Run Selenium web driver without GUI on Ubuntu: Possible or Not?

Yes, it is possible to run Selenium WebDriver without GUI on Ubuntu

If you are running automated tests on Ubuntu using Selenium WebDriver, you may want to run them without the need for a graphical user interface (GUI). This is especially useful if you are running tests on a server or a headless machine where there is no GUI available.

To run Selenium WebDriver without GUI on Ubuntu, you can use a headless browser such as PhantomJS or XVFB (X Virtual Frame Buffer). Both of these tools allow you to run a browser without the need for a GUI, which makes them perfect for running automated tests.

To install PhantomJS, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get install phantomjs

To install XVFB, you can use the following command:

sudo apt-get install xvfb

Once you have installed either PhantomJS or XVFB, you can configure your Selenium WebDriver tests to use them instead of a regular browser. This can be done by setting the appropriate options in your code.

For example, if you are using Selenium WebDriver with Java, you can configure it to use PhantomJS as follows:

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = DesiredCapabilities.phantomjs();
WebDriver driver = new PhantomJSDriver(capabilities);

Similarly, if you are using Selenium WebDriver with Python, you can configure it to use XVFB as follows:

from pyvirtualdisplay import Display
from selenium import webdriver

display = Display(visible=0, size=(1024, 768))
display.start()

browser = webdriver.Firefox()
browser.get('http://www.google.com')

display.stop()

In summary, it is definitely possible to run Selenium WebDriver without GUI on Ubuntu using a headless browser such as PhantomJS or XVFB. By doing so, you can run your automated tests on a headless machine without the need for a graphical user interface.