[🐛 Bug]: Is it possible to run Selenium tests in headful mode using GitHub Actions?

[AshokKumarSMC]

What happened?

I’m currently running Selenium test scripts using GitHub Actions, but the tests are executed in headless mode by default. I would like to know if it’s possible to run these tests in headful mode, where the browser is fully visible during the test execution.

Questions:

Is it possible to configure GitHub Actions to run Selenium tests in headful mode?
If yes, what are the steps or configurations required to achieve this?
Are there any limitations or considerations when running Selenium tests in headful mode on GitHub Actions?

Additional Information:

I am using the following setup:
Java (version 17)
Selenium WebDriver 
Maven
ChromeDriver

How can we reproduce the issue?

My goal is to:

Visually observe the browser interactions during the test runs.
Ensure that elements are correctly rendered and interacted with as they would be in a normal browser session.

Any guidance or examples would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!

Relevant log output

NA

Operating System

Windows 11

Selenium version

4.17.0

What are the browser(s) and version(s) where you see this issue?

Chrome 128

What are the browser driver(s) and version(s) where you see this issue?

Version 128.0.6613.119 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Are you using Selenium Grid?

NO

[github-actions]

@AshokKumarSMC, thank you for creating this issue. We will troubleshoot it as soon as we can.

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[github-actions]

💬 Please ask questions at:

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• 🗣 Our IRC/Slack/Matrix channels where the community can help you as well

[dtopuzov]

Yes, it is possible.
On windows-latest it works out of the box, on ubuntu-latest runners you can use xvfb like that:
https://github.com/dtopuzov/sikuli-actions/blob/main/.github/workflows/gradle.yml#L41-L44

[AshokKumarSMC]

Yes, it is possible. On windows-latest it works out of the box, on ubuntu-latest runners you can use xvfb like that: https://github.com/dtopuzov/sikuli-actions/blob/main/.github/workflows/gradle.yml#L41-L44

I have tried using xvfb during the "Build with Maven" step, but it still isn't working for me. In my Selenium test script, I removed the headless argument from the ChromeOptions as shown below:

ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
// options.addArguments("--headless"); // I have removed this line
driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

However, I still can't visually observe the browser interactions during the tests.

Is there something else I need to configure or check? Any advice on how to ensure the browser is displayed and the tests run in headful mode?