How should I setup Selenium proxy?

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1

How can I setup Selenium proxy?

2

Hello Alex,

You can refer to the sample code below to set up Selenium proxy:

   /// <summary>
        /// Performs the initialize of the browser.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="driverFolder">The driver folder.</param>
        /// <param name="proxy">The proxy.</param>
        /// <returns>
        /// The web driver.
        /// </returns>
        protected override IWebDriver PerformInitialize(string driverFolder, Proxy proxy)
        {
            var options = new ChromeOptions();

            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(proxy.HttpProxy))
            {
                options.AddAdditionalCapability(CapabilityType.Proxy, proxy);
            }

            return new ChromeDriver(driverFolder, options);
        }
3

Setting up a proxy in Selenium involves telling the browser, not just the driver, to route its traffic through an intermediary server. The method varies slightly by programming language and browser.

  1. Python with Chrome (Using selenium-wire for Full Control) The standard selenium package can handle basic proxies, but selenium-wire extends it to easily capture requests, handle authentication, and more.

First, install it:

bash pip install selenium-wire Code Example:

python from seleniumwire import webdriver

Define proxy options

proxy_options = { ‘proxy’: { ‘http’: ‘http://user:pass@proxy.momoproxy.com:8100’, ‘https’: ‘https://user:pass@proxy.momoproxy.com:8100’, ‘no_proxy’: ‘localhost,127.0.0.1’ # Exclusions } }

Create the driver with proxy options

driver = webdriver.Chrome(seleniumwire_options=proxy_options)

Now all traffic goes through the proxy

driver.get(“https://httpbin.org/ip”) print(driver.page_source) # Will show the proxy’s IP, not yours

driver.quit() Why this is different: It effortlessly handles proxy authentication (user:pass) and gives you the power to intercept and modify network requests later.

  1. JavaScript (WebDriverIO) with Chrome WebDriverIO has a clean, declarative syntax for capabilities.

Code Example:

javascript const { remote } = require(‘webdriverio’);

(async () => { const driver = await remote({ capabilities: { browserName: ‘chrome’, proxy: { proxyType: ‘manual’, httpProxy: ‘proxy.momoproxy.com:8100’, sslProxy: ‘proxy.momoproxy.com:8100’, } } });

await driver.url('https://httpbin.org/ip');
const body = await driver.$('body');
console.log(await body.getText());

await driver.deleteSession();

})(); Why this is different: It shows the W3C WebStandard-compliant way of setting proxies, which is the future of Selenium configuration.

  1. Java with Firefox - A Different Browser & Approach The original example was for Chrome in C#. Here’s how to do it for Firefox in Java, which uses a different settings object.

Code Example:

java import org.openqa.selenium.Proxy; import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver; import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver; import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxOptions;

public class FirefoxProxyExample { public static void main(String args) { // Define the Proxy Proxy proxy = new Proxy(); proxy.setHttpProxy(“proxy.momoproxy.com:8100”); proxy.setSslProxy(“proxy.momoproxy.com:8100”);

    // Configure Firefox Options
    FirefoxOptions options = new FirefoxOptions();
    options.setCapability("proxy", proxy);

    // Launch Firefox with the proxy
    WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(options);
    driver.get("https://httpbin.org/ip");
    driver.quit();
}

} Why this is different: It demonstrates proxy setup for Firefox in Java, highlighting that the core concept (injecting a proxy capability) is consistent, but the implementation classes differ.

  1. Handling Proxy Authentication (A Common Challenge) The standard Proxy class in Selenium cannot handle authentication pop-ups. You must use a browser extension or a separate automation tool. Here’s a Python example using an extension for Chrome:

python from selenium import webdriver from selenium.webdriver.common.proxy import Proxy, ProxyType

Define proxy with auth (using a plugin)

proxy = “proxy.momoproxy.com:8100” username = “your_username” password = “your_password”

manifest_json = “”" { “version”: “1.0.0”, “manifest_version”: 2, “name”: “Chrome Proxy”, “permissions”: [ “proxy”, “tabs”, “unlimitedStorage”, “storage”, “<all_urls>”, “webRequest”, “webRequestBlocking” ], “background”: { “scripts”: [“background.js”] } } “”"

background_js = “”" var config = { mode: “fixed_servers”, rules: { singleProxy: { scheme: “http”, host: “%s”, port: parseInt(%s) }, bypassList: [“localhost”] } };

chrome.proxy.settings.set({value: config, scope: “regular”}, function() {});

function callbackFn(details) { return { authCredentials: { username: “%s”, password: “%s” } }; }

chrome.webRequest.onAuthRequired.addListener( callbackFn, {urls: [“<all_urls>”]}, [‘blocking’] ); “”" % (proxy, port, username, password)

chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions() chrome_options.add_extension(BasePackedExtension(manifest_json, background_js))

driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_options) driver.get(“https://momoproxy/ip”) Why this is different: This directly addresses the biggest pain point in Selenium proxy setup—authentication—which the original code completely ignored.

In summary, while the core principle is to pass proxy settings as a capability, the “how” depends greatly on your specific needs: the language, the browser, and whether you need authentication or advanced traffic control.