
    options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
    driver = webdriver.Remote(command_executor=server, options=options)
            var options = new ChromeOptions();
            driver = new RemoteWebDriver(GridUrl, options);
    options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome
    driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :remote, url: grid_url, options: options

Uploads

Uploading a file is more complicated for Remote WebDriver sessions because the file you want to upload is likely on the computer executing the code, but the driver on the remote computer is looking for the provided path on its local file system. The solution is to use a Local File Detector. When one is set, Selenium will bundle the file, and send it to the remote machine, so the driver can see the reference to it. Some bindings include a basic local file detector by default, and all of them allow for a custom file detector.

Java does not include a Local File Detector by default, so you must always add one to do uploads.
    ((RemoteWebDriver) driver).setFileDetector(new LocalFileDetector());
    WebElement fileInput = driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("input[type=file]"));
    fileInput.sendKeys(uploadFile.getAbsolutePath());
    driver.findElement(By.id("file-submit")).click();

Python adds a local file detector to remote webdriver instances by default, but you can also create your own class.

    driver.file_detector = LocalFileDetector()
    file_input = driver.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "input[type='file']")
    file_input.send_keys(upload_file)
    driver.find_element(By.ID, "file-submit").click()
.NET adds a local file detector to remote webdriver instances by default, but you can also create your own class.
            ((RemoteWebDriver)driver).FileDetector = new LocalFileDetector();
            IWebElement fileInput = driver.FindElement(By.CssSelector("input[type=file]"));
            fileInput.SendKeys(uploadFile);
            driver.FindElement(By.Id("file-submit")).Click();
Ruby adds a local file detector to remote webdriver instances by default, but you can also create your own lambda:
    driver.file_detector = ->((filename, *)) { filename.include?('selenium') && filename }
    file_input = driver.find_element(css: 'input[type=file]')
    file_input.send_keys(upload_file)
    driver.find_element(id: 'file-submit').click

Downloads

Chrome, Edge and Firefox each allow you to set the location of the download directory. When you do this on a remote computer, though, the location is on the remote computer’s local file system. Selenium allows you to enable downloads to get these files onto the client computer.

Enable Downloads in the Grid

Regardless of the client, when starting the grid in node or standalone mode, you must add the flag:

--enable-managed-downloads true

Enable Downloads in the Client

The grid uses the se:downloadsEnabled capability to toggle whether to be responsible for managing the browser location. Each of the bindings have a method in the options class to set this.

    ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
    options.setEnableDownloads(true);
    driver = new RemoteWebDriver(gridUrl, options);
    options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
    options.enable_downloads = True
    driver = webdriver.Remote(command_executor=server, options=options)
            ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions
            {
                EnableDownloads = true
            };

            driver = new RemoteWebDriver(GridUrl, options);
    options = Selenium::WebDriver::Options.chrome(enable_downloads: true)
    driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :remote, url: grid_url, options: options

List Downloadable Files

Be aware that Selenium is not waiting for files to finish downloading, so the list is an immediate snapshot of what file names are currently in the directory for the given session.

    List<String> files = ((HasDownloads) driver).getDownloadableFiles();
    files = driver.get_downloadable_files()
            IReadOnlyList<string> names = ((RemoteWebDriver)driver).GetDownloadableFiles();
    files = driver.downloadable_files

Download a File

Selenium looks for the name of the provided file in the list and downloads it to the provided target directory.

    ((HasDownloads) driver).downloadFile(downloadableFile, targetDirectory);
    driver.download_file(downloadable_file, target_directory)
    driver.download_file(downloadable_file, target_directory)

Delete Downloaded Files

By default, the download directory is deleted at the end of the applicable session, but you can also delete all files during the session.

    ((HasDownloads) driver).deleteDownloadableFiles();
    driver.delete_downloadable_files()
            ((RemoteWebDriver)driver).DeleteDownloadableFiles();
    driver.delete_downloadable_files

Browser specific functionalities

Each browser has implemented special functionality that is available only to that browser. Each of the Selenium bindings has implemented a different way to use those features in a Remote Session

Java requires you to use the Augmenter class, which allows it to automatically pull in implementations for all interfaces that match the capabilities used with the RemoteWebDriver

    driver = new Augmenter().augment(driver);

Of interest, using the RemoteWebDriverBuilder automatically augments the driver, so it is a great way to get all the functionality by default:

        RemoteWebDriver.builder()
            .address(gridUrl)
            .oneOf(new ChromeOptions())
            .setCapability("ext:options", Map.of("key", "value"))
            .config(ClientConfig.defaultConfig())
            .build();
.NET uses a custom command executor for executing commands that are valid for the given browser in the remote driver.
            var customCommandDriver = driver as ICustomDriverCommandExecutor;
            customCommandDriver.RegisterCustomDriverCommands(FirefoxDriver.CustomCommandDefinitions);

            var screenshotResponse = customCommandDriver
                .ExecuteCustomDriverCommand(FirefoxDriver.GetFullPageScreenshotCommand, null);
Ruby uses mixins to add applicable browser specific methods to the Remote WebDriver session; the methods should always just work for you.

Tracing client requests

This feature is only available for Java client binding (Beta onwards). The Remote WebDriver client sends requests to the Selenium Grid server, which passes them to the WebDriver. Tracing should be enabled at the server and client-side to trace the HTTP requests end-to-end. Both ends should have a trace exporter setup pointing to the visualization framework. By default, tracing is enabled for both client and server. To set up the visualization framework Jaeger UI and Selenium Grid 4, please refer to Tracing Setup for the desired version.

For client-side setup, follow the steps below.

Add the required dependencies

Installation of external libraries for tracing exporter can be done using Maven. Add the opentelemetry-exporter-jaeger and grpc-netty dependency in your project pom.xml:

  <dependency>
      <groupId>io.opentelemetry</groupId>
      <artifactId>opentelemetry-exporter-jaeger</artifactId>
      <version>1.0.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>io.grpc</groupId>
      <artifactId>grpc-netty</artifactId>
      <version>1.35.0</version>
    </dependency>

Add/pass the required system properties while running the client

System.setProperty("otel.traces.exporter", "jaeger");
System.setProperty("otel.exporter.jaeger.endpoint", "http://localhost:14250");
System.setProperty("otel.resource.attributes", "service.name=selenium-java-client");

ImmutableCapabilities capabilities = new ImmutableCapabilities("browserName", "chrome");

WebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL("http://www.example.com"), capabilities);

driver.get("http://www.google.com");

driver.quit();

  

Please refer to Tracing Setup for more information on external dependencies versions required for the desired Selenium version.

More information can be found at: