selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSessionIdException using GeckoDriver Selenium Firefox in headless mode through Python

Question

I am tryin to use python an selenium to automate some cases on firefox headless mode. I think, I did every settings that I need but still webdrvier is not initialized.

My problem is getting the exception approximately 30-60 sec after executing my code and exception message is not clear actually message section is empty. As you can see on the geckodriver.log firefox running in headless mode.

I use Firefox 56.0.1, python 3.6, selenium 3.141.0. Here is my code and logs;

Code:

import os
import time
import selenium
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait
from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys
from selenium.webdriver.common.desired_capabilities import DesiredCapabilities
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.firefox_binary import FirefoxBinary
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.firefox_profile import FirefoxProfile

options = Options()
options.set_headless(True)
dir = "C:\\Python36\\Lib\\site-packages\\selenium\\webdriver\\firefox"
ff_driver_path = dir + "\\geckodriver.exe"
firefox_capabilities = DesiredCapabilities().FIREFOX
firefox_capabilities['marionette'] = True
profile = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()
binary = FirefoxBinary('C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe')
driver = webdriver.Firefox(desired_capabilities=firefox_capabilities, firefox_profile=profile, firefox_binary=binary, firefox_options=options, executable_path=ff_driver_path)
driver.get("https://ipaddress/")

Logs:

File "<string>", line 20, in <module>
File "C:\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\firefox\webdriver.py", line 174, in __init__
    keep_alive=True)
File "C:\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 157, in __init__
    self.start_session(capabilities, browser_profile)
File "C:\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 252, in start_session
    response = self.execute(Command.NEW_SESSION, parameters)
File "C:\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 321, in execute
    self.error_handler.check_response(response)
File "C:\Python36\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\errorhandler.py", line 242, in check_response
    raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)
selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSessionIdException: Message:

geckodriver logs:

1544600615819   mozrunner::runner   INFO    Running command: "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe" "-marionette" "-headless" "-foreground" "-no-remote" "-profile" "C:\\Users\\ADMINI~1\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\2\\rust_mozprofile.SDw8B2IEG5cE"
*** You are running in headless mode.
1544600616120   addons.xpi  WARN    Error parsing extensions state: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80520012 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND) [amIAddonManagerStartup.readStartupData]"  nsresult: "0x80520012 (NS_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)"  location: "JS frame :: resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm :: loadExtensionState :: line 1554"  data: no] Stack trace: loadExtensionState()@resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm:1554 < getInstallState()@resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm:1589 < checkForChanges()@resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm:3109 < startup()@resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm:2188 < callProvider()@resource://gre/modules/AddonManager.jsm:269 < _startProvider()@resource://gre/modules/AddonManager.jsm:739 < startup()@resource://gre/modules/AddonManager.jsm:906 < startup()@resource://gre/modules/AddonManager.jsm:3090 < observe()@jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/addonManager.js:65
1544600616661   Marionette  INFO    Enabled via --marionette
[Child 2656] WARNING: pipe error: 109: file z:/build/build/src/ipc/chromium/src/chrome/common/ipc_channel_win.cc, line 346
[Child 2656] WARNING: pipe error: 109: file z:/build/build/src/ipc/chromium/src/chrome/common/ipc_channel_win.cc, line 346
1544600618075   Marionette  INFO    Listening on port 64093
JavaScript error: jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/captivedetect.js, line 352: TypeError: this._runningRequest is null
JavaScript error: jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/captivedetect.js, line 352: TypeError: this._runningRequest is null
JavaScript error: jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/captivedetect.js, line 352: TypeError: this._runningRequest is null
JavaScript error: jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/captivedetect.js, line 352: TypeError: this._runningRequest is null
JavaScript error: jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/captivedetect.js, line 352: TypeError: this._runningRequest is null
JavaScript error: jar:file:///C:/Program%20Files%20(x86)/Mozilla%20Firefox/omni.ja!/components/captivedetect.js, line 352: TypeError: this._runningRequest is null

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? Thank you!

Answer 1

This error message...

selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidSessionIdException: Message:

...implies that the GeckoDriver was unable to initiate/spawn a new WebBrowsing Session i.e. Firefox Browser session.

As per the log messages geckodriver version number is no longer reflected on startup, so you must be using:

GeckoDriver version => 0.22.0 (2018-09-15)

But you are using:

• Selenium 3.141.0
• Firefox 56.0.1

So, your main issue is the incompatibility between the version of the GeckoDriver, Selenium and Firefox binaries you are using.

---

Solution

If you are using GeckoDriver-Selenium-Firefox combo, you need to follow the following compatibility chart for the Supported platforms: