Bot fails to start Google Chrome Navigator

Bots fail to start Chrome instances when using Google Chrome versions 115 or higher.

Symptoms

Bots fail to initiate Google Chrome browser instances, resulting in automation disruptions.

Causes

The issue raises from a significant change introduced with Google Chrome version 115. Starting with this version, the release process of ChromeDriver, a critical component for WebDriver automation with Chrome, is integrated with the release process of Chrome itself.

Affected Offerings

IBM RPA on premises, IBM RPA on Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform, and IBM RPA SaaS.

Resolving this issue

Note:The following procedure applies only to IBM Robotic Process Automation client versions before 23.0.8.

To solve this issue, you can either upgrade your IBM Robotic Process Automation client to version 23.0.8 or higher, or manually download the ChromeDriver corresponding to your Chrome browser version. Refer to Upgrading IBM Robotic Process Automation for further instructions.

Manually downloading ChromeDrivers

  1. Check the version of your browser.
  2. Enable hidden files and folders view in Windows Explorer. Follow these steps: From the File menu, click View and mark the Hidden items checkbox.
  3. Download the Chrome Driver 🡥 corresponding to the version of the browser that you have.
  4. Extract the downloaded file.
  5. Place the downloaded file in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\IBM Robotic Process Automation\packages\{version} folder, where{version} is the version of IBM Robotic Process Automation that you have installed.