"This is the initial start page for the WebDriver server" - Unable to resolve in Selenium/Python program using IE 11

Question

After running my Selenium/Python program, browser opened with below message:

This is the initial start page for the WebDriver server

I have done below steps to resolve this:

1. In IE Options -> Security tab, Enable Protected Mode check box is ticked OFF in all zones: Internet, Local Intranet, Trusted sites and Restricted sites. Also, in Advanced tab -> Security, ticked OFF the check box: "Enable Enhanced Protected Mode" (Also, I tried with enabling this Protected Mode in all zones and in Advanced tab too).

2. My IEdriver (version 3.1.4) and Selenium web driver (version 3.1.4) are compatible (both are on same version)

3. I tried above two, still I am getting the same message.

I have added below content to ignore Protected mode:

caps = DesiredCapabilities.INTERNETEXPLORER
caps['ignoreProtectedModeSettings'] = True
driver = webdriver.Ie(executable_path='C:/Selenium/Drivers/IEDriverServer.exe',capabilities=caps)

Still, I am getting the same message after adding above code.

Any ideas? Please help.

Answer 1

This is as per design. When IEDriverServer.exe opens a new a new Browsing Context i.e. Internet Explorer browsing session it navigates first to this page.

• Browser Snapshot

Once you initialize the browser through the line:

driver = webdriver.Ie(executable_path='C:/Selenium/Drivers/IEDriverServer.exe',capabilities=caps)

next you can invoke the get() command to access any url. As an example:

driver.get('https://www.google.com/')

---

Additional Consideration

Additionally you need to:

• Upgrade Selenium to current levels Version 3.141.59.
• Upgrade IEDriverServer to latest IEDriverServer v3.150.1 level.

  Note: As per best practices as Selenium Client and InternetExplorerDriver are released in sync and you must try to use both the binaries from the same major release.

• Clean your Project Workspace through your IDE and Rebuild your project with required dependencies only.
• Execute your @Test.
• Always invoke driver.quit() within tearDown(){} method to close & destroy the WebDriver and Web Client instances gracefully.