Selenium use chrome on Colab got unexpectedly exited

Question

I have been using selenium chromedriver in google colab for a while.
Today I start my work, I get the error never got before.
I'm wondering if this error is related to the chromedriver version.

---

This is install log today

!apt-get update
!apt install -y chromium-chromedriver


Get:1  focal-updates/main amd64 apparmor amd64 2.13.3-7ubuntu5.1 [494 kB]
Get:2  focal/main amd64 liblzo2-2 amd64 2.10-2 [50.8 kB]
Get:3  focal-updates/main amd64 squashfs-tools amd64 1:4.4-1ubuntu0.3 [117 kB]
Get:4  focal-updates/main amd64 snapd amd64 2.57.5+20.04ubuntu0.1 [37.6 MB]
Get:5  focal-updates/universe amd64 chromium-browser amd64 1:85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2 [48.3 kB]
Get:6  focal-updates/universe amd64 chromium-chromedriver amd64 1:85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2 
...
...
(Reading database ... 129791 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../chromium-browser_1%3a85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2_amd64.deb ...
=> Installing the chromium snap
==> Checking connectivity with the snap store
===> System doesn't have a working snapd, skipping
Unpacking chromium-browser (1:85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package chromium-chromedriver.
Preparing to unpack .../chromium-chromedriver_1%3a85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking chromium-chromedriver (1:85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2) ...
Setting up chromium-browser (1:85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/chromium-browser to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in auto mode
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/chromium-browser to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in auto mode
Setting up chromium-chromedriver (1:85.0.4183.83-0ubuntu0.20.04.2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-0ubuntu9.9) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (245.4-4ubuntu3.19) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
Processing triggers for dbus (1.12.16-2ubuntu2.3) ...

---

This is install log yesterday

Get:1  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra amd64 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [1,159 kB]
Get:2  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-browser amd64 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [83.6 MB]
Get:3  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-browser-l10n all 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [5,230 kB]
Get:4  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-chromedriver amd64 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [5,594 kB]
...
...
Setting up chromium-chromedriver (108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5) ...
Setting up chromium-browser-l10n (108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.60ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1.6) ...

---

I found the colab system is updated to ubuntu 20.04 from 18.04.
Is this the reason why chromedriver cannot be used?
How should I do to solve this problem?
Thanks.

Answer 1

These log messages...

Get:1  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra amd64 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [1,159 kB]
Get:2  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-browser amd64 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [83.6 MB]
Get:3  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-browser-l10n all 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [5,230 kB]
Get:4  bionic-updates/universe amd64 chromium-chromedriver amd64 108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5 [5,594 kB]
...
...
Setting up chromium-chromedriver (108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5) ...
Setting up chromium-browser-l10n (108.0.5359.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.5) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.17-2) ...
Processing triggers for mime-support (3.60ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1.6) ...

...is the result of an issue induced as the colab system is updated from v18.04 to ubuntu 20.04 LTS recently.

---

Quick Fix

@mco-gh created a new notebook following @metrizable's guidance (details below) which is working perfect as of now: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1cbEvuZOhkouYLda3RqiwtbM-o9hxGLyC

---

Details

In the discussion Issues when trying to use Chromedriver in Colab @EvanWiederspan clearly mentioned:

We recently upgraded the Ubuntu version, which may be causing this. After connecting to a runtime, can you try running "Use fallback runtime version" from the command palette (ctrl + shift + p)

@metrizable in his comment further clarified:

I understand that you'd like to use selenium with chromium-browser under Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Although YMMV, since Ubuntu 20.04+ no longer distributes chromium-browser outside of a snap package, you can install a compatible version from the Debian buster repository

Sample code:

%%shell
# Ubuntu no longer distributes chromium-browser outside of snap
#
# Proposed solution: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1204571/how-to-install-chromium-without-snap

# Add debian buster
cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list <<'EOF'
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster.gpg] http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster-updates.gpg] http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-security-buster.gpg] http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main
EOF

# Add keys
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys DCC9EFBF77E11517
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 648ACFD622F3D138
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 112695A0E562B32A

apt-key export 77E11517 | gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster.gpg
apt-key export 22F3D138 | gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/debian-buster-updates.gpg
apt-key export E562B32A | gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/debian-security-buster.gpg

# Prefer debian repo for chromium* packages only
# Note the double-blank lines between entries
cat > /etc/apt/preferences.d/chromium.pref << 'EOF'
Package: *
Pin: release a=eoan
Pin-Priority: 500


Package: *
Pin: origin "deb.debian.org"
Pin-Priority: 300


Package: chromium*
Pin: origin "deb.debian.org"
Pin-Priority: 700
EOF

# Install chromium and chromium-driver
apt-get update
apt-get install chromium chromium-driver

# Install selenium
pip install selenium

---

Note

Generally the following line of code will install the snap too:

sudo apt install chromium-chromedriver

incase it doesn't you have to manually install the snap using:

sudo snap install chromium

Answer 2

You can use this sample colab workbook to rebuild your script. The reason is that the last Ubuntu update update supports chromium diver just via snap.

Post with explanation: https://github.com/googlecolab/colabtools/issues/3347#issuecomment-1397277515

Direct Link to Notebook: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1cbEvuZOhkouYLda3RqiwtbM-o9hxGLyC