InvalidArgumentException: Message: binary is not a Firefox executable error using GeckoDriver Firefox Selenium and Python

Question

I am having trouble with a selenium error related to a FireFox binary.

I added C:/Users/Mack/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/ to PATH using backslashes and rebooted. I downloaded what I thought is the correct file here https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver/releases I put the file in the directory connected to PATH.

To remedy this: I tried using two backslashes

binary = FirefoxBinary("C:\\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\geckodriver-v0.27.0-win64\geckodriver.exe")

which throws the same error

I tried using one backslash

binary = FirefoxBinary("C:\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\geckodriver-v0.27.0-win64\geckodriver.exe")

which throws:

SyntaxError: (unicode error) 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes in position 2-3: truncated \UXXXXXXXX escape
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\Mack\Desktop\hacker-stories\Trends.py", line 32, in <module>
    browser = webdriver.Firefox(**firefox_binary=binary**)
  File "C:\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\firefox\webdriver.py", line 170, in __init__
    RemoteWebDriver.__init__(
  File "C:\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 157, in __init__
    self.start_session(capabilities, browser_profile)
  File "C:\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 252, in start_session
    response = self.execute(Command.NEW_SESSION, parameters)
  File "C:\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\webdriver.py", line 321, in execute
    self.error_handler.check_response(response)
  File "C:\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages\selenium\webdriver\remote\errorhandler.py", line 242, in check_response
    raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)
selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidArgumentException: Message: binary is not a Firefox executable

Code Test.py

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.firefox_binary import FirefoxBinary

binary = FirefoxBinary("C:/Users/Mack/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python38-32/geckodriver-v0.27.0-win64/geckodriver.exe")
print(binary)
browser = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_binary=binary)

options = Options()
options.set_preference("browser.download.folderList",2)
options.set_preference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", False)
options.set_preference("browser.download.dir","/Data")
options.set_preference("browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk", "application/octet-stream,application/vnd.ms-excel")
driver = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_options=options)

Any help understanding this error is much appreciated.

As @arundeepchohan mentioned, your argument to `FirefoxBinary` looks off. Shouldn't that be a path to `firefox.exe` instead of the path to the geckodriver? — , Sep 23 '20 at 19:25
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57528718/what-is-the-executable-path-in-google-colaboratory-for-geckodriver Here's an example of the proper way to do it. — Arundeep Chohan, Sep 23 '20 at 19:37

undetected Selenium · Answer 1 · 2021-02-07T18:25:22.287

This error message...

selenium.common.exceptions.InvalidArgumentException: Message: binary is not a Firefox executable

...implies that the binary file which you have passed as an argument to FirefoxBinary() isn't a valid firefox executable.

You seem to have passed the absolute path of the geckodriver.exe as an argument to FirefoxBinary() which is causing the error.

Solution

Instead of the geckodriver.exe you need to pass the absolute path of the firefox.exe. Moreover, firefox_options is deprecated now and you have to use options and you can use the following solution:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.options import Options
from selenium.webdriver.firefox.firefox_binary import FirefoxBinary

options = Options()
options.binary = FirefoxBinary(r'C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe')
options.set_preference("browser.download.folderList",2)
options.set_preference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", False)
options.set_preference("browser.download.dir","/Data")
options.set_preference("browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk", "application/octet-stream,application/vnd.ms-excel")
driver = webdriver.Firefox(executable_path=r'C:/Users/Mack/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python38-32/geckodriver-v0.27.0-win64/geckodriver.exe', options=options)

References

You can find a couple of relevant detailed discussion in:

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '20 at 19:39

Change the binary to whatever firefox.exe you get and your executable path to your geckodriver.

options = Options()
binary = r'C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe'
options.set_preference("browser.download.folderList",2)
options.set_preference("browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting", False)
options.set_preference("browser.download.dir","/Data")
options.set_preference("browser.helperApps.neverAsk.saveToDisk", "application/octet-stream,application/vnd.ms-excel")
options.binary = binary
driver = webdriver.Firefox(r'C:/Users/Mack/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python38-32/geckodriver-v0.27.0-win64/geckodriver.exe',options=options)

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 25 '21 at 13:32

It seems that when using Firefox Portable, the FirefoxPortable.exe file is not recognized, instead, when creating binary path, point to firefox.exe file found under "FirefoxPortable\App\firefox64" (in my case). The above is valid if your Gecko driver works - so the first few lines of output (before the exception) look something like this:

[RemoteTestNG] detected TestNG version 7.3.0
1611580278948   geckodriver INFO    Listening on 127.0.0.1:18391

This issue appeared for me after the problem described here: Cannot find firefox binary in PATH. Make sure firefox is installed thus, they are not the same issue - as presented in some stack comments.

good luck!

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 23 '20 at 19:20

-1

Your path to the exe looks incorrect.

"/" (slash) is something used often in unix like systems to represent directory structures.

Window uses a backslash.

Change the string to use two backslashes instead of a forward slash.

answered Sep 23 '20 at 19:20

a coder

112
1
7

This does not work ... binary = FirefoxBinary("C:\\Users\Mack\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\geckodriver-v0.27.0-win64\geckodriver.exe") – user3182966 Sep 23 '20 at 19:25

InvalidArgumentException: Message: binary is not a Firefox executable error using GeckoDriver Firefox Selenium and Python

4 Answers4

Solution

References

Linked