Watir app deployed to heroku

Question

I'm trying to deploy an app to Heroku that uses Watir webdriver. It runs successfully locally. According to answers to this question: Can you deploy Watir on Heroku to generate HTML Snapshots? If so, how?, you can do it. I followed steps from this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/21267376/3192470. My app.rb looks like this:

require "sinatra"
require "rubygems"
require "shotgun"
require "rake"
require "watir"

get '/sending_out' do 
    browser = Watir::Browser.new :phantomjs
    erb :index
end

But it crashes when deployed to Heroku with these logs:

2014-10-24T13:01:10.620468+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/launcher.rb:32:in `launch'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620465+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/launcher.rb:35:in `block in launch'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620480+00:00 app[web.1]:    credits.rb:44:in `rencredit'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620496+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1004:in `process_route'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620510+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1058:in `block in invoke'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620534+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:217:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620590+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/webrick/httpserver.rb:138:in `service'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620460+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/binary.rb:60:in `execute'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620475+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/watir-webdriver-0.6.11/lib/watir-webdriver/browser.rb:46:in `initialize'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620491+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:966:in `block (2 levels) in route!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620506+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1058:in `invoke'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620524+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-protection-1.5.3/lib/rack/protection/path_traversal.rb:16:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620587+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1478:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620469+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/bridge.rb:24:in `initialize'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620484+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1603:in `block in compile!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620500+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:963:in `route!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620525+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-protection-1.5.3/lib/rack/protection/json_csrf.rb:18:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620526+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-protection-1.5.3/lib/rack/protection/base.rb:49:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620528+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-protection-1.5.3/lib/rack/protection/base.rb:49:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620529+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-protection-1.5.3/lib/rack/protection/frame_options.rb:31:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620574+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:2014:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.621081+00:00 app[web.1]: ip-10-226-67-253.ec2.internal - - [24/Oct/2014:13:01:10 UTC] "POST /sending_out HTTP/1.1" 500 30
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620462+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/binary.rb:34:in `start_with'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620477+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/watir-5.0.0/lib/watir/loader.rb:9:in `initialize'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620492+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1006:in `block in process_route'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620507+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1073:in `dispatch!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620531+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/logger.rb:15:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620588+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/handler/webrick.rb:60:in `service'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620459+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/binary.rb:127:in `path'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620474+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver.rb:67:in `for'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620490+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:985:in `route_eval'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620505+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1058:in `catch'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620517+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-protection-1.5.3/lib/rack/protection/xss_header.rb:18:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620584+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1478:in `block in call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620464+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/launcher.rb:70:in `start_silent_and_wait'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620479+00:00 app[web.1]:    credits.rb:44:in `new'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620494+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1004:in `catch'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620509+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:898:in `block in call!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620532+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/commonlogger.rb:33:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620586+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1788:in `synchronize'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620483+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1603:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620499+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:963:in `each'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620513+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1058:in `invoke'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620573+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:180:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620761+00:00 app[web.1]: 83.245.232.99 - - [24/Oct/2014 13:01:10] "POST /sending_out HTTP/1.1" 500 30 0.3206
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620466+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/firefox/socket_lock.rb:20:in `locked'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620481+00:00 app[web.1]:    credits.rb:36:in `block in <main>'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620497+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:964:in `block in route!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620511+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1058:in `catch'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620535+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:210:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620592+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/webrick/httpserver.rb:94:in `run'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620471+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/common/driver.rb:31:in `new'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620486+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:966:in `[]'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620502+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1076:in `block in dispatch!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620514+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:898:in `call!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620537+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/head.rb:11:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620593+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/ruby-2.1.2/lib/ruby/2.1.0/webrick/server.rb:295:in `block in start_thread'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620453+00:00 app[web.1]: Selenium::WebDriver::Error::WebDriverError - Could not find Firefox binary (os=linux). Make sure Firefox is installed or set the path manually with Selenium::WebDriver::Firefox::Binary.path=:
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620472+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/selenium-webdriver-2.43.0/lib/selenium/webdriver/common/driver.rb:31:in `for'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620487+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:966:in `block (3 levels) in route!'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620503+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:1058:in `block in invoke'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620515+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/sinatra-1.4.5/lib/sinatra/base.rb:886:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.620555+00:00 app[web.1]:    /app/vendor/bundle/ruby/2.1.0/gems/rack-1.5.2/lib/rack/methodoverride.rb:21:in `call'
2014-10-24T13:01:10.621098+00:00 app[web.1]: http://sleepy-dawn-1804.herokuapp.com/ -> /sending_out
2014-10-24T13:01:10.625080+00:00 heroku[router]: at=info method=POST path="/sending_out" host=sleepy-dawn-1804.herokuapp.com request_id=ab9957cb-f2af-416c-9055-8fe4d4ccae69 fwd="83.245.232.99" dyno=web.1 connect=1ms service=327ms status=500 bytes=326
2014-10-24T13:19:46+00:00 heroku[slug-compiler]: Slug compilation started
2014-10-24T13:19:56+00:00 heroku[slug-compiler]: Slug compilation finished
2014-10-24T13:19:56.715255+00:00 heroku[api]: Deploy a3750e4 by ___
2014-10-24T13:19:56.715329+00:00 heroku[api]: Release v13 created by ___
2014-10-24T13:19:56.987774+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from up to starting
2014-10-24T13:19:59.188226+00:00 app[web.1]: == Sinatra has ended his set (crowd applauds)
2014-10-24T13:19:59.372012+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec ruby credits.rb -p 38378`
2014-10-24T13:19:59.936031+00:00 app[web.1]: bash: bundle: command not found
2014-10-24T13:19:58.792208+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Stopping all processes with SIGTERM
2014-10-24T13:20:00.744914+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from crashed to starting
2014-10-24T13:20:00.744331+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
2014-10-24T13:20:00.731432+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 127
2014-10-24T13:20:00.979441+00:00 app[web.1]: [2014-10-24 13:20:00] INFO  WEBrick::HTTPServer#start done.
2014-10-24T13:20:00.979326+00:00 app[web.1]: [2014-10-24 13:20:00] INFO  going to shutdown ...
2014-10-24T13:20:01.793815+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 0
2014-10-24T13:20:02.890977+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command `bundle exec ruby credits.rb -p 8176`
2014-10-24T13:20:03.432512+00:00 app[web.1]: bash: bundle: command not found
2014-10-24T13:20:04.173800+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
2014-10-24T13:20:04.164173+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 127
2014-10-24T13:20:04.812284+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=GET path="/" host=sleepy-dawn-1804.herokuapp.com request_id=f0b2bb74-8eaa-4a4c-801f-97ab9d442f04 fwd="54.166.216.157" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=
2014-10-24T13:20:06.224767+00:00 heroku[router]: at=error code=H10 desc="App crashed" method=POST path="/sending_out" host=sleepy-dawn-1804.herokuapp.com request_id=eb306448-91ee-40ea-89ec-7756e277e986 fwd="83.245.232.99" dyno= connect= service= status=503 bytes=

