[BUG] Chromium on Windows does not launch without --no-sandbox

[arjunattam]

Context:

• Playwright Version: 1.2.1
• Operating System: Windows 10 10.0.18363
• Node.js version: 12.18
• Browser: Chromium

Code Snippet

// @ts-check
const {chromium} = require("playwright");

(async () => {
 const browser = await chromium.launch();
 const context = await browser.newContext();
 const page = await context.newPage();
 await page.goto('http://whatsmyuseragent.org/');
 await page.screenshot({ path: `example.png` });
 await browser.close();
})();

Describe the bug

Chromium does not launch unless passed with args: ['--no-sandbox'] - in both headful and headless modes. --disable-gpu did not help, like in #2698. Logs seen without args are pasted below. "method":"Inspector.targetCrashed" seems to be the culprit.

 pw:browser => browserType.launch started +0ms
  pw:browser <launching> C:\Users\varsha\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\chromium-782078\chrome-win\chrome.exe --disable-background-networking --enable-features=NetworkService,NetworkServiceInProcess --disable-background-timer-throttling --disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows --disable-breakpad --disable-client-side-phishing-detection --disable-component-extensions-with-background-pages --disable-default-apps --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-extensions --disable-features=TranslateUI,BlinkGenPropertyTrees,ImprovedCookieControls,SameSiteByDefaultCookies --disable-hang-monitor --disable-ipc-flooding-protection --disable-popup-blocking --disable-prompt-on-repost --disable-renderer-backgrounding --disable-sync --force-color-profile=srgb --metrics-recording-only --no-first-run --enable-automation --password-store=basic --use-mock-keychain --user-data-dir=C:\Users\varsha\AppData\Local\Temp\playwright_chromiumdev_profile-aaeAeW --remote-debugging-pipe --no-startup-window [] +5ms
  pw:browser <launched> pid=27324 [] +12ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":1,"method":"Target.setAutoAttach","params":{"autoAttach":true,"waitForDebuggerOnStart":true,"flatten":true}} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"id":1,"result":{}} [] +276ms
  pw:browser <= browserType.launch succeeded +280ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":2,"method":"Target.createBrowserContext","params":{"disposeOnDetach":true}} [] +2ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"id":2,"result":{"browserContextId":"5B1F13D60AA0C378C3BA285F46503282"}} [] +17ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":3,"method":"Browser.setDownloadBehavior","params":{"behavior":"deny","browserContextId":"5B1F13D60AA0C378C3BA285F46503282","downloadPath":"C:\\Users\\varsha\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\playwright_downloads-nyACpC"}} [] +2ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"id":3,"result":{}} [] +15ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":4,"method":"Target.createTarget","params":{"url":"about:blank","browserContextId":"5B1F13D60AA0C378C3BA285F46503282"}} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"method":"Target.attachedToTarget","params":{"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE","targetInfo":{"targetId":"41E8DA22206090FB6519E846D54172B2","type":"page","title":"","url":"about:blank","attached":true,"browserContextId":"5B1F13D60AA0C378C3BA285F46503282"},"waitingForDebugger":true}} [] +52ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":5,"method":"Browser.getWindowForTarget","sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +3ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"id":4,"result":{"targetId":"41E8DA22206090FB6519E846D54172B2"}} [] +34ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"method":"Inspector.targetCrashed","params":{},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +10ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"id":5,"result":{"windowId":1,"bounds":{"left":10,"top":10,"width":1050,"height":1860,"windowState":"normal"}},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +10ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":6,"method":"Page.enable","sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":7,"method":"Page.getFrameTree","sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":8,"method":"Log.enable","params":{},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":9,"method":"Page.setLifecycleEventsEnabled","params":{"enabled":true},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":10,"method":"Runtime.enable","params":{},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":11,"method":"Page.addScriptToEvaluateOnNewDocument","params":{"source":"\n//# sourceURL=__playwright_evaluation_script__0\n","worldName":"__playwright_utility_world__"},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":12,"method":"Network.enable","sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":13,"method":"Target.setAutoAttach","params":{"autoAttach":true,"waitForDebuggerOnStart":true,"flatten":true},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":14,"method":"Emulation.setFocusEmulationEnabled","params":{"enabled":true},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":15,"method":"Emulation.setDeviceMetricsOverride","params":{"mobile":false,"width":1280,"height":720,"screenWidth":1280,"screenHeight":720,"deviceScaleFactor":1,"screenOrientation":{"angle":90,"type":"landscapePrimary"}},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":16,"method":"Browser.setWindowBounds","params":{"windowId":1,"bounds":{"width":1296,"height":808}},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"}
[] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":17,"method":"Emulation.setGeolocationOverride","params":{},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +1ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":18,"method":"Network.setExtraHTTPHeaders","params":{"headers":{}},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":19,"method":"Network.emulateNetworkConditions","params":{"offline":false,"latency":0,"downloadThroughput":-1,"uploadThroughput":-1},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +5ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":20,"method":"Emulation.setEmulatedMedia","params":{"media":"","features":[{"name":"prefers-color-scheme","value":"light"}]},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +3ms
  pw:protocol SEND ► {"id":21,"method":"Runtime.runIfWaitingForDebugger","sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +0ms
  pw:protocol ◀ RECV {"id":13,"result":{},"sessionId":"D9605E4C3C2964510BDFF025168112BE"} [] +2ms
(node:904) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: Page closed
    at CRSession.<anonymous> (C:\Repo\OneAsk\CCRM\thanos\node_modules\playwright\lib\chromium\crPage.js:260:60)
    at Object.onceWrapper (events.js:421:28)
    at CRSession.emit (events.js:327:22)
    at C:\Repo\OneAsk\CCRM\thanos\node_modules\playwright\lib\chromium\crConnection.js:167:43
  -- ASYNC --
    at CRBrowserContext.newPage (C:\Repo\OneAsk\CCRM\thanos\node_modules\playwright\lib\helper.js:78:23)
    at C:\Repo\OneAsk\CCRM\thanos\src\e2eTests\aco\script.js:10:30
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:97:5)
(node:904) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). To terminate the node process on unhandled promise rejection, use the CLI flag `--unhandled-rejections=strict` (see https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#cli_unhandled_rejections_mode). (rejection id: 1)
(node:904) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.
  pw:browser <process did exit: exitCode=3221225477, signal=null> [] +606ms

