How to start a new browser session with MicrosoftWebDriver server?

You can start a new browser session with MicrosoftWebDriver server using the "POST /session" service as shown in this tutorial.

1. Make sure Python is installed:

C:\fyicenter> python --version
Python 3.7.4

2. Make sure Python "requests" module is installed:

C:\fyicenter> pip install requests
...

3. Start MicrosoftWebDriver server with logging turned on listening on port 17556.

C:\fyicenter>\fyicenter\selenium\edgedriver\MicrosoftWebDriver --verbose


C:\fyicenter> \fyicenter\selenium\chromedriver\chromedriver.exe --verbose

[...] - Starting server...
[...] - Listening on http://localhost:17556/
[...] -

4. Enter the following Python script in a separate window to start a new browser session by sending a "POST /session" request:

C:\fyicenter> type PostSessionEdge.py

# PostSessionEdge.py
# Copyright (c) FYIcenter.com 
import requests

data = """
{
   "capabilities": {
      "alwaysMatch": {
         "browserName": "edge",
         "goog:chromeOptions": {
            "args": [  ],
            "extensions": [  ]
         },
         "platformName": "any"
      },
      "firstMatch": [ { } ]
   },
   "desiredCapabilities": {
      "browserName": "edge",
      "goog:chromeOptions": {
         "args": [  ],
         "extensions": [  ]
      },
      "platform": "ANY",
      "version": ""
   }
}
    """

res = requests.post("http://localhost:17556/session", data)
print("Status: " + str(res.status_code))
print("Body: " + str(res.content))

5. Run the Python script:

C:\fyicenter> python PostSessionEdge.py

Status: 200
Body: b'{
    "sessionId": "936A2C88-D144-49B9-B11E-F455816E7D3A",
    "status": 0,
    "value": {
        "browserName": "MicrosoftEdge",
        "browserVersion": "42.17134.1.0",
        "platformName": "windows",
        "platformVersion": "10",
        "takesElementScreenshot": true,
        "takesScreenshot": true,
        "acceptSslCerts": true,
        "applicationCacheEnabled": true,
        "locationContextEnabled": true,
        "webStorageEnabled": true,
        "InPrivate": false,
        "pageLoadStrategy": "normal"
    }
}'

You should see that WebDriver server starts a new session with a new Edge window started.

See the next tutorial on how load a Web page in a new session.

⇒ Load Web Page in MicrosoftWebDriver Session

⇐ Start MicrosoftWebDriver WebDriver Server

⇑ WebDriver and WebDriver Servers

⇑⇑ Selenium Tutorials