And also when I push it to Heroku it thinks it's a phantomjs app:

PhantomJS app detected

What could be done about all that? Is this at all possible to run Watir from Heroku?

EDIT: answer from Heroku support:

Watir requires selenium, which requires an X server install on the machine. Because our dynos aren't meant to launch graphic applications, they don't have any X server installed, and therefore can't install Selenium. Therefore, I'm afraid it's not going to be possible to use Watir in your application.

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible! Just follow steps from this article: https://github.com/edelpero/watir-examples/blob/master/watir_on_heroku.md.

Shortly:

$ heroku config:set BUILDPACK_URL=https://github.com/ddollar/heroku-buildpack-multi.git
$ touch .buildpacks

Then add to your newly created directory .buildpacks these lines:

https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-ruby
https://github.com/stomita/heroku-buildpack-phantomjs

Then in terminal:

$ heroku config:set PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/app/vendor/phantomjs/bin"
$ heroku config:set LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:/usr/lib:/lib:/app/vendor/phantomjs/lib

Then push these changes to Heroku, and

Watir::Browser.new :phantomjs

with usual Watir code following should work!

Answer 2

heroku-buildpack-multi is deprecated, nowadays you can add multiple buildpacks to heroku and use the phantomjs buildpack like this:

$ heroku buildpacks:add https://github.com/stomita/heroku-buildpack-phantomjs

Should work!

Answer 3

You can now use chrome headlessly as well, you can try it here in a sample I developed:

https://github.com/jormon/minimal-chrome-on-heroku-xvfb