xvfbwrapper

Python wrapper for running a display inside X virtual framebuffer (Xvfb)

• Home: http://cgoldberg.github.com/xvfbwrapper
• PyPI: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/xvfbwrapper
• Dev: https://github.com/cgoldberg/xvfbwrapper

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Install xvfbwrapper from PyPI

pip install xvfbwrapper

System Requirements

• Xvfb (sudo apt-get install xvfb, or similar)
• Python 2

About Xvfb (X Virtual Framebuffer)

In the X Window System, Xvfb or X virtual framebuffer is an X11 server that performs all graphical operations in memory, not showing any screen output. This virtual server does not require the computer it is running on to even have a screen or any input device. Only a network layer is necessary.

Example: Basic Usage

from xvfbwrapper import Xvfb

vdisplay = Xvfb()
vdisplay.start()

# launch stuff inside virtual display here

vdisplay.stop()

Example: Headless Selenium WebDriver Tests

#!/usr/bin/env python

from selenium import webdriver
from xvfbwrapper import Xvfb

import unittest


class TestHomepages(unittest.TestCase):

    def setUp(self):
        self.vdisplay = Xvfb(width=1280, height=720)
        self.vdisplay.start()
        self.browser = webdriver.Firefox()

    def testUbuntuHomepage(self):
        self.browser.get('http://www.ubuntu.com')
        self.assertIn('Ubuntu', self.browser.title)

    def testGoogleHomepage(self):
        self.browser.get('http://www.google.com')
        self.assertIn('Google', self.browser.title)

    def tearDown(self):
        self.browser.quit()
        self.vdisplay.stop()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main(verbosity=2)

This code uses selenium and xvfbwrapper to run a test with Firefox inside a headless display.

• install selenium bindings: pip install selenium
• Firefox will launch inside virtual display (headless)
• browser is not shown while tests are run