Browser Automation - Chromium and Firefox at same time

[HaraldAschenbre]

Hi,
im not sure if i maybe misunderstood the Browser Integration with the BP Extension (using 6.10.4).

In my Business we have a lot of different Applications and we try to use the Browser that is best supported by the target Applications.

But that has the consequence that we have to use for example Firefox and Chrome in parallel.

And here is the Issue:
Launching the first Browser (Exmpl. Firefox) is ok, BUT, when launching the 2nd Browser (Chrome), the launch Action fails with message that the Extension is not installed.

I checked a lot of things already, following the Guides and different support Threads, but nothing helped.

What i found out is that the BP Agent launches the 2nd Browser on the same Extension Port!

(Fixed 31924 Setting is OFF, ephemeral port environment and tracking ID)

If it launched Firefox, i see Port 28647 for example is used by the Agent.

When i launch the 2nd Browser, on the "Redirect Page" which comes up before loading the Startpage - it has the Parameters also with that same Port and it seems the Extension from 2nd Browser tries to connect also to Port 28647 - which will not work and then the Launch fails, after some waiting.

Funny thing is - i saw, if i change the Objects Application Mode to 64 Bit, it can launch both Browsers and the agent gives them different Ports, but nothing except the Launch works then.

It looks like the BP Agent behaves here a bit strange?

Or did i completely misunderstand the Extension Integration and it can only run more instances of the SAME Browser?

That is nowhere clearly mentioned in the tech Docs and Support Articles.

And if it should be possible, what can be the Issue here?

I checked that on the Business Environment and also on a Test Env which i setted up on my own Computer - with same result.

BR

Hary

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Harald Aschenbrenner
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[AndrzejFidos1]

Hello, 
I have been dealing with the same type of issue. Couldn't work two extensions open simultaneously (One running already in Chrome the other starting and failing in Edge - or the other way around).
Anyone has found a workaround here?

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Andrzej Fidos
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[RushabhDedhia]

Hey @Harald Aschenbrenner

I am not sure if below of the suggestion will help you or not but it is worth giving a try, as I had faced a similar issue in the past (Version 6.8)​

• Uninstalled the Chrome & check the version of the chrome (PFA Screenshot of BluePrism compatibility Matrix with Browser Version)
• Also, check the version of  Firefox which is compatible with Blue Prism V 6.10.4 (PFA Screenshot of BluePrism compatibility Matrix with Browser Version)
• PFA Blue Prism 6.10 Chrome, Edge, and Firefox Integration Guide for the detailed settings which you can apply while installing the extensions.
• As per best practice - while launching chrome add --force-renderer-accessibility --start-maximized before the URL

Is there any possibility that you can launch the same website either in Firefox or both the websites in chrome?

Regards


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Rushabh Dedhia
Founder,
Biznessology (https://www.linkedin.com/company/biznessology/)
+91 9428860307
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[HaraldAschenbre]

Yes, that things i tried already, also switched to newest Browser Version, which are working, as long as they are alone.

To test it more in Detail i also did a Test Setup of BP7 in my private Env. and tried the same things there - first i was excited, because i could launch the browsers, chrome, edge and firefox in parallel, but when doing some actions in the browsers - some of them were directed into the wrong Browser and Elements were not found, probably because they were read from the wrong browser (with a different Page loaded)...

For Example i´ve sent a Navigate to Chrome, attached and with Trackin ID for the Action - Action was going to Edge, which is also attached, but different Page and different Tracking ID.

Tracking ID seems to be completely useless for that (passing it to every Action and Browser i did)

So back to Experiments with BP 6.10.4 - where we still have the issue.

Btw. Firefox we use an ESR Version, which are completely missing in the List (but i think one of the common type of Browser Versions in Companies), Chrome and Edge are matching, but they´re also not working in parallel.

Meanwhile its getting really annoying and we loosing a lot of time with investigating and testing Things with the Browsers.

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Harald Aschenbrenner
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[bruce.liu]

Hi Harald,

I have raised this with our product team with the issue you reported here.

They have confirmed that the use of multiple browser types concurrently is not something we have specifically built into the v6.x. What you experienced is essentially how the product behaves. For v7.x, the use of multiple browser types concurrently has not been specifically tested either, but with the implementation of Native Messaging Host, it is technically feasible to achieve this. It may very well be possible as of right now. 

The current recommendation for v6.x is to switch between browsers of different types using detach and attach, so that Blue Prism can limit its interaction to a specific browser only.

Hope this helps.

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Bruce Liu
Senior Product Consultant, Professional Services
Blue Prism
Australia/Sydney
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[HaraldAschenbre]

Hi Liu,
thanks for the reply.
Thats whats i was afraid of... :(

>The current recommendation for v6.x is to switch between browsers of different types using detach and attach, so that Blue Prism can limit its interaction to a specific browser only.

Sorry, but... no - because the Extension will not disconnect when you detach, so launching another browser will fail still with Extension or Port Error.

Think the only possible Way in that Case is - terminate the 1st Browser, wait ~5-10 Secs, launch the 2nd and do the things.

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Harald Aschenbrenner
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[bruce.liu]

Hi Harald,

Have you tried to switch to fixed port mode (using port 31924) instead?

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Bruce Liu
Senior Product Consultant, Professional Services
Blue Prism
Australia/Sydney
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[HaraldAschenbre]

Sure, we had it before, but no way to switch back, as we already working with Tracking IDs now.

And also tried to just change it few minutes ago, now 31924, exact same behavior, port keeps in use after detach.

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Harald Aschenbrenner
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[bruce.liu]

Hi Harald,

Fixed port mode has now become the default setting for v6.10.4 onwards, and is recommended by Blue Prism to use with any browser automations involving browser extensions. I would suggest you consider switch back to it to avoid some issues you may have experienced in working with it. This means tracking ID may not be something you can use, but frankly the scenarios you can use it is quite limited.

Once you have migrated to v7, you will be able to take advantage of tracking ID since it does not use any specific port.

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Bruce Liu
Senior Product Consultant, Professional Services
Blue Prism
Australia/Sydney
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[HaraldAschenbre]

WHAT?

>Fixed port mode has now become the default setting for v6.10.4 onwards

No sorry, thats a way we wont do, because first we were ment to switch to dynamic Ports to have a "better vehavior", and now we should switch back?

With fixed Port also the single Browser behavior was extremly bad in 6.10.3 and previous Versions, so we decided to switch to dynamic which was also recomended to use "multiple Instances", where single Browser handling also worked much better.

We have >100 Processes running in the Company and we already changed nearly half of them to use tracking ID, when we moved away from IE.

There is no way to switch back now - it costs already a lot of Dev Time and Money to do the Investigations and tons of Workarounds.

And anyway - in my try now, it didnt solve anything.

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Harald Aschenbrenner
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