[arjunattam]

More info from @yingzhe who was running into this: this happens when Chromium is launched with admin privileges. Running without admin does not require the --no-sandbox flag. Confirmed with the other user who was faced this as well: their VS Code was running as admin, and they were launching Chromium via npm test called from the integrated terminal.

@aslushnikov: Can we handle this case? Seems similar to root user on Linux?

[yury-s]

It may have something to do with launching from VS Code, npm run ctest -- evaluation.jest passes for me when run as Administrator.

[aslushnikov]

this happens when Chromium is launched with admin privileges. Running without admin does not require the --no-sandbox flag

@arjun27 I couldn't reproduce this: tried running under administrator in both MINGW and CMD terminals and launching simple script there - worked fine for me without --no-sandbox flag.

[yingzhe]

Playwright: 1.2.1 OS: Windows 10 Node.js: 12.16.3 Browser: Chromium

Below is the error I get when running from non-admin mode command prompt:

(node:1708) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: Page closed at CRSession. (E:\1\node_modules\playwright\lib\chromium\crPage.js:260:60) at Object.onceWrapper (events.js:416:28) at CRSession.emit (events.js:322:22) at E:\1\node_modules\playwright\lib\chromium\crConnection.js:167:43 -- ASYNC -- at CRBrowserContext.newPage (E:\1\node_modules\playwright\lib\helper.js:78:23) at E:\1\tests\test1.ts:6:32 (node:1708) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). To terminate the node process on unhandled promise rejection, use the CLI flag --unhandled-rejections=strict (see https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#cli_unhandled_rejections_mode). (rejection id: 1) (node:1708) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.

Code is the same as what was originally posted by @arjun27 above. I had to interrupt with ctrl+c, as the process never completes.

[aslushnikov]

@yingzhe can you please try with the latest Playwright v1.3.0? We have some nice logic there to detect missing libraries; I hope it will give us a hint on what's going on.

[yingzhe]

(node:35404) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: Page closed at CRSession. (E:\1\node_modules\playwright\lib\chromium\crPage.js:263:60) at Object.onceWrapper (events.js:416:28) at CRSession.emit (events.js:322:22) at E:\1\node_modules\playwright\lib\chromium\crConnection.js:171:43 -- ASYNC -- at CRBrowserContext.newPage (E:\1\node_modules\playwright\lib\helper.js:79:23) at E:\1\tests\tests1.ts:7:32 (node:35404) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). To terminate the node process on unhandled promise rejection, use the CLI flag --unhandled-rejections=strict (see https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#cli_unhandled_rejections_mode). (rejection id: 1) (node:35404) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.

I updated Playwright to v1.3.0 but it looks like the error I get is still the same, with the process being stuck forever until I kill it.

[aslushnikov]

Sandbox configuration proved to be painful in various environments, and this issue is another example. playwright v1.5.0 now runs --no-sandbox by default, so this can be closed.