Dilly's Adventures: How to setup Selenium in Firefox browser in Linux OS

Recently, I had to setup selenium in Firefox browser at office and I thought of sharing how to set up it in Linux environment (CentOS) and problems I have faced while doing it.

This is all what you need:

Java - I have version 1.6.0_18
Any IDE - I have Eclipse Indigo

Lets get started.

Step 1: Creating a project in Eclipse

First, create a new Java project in Eclipse.

File -> New -> Project -> Java Project and give a Project Name and location to save the project. I gave the name as "SeleniumForFirefox".

Then, to create a package, right click on the newly created project -> New -> Package and give a package name. I just gave "test".

Next, create a Java class by right clicking on the package -> New -> Class and give a class name. I gave "SeleniumFirefox".

Now, your project structure should look like this.

Step 2: Download the selenium standalone driver

Download the selenium standalone driver from the link below. The Firefox driver is included in this.

http://www.seleniumhq.org/download/

Step 3: Add the downloaded JAR file to the library

Right click on the project -> Build Path -> Configure Build Path. Then, you will get a properties window. Click on the Libraries" tab and click on "Add External JARs.."

Next, select the downloaded JAR file at step 2. If you add it correctly, you will see it added like below. Then click "OK"

Step 4: Write the test script

Now, we are ready to write the test script to run on selenium. Following is a sample code explained with comments.

Step 5: Execute and verify the output

Now, execute the script by clicking on Run button.

You will see the Firefox browser opens and loads the given URL in the script. Then, it will maximize the browser window and wait for 10 seconds. Then print the following output in the console and close the browser.

This is it. Now, you can try to write more advanced test scripts if you setup and configure selenium correctly.

But, this is not always a bed of roses. You will get errors when you try this and you might not find enough resources in the web to solve it, Following is such error I got while trying it.

When I run the script, Firefox browser will be opened but will not load the page (show a blank screen). Then the following exception is thrown in the console.

org.openqa.selenium.firefox.NotConnectedException: Unable to connect to host 127.0.0.1 on port 7055 after 45000 ms. Firefox console output:...

JavaScript error: resource://gre/modules/BookmarkHTMLUtils.jsm, line 897: NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED: Component returned failure code: 0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED) [nsINavBookmarksService.removeFolderChildren]

JavaScript error: jar:file:///usr/lib64/firefox/browser/omni.ja!/components/nsBrowserGlue.js, line 1868: NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED: Component returned failure code: 0x8000ffff (NS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED) [nsIAnnotationService.getItemsWithAnnotation]

1437566151636 addons.manager DEBUG Loaded provider scope for resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm: ["XPIProvider"]

1437566151636 addons.manager DEBUG Loaded provider scope for resource://gre/modules/LightweightThemeManager.jsm: ["LightweightThemeManager"]

1437566151638 addons.manager DEBUG Loaded provider scope for resource://gre/modules/addons/GMPProvider.jsm

1437566151639 addons.manager DEBUG Loaded provider scope for resource://gre/modules/addons/PluginProvider.jsm

1437566151639 addons.manager DEBUG Starting provider: XPIProvider

1437566151639 addons.xpi DEBUG startup

1437566151640 addons.xpi INFO Mapping fxdriver@googlecode.com to /tmp/anonymous1102325584771244753webdriver-profile/extensions/fxdriver@googlecode.com

1437566151640 addons.xpi DEBUG Ignoring file entry whose name is not a valid add-on ID: /tmp/anonymous1102325584771244753webdriver-profile/extensions/webdriver-staging

1437566151641 addons.xpi INFO Mapping {972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd} to /usr/lib64/firefox/browser/extensions/{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}

1437566151641 addons.xpi DEBUG checkForChanges

1437566151641 addons.xpi DEBUG Loaded add-on state from prefs: {"app-profile":{"fxdriver@googlecode.com":{"d":"/tmp/anonymous1102325584771244753webdriver-profile/extensions/fxdriver@googlecode.com","e":false,"v":"2.42.2","st":1437566150000,"mt":1437566150000}},"app-global":{"{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}":{"d":"/usr/lib64/firefox/browser/extensions/{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}","e":true,"v":"38.1.0","st":1437414410000,"mt":1435943146000}}}

1437566151642 addons.xpi DEBUG getModTime: Recursive scan of {972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}

1437566151642 addons.xpi DEBUG getInstallState changed: false, state: {"app-profile":{"fxdriver@googlecode.com":{"d":"/tmp/anonymous1102325584771244753webdriver-profile/extensions/fxdriver@googlecode.com","e":false,"v":"2.42.2","st":1437566150000,"mt":1437566150000}},"app-global":{"{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}":{"d":"/usr/lib64/firefox/browser/extensions/{972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}","e":true,"v":"38.1.0","st":1437414410000,"mt":1435943146000}}}

1437566151643 addons.xpi DEBUG No changes found

1437566151643 addons.manager DEBUG Registering shutdown blocker for XPIProvider

1437566151643 addons.manager DEBUG Provider finished startup: XPIProvider

1437566151643 addons.manager DEBUG Starting provider: LightweightThemeManager

1437566151644 addons.manager DEBUG Registering shutdown blocker for LightweightThemeManager

1437566151644 addons.manager DEBUG Provider finished startup: LightweightThemeManager

1437566151644 addons.manager DEBUG Starting provider: GMPProvider

1437566151645 addons.manager DEBUG Registering shutdown blocker for GMPProvider

1437566151646 addons.manager DEBUG Provider finished startup: GMPProvider

1437566151646 addons.manager DEBUG Starting provider: PluginProvider

1437566151646 addons.manager DEBUG Registering shutdown blocker for PluginProvider

1437566151646 addons.manager DEBUG Provider finished startup: PluginProvider

1437566151646 addons.manager DEBUG Completed startup sequence

console.error:

[CustomizableUI]

Custom widget with id loop-button does not return a valid node

console.error:

[CustomizableUI]

Custom widget with id loop-button does not return a valid node

*** Blocklist::_preloadBlocklistFile: blocklist is disabled

1437566152365 addons.manager DEBUG Starting provider: <unnamed-provider>

1437566152365 addons.manager DEBUG Registering shutdown blocker for <unnamed-provider>

1437566152366 addons.manager DEBUG Provider finished startup: <unnamed-provider>

at org.openqa.selenium.firefox.internal.NewProfileExtensionConnection.start(NewProfileExtensionConnection.java:118)

at org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver.startClient(FirefoxDriver.java:246)

at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.<init>(RemoteWebDriver.java:114)

at org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver.<init>(FirefoxDriver.java:193)

at org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver.<init>(FirefoxDriver.java:186)

at org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver.<init>(FirefoxDriver.java:182)

at org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver.<init>(FirefoxDriver.java:95)

at com.selenium.test.SeleniumChrome.main(SeleniumChrome.java:32)

Exception in thread "main" org.openqa.selenium.WebDriverException: Failed to connect to binary FirefoxBinary(/usr/bin/firefox) on port 7055; process output follows:

ookmarksService.removeFolderChildren]