Unable To Open Browser On Host Machine When Executing Test Suite from Container

Libraries SeleniumLibrary
1

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to run a Robot Framework test suite from a Podman container but I’m facing an issue where the browser fails to open on my host machine.

My setup details are:

  • Robot Framework: 7.2.2
  • Python: 3.12.3
  • Container Created Using: Podman
  • Goal: Run a Robot Framework test from within a container but have the browser open on my host machine.

Steps that I have followed so far are:

 1. Create a dockerfile with installed python and robot framework

$ cat Dockerfile
FROM python:3.9

# Set up a working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Upgrade pip
RUN pip install --upgrade pip

# Install Robot Framework and SeleniumLibrary
RUN pip install robotframework robotframework-seleniumlibrary

# Default command
CMD [ "python3" ]

2. Build the image
$ podman build -t robot-framework:latest .

3. Create container
$ podman run -d  --name robot_framework localhost/robot-framework:latest

4. Go inside the container
$ podman exec -it robot_framework bash

5. Create a test.robot file with given content
$ vim test.robot
*** Settings ***
Library    SeleniumLibrary

*** Test Cases ***
Example Test
    Open Browser    http://google.com         chrome
    sleep 10s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Run the test.robot file and got the error
$ robot test.robot

STEP-RUN-ROBOT-TESTS

==============================================================================
Source                                                                        
==============================================================================
Source.Test                                                                  
==============================================================================
Test the code share                                                   | FAIL |
WebDriverException: Message: Service /root/.cache/selenium/chromedriver/linux64/133.0.6943.98/chromedriver unexpectedly exited. Status code was: 127
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source.Test                                                           | FAIL |
1 test, 0 passed, 1 failed
==============================================================================
Source                                                                | FAIL |
1 test, 0 passed, 1 failed
==============================================================================
Output:  /workspace/source/reports/output.xml
Log:     /workspace/source/reports/log.html
Report:  /workspace/source/reports/report.html

What I have tried so far:
Tried installing Chrome and Chromedriver inside the container but that did not help as the browser still wouldn’t open on my host.

How can I allow the Robot Framework test to open a browser on my host machine from within the Podman container?

Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.