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selenium uses "fake" browsers that Google sign-in rejects ("This browser app is not secure"), mechanize lacks a GUI, webbrowser can't click. Is there any package that can open the "usual" browser that won't be rejected by third-party services?

For reference, here's what happens if I try to supply the "usual" Firefox executable path to selenium:

from selenium import webdriver
exepath = r"C:\Program Files\Firefox Developer Edition\firefox.exe"
driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=exepath)

The browser does open, but selenium fails to connect:

File "D:\Anaconda\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\firefox\webdriver.py", line 164, in __init__
self.service.start()
File "D:\Anaconda\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\common\service.py", line 98, in start
self.assert_process_still_running()
File "D:\Anaconda\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\common\service.py", line 111, in assert_process_still_running
% (self.path, return_code)

WebDriverException: Service C:\Program Files\Firefox Developer Edition\firefox.exe unexpectedly exited. 
Status code was: 0

I searched for this exact error - all solutions point back to using the "WebDriver" (i.e. "fake browser"). Tried also with Chrome - same deal, except it first waits 30 secs before throwing the error.

Note: geckodriver and ChromeDriver are both WebDrivers - the "fake" browsers.

Note 2: this is the message I'm getting: (and link to Learn more)

This is how WebDriver's URL appears:

enter image description here

OverLordGoldDragon
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3 Answers3

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Selenium doesn't have "fake" browsers, it uses browsers installed on the machine. The executable_path is for geckodriver/ChromeDriver, not firefox.exe.

exepath = "path_to\geckodriver.exe"
driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=exepath)
Guy
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    The browser is detected as "automated test software" by Google, and is rejected as insecure - so "fake" or not, it is a problem. – OverLordGoldDragon Feb 05 '20 at 10:41
  • @OverLordGoldDragon The insecure is on the url, not the browser. And you can remove the warning by adding `FirefoxOptions()` with option `useAutomationExtension`. – Guy Feb 05 '20 at 10:46
  • As noted in my post, when I try to sign in, I am notified "This browser app is not secure" - and I _cannot sign in_; not just a warning. – OverLordGoldDragon Feb 05 '20 at 10:57
  • Also can't test your suggestion as I'm unsure how it's done exactly; `opts=FirefoxOptions();` `opts.add_argument('useAutomationExtension');` `Firefox(options=opts)` yields error: `WebDriverException: The browser appears to have exited before we could connect. If you specified a log_file in the FirefoxBinary constructor, check it for details.` – OverLordGoldDragon Feb 05 '20 at 10:57
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exepath need to path to geckodriver not firefox.

exepath = r"path\geckodriver.exe"


driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=exepath)
biruk1230
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vaja
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0

A bit of more details about your usecase and why you felt Selenium uses fake browsers, would have helped us to construct a more canonical answer.

However to start with, this is the reason Why Firefox requires GeckoDriver and GeckoDriver scoops up a brand new moz:profile on the fly during each execution.

You can find a detailed discussion in Is it Firefox or Geckodriver, which creates “rust_mozprofile” directory

Error you are facing

This error message...

WebDriverException: Service C:\Program Files\Firefox Developer Edition\firefox.exe unexpectedly exited. 
Status code was: 0

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

executable_path

executable_path is the parameter through which users can pass the absolute path of the GeckoDriver binary overriding the system path of GeckoDriver binary to be used for Firefox 47.0.1 and greater.

You can find a detailed discussion in What is the executable_path in Google Colaboratory for geckodriver?

This usecase

To supply the usual Firefox executable/binary path you need to use the binary property through an instance of FirefoxOptions() as follows:

from selenium import webdriver

binary = r'C:\Program Files\Firefox Developer Edition\firefox.exe'
options = webdriver.FirefoxOptions()
options.binary = binary
browser = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_options=options, executable_path=r'C:\path\to\geckodriver.exe')
browser.get('http://google.com/')

You can find a detailed discussion in How to open Firefox Developer Edition through Selenium

This browser app is not secure

There can be diverse reason bhind this error as follows:

Solution

In these cases the respective solution would be to:

Reference

You can find a couple of relevant detailed discussion in:

undetected Selenium
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  • I'll read your sources - in the meantime, your suggestion didn't work; as far as what I see, nothing changed. I've updated my question. -- Regarding "fake" - simply per Google calling it "insecure" and the browser touting it "automated test software", so basically an incomplete, sandbox-like alternative rather than the "real thing" - but yes, I could be wrong. – OverLordGoldDragon Feb 05 '20 at 13:08
  • Couldn't fully interpret your links, but from what I understood, GeckoDriver is an "interface" between user input commands and the browser itself. Then ideally, Google shouldn't be complaining; whatever the case, something about Selenium's spawned browser is being seen differently on the receiving end. – OverLordGoldDragon Feb 05 '20 at 13:25
  • @OverLordGoldDragon Checkout the updated answer and let me know if you have any questions. – undetected Selenium Feb 05 '20 at 13:38
  • The `FirefoxBinary` approach didn't work; I don't use TwoFactorAuthentication; all of my accounts fail. As for "allow less secure apps" - that's a rather unreasonable expectation on behalf of `selenium`; why should users expose themselves to security risks? I understand there may 'overreactions', but I don't know what the exact risks are, so I rather not tread that territory. – OverLordGoldDragon Feb 05 '20 at 14:06