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pythonpython-3.xseleniumproxywebdriver

Python Selenium Webdriver - Changing proxy settings on the fly

I'm currently successfully using the code below to use a proxy with the Selenium webdriver. Unfortunately, I can't seem to make it change the proxy settings without restarting the whole browser. I had hoped that simply updating the proxy settings, just like I did to set the proxy to start with, would change the proxy, but it doesn't seem to work. Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

profile = webdriver.FirefoxProfile()
profile.set_preference("network.proxy.type", 1)
profile.set_preference("network.proxy.http", proxyAddress)
profile.set_preference("network.proxy.http_port", proxyPort)
profile.update_preferences()
driver = webdriver.Firefox(firefox_profile=profile)
Solution

  • This is a slightly old question. But it is actually possible to change the proxies dynamically thru a "hacky way" I am going to use Selenium JS with Firefox but you can follow thru in the language you want.

    Step 1: Visiting "about:config"

    driver.get("about:config");

    Step 2 : Run script that changes proxy

    var setupScript=`var prefs = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/preferences-service;1"]
.getService(Components.interfaces.nsIPrefBranch);

prefs.setIntPref("network.proxy.type", 1);
prefs.setCharPref("network.proxy.http", "${proxyUsed.host}");
prefs.setIntPref("network.proxy.http_port", "${proxyUsed.port}");
prefs.setCharPref("network.proxy.ssl", "${proxyUsed.host}");
prefs.setIntPref("network.proxy.ssl_port", "${proxyUsed.port}");
prefs.setCharPref("network.proxy.ftp", "${proxyUsed.host}");
prefs.setIntPref("network.proxy.ftp_port", "${proxyUsed.port}");
                  `;    

//running script below  
driver.executeScript(setupScript);

//sleep for 1 sec
driver.sleep(1000);

    Where use ${abcd} is where you put your variables, in the above example I am using ES6 which handles concatenation as shown, you can use other concatenation methods of your choice , depending on your language.(The SetupScript is a string containing the script to be runned enclosed by ``)

    Step 3: : Visit your site

    driver.get("https://whatismyip.com");

    Explanation:the above code takes advantage of Firefox's API to change the preferences using JavaScript code.