doc for freebsd13.1 and flaresolverr3.1.2

[furonair]

Here are the instructions in order to get FlareSolverr configured and running at boot in a FreeBSD system or in a FreeBSD jail (which is my case).

This was made in freebsd 13.1-RELEASE-p6 in jail.

All instructions consider that you will be using the root user to execute the commands and flaresover will run flaresolver with flaresolver user. Some caveat from the script for to do some particular things.

I'll not enter in details about creation of jails.
But this should work to on the FreeBSD host OS.

1. Check if you need to set your date/time

rm /etc/localtime
ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Sao_Paulo /etc/localtime

2. Update and upgrade your packages

Before anything else, make sure that your packages are updated and upgraded:

pkg update
pkg upgrade

3. Get FlareSolverr

Here you have the option to use Git or download the sources directly. It doesn't matter what you choose, the final product will be the same.

The advantage of the Git way is that it is easier to keep FlareSolverr updated.

So, follow 3.1 or 3.2, as you wish.

3.1 Using Git

Install the git-tiny package:

pkg install git-tiny

Then go to /usr/local/share folder and clone the repository:

cd /tmp/
git clone https://github.com/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr.git

3.2 Using Zip

Go to the FlareSolverr Github page, click on Code, then right-click on "Download ZIP" and then choose "Copy link address":

Then execute the fetch command to download the zip file, by pasting the copied address in the command line, and then run the unzip command to extract it:

cd /tmp/
fetch https://github.com/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
unzip master.zip

4. Installing the necessary packages and load necessary kernel module

Once you have the FlareSolverr source code downloaded through Git or Zip in /usr/local/share/FlareSolverr, the next step is to download the necessary packages.

4.1 Load Kernel module

Load kernel module required by linux compatibility package (probably just linux64 is required but is not my case and I did test). If you do please confirm.

#to load kernels module now
kldload -n -v linux
kldload -n -v linux64

#to load kernels module at boot
sysrc kld_list+="linux"
sysrc kld_list+="linux64"

4.2 Install package

Install these packages and all their required dependencies:

pkg install python39 py39-pip chromium xorg-vfbserver linux_base-c7

158 of packages aprox should be installed and will require near a 3GiB of storage.

5. Installing virtuaenv and requirement

To keep most of thing clean on the host after the build will be completed

5.1. virtual

pip install virtualenv

5.2. Create and activate virtual env

virtualenv /tmp/venv
source /tmp/venv/bin/activate.csh

5.3. Installing requirements

cd /tmp/FlareSolverr-master
pip install pyinstaller
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r test-requirements.txt

6. building the apps

cd ./src/
python3 build_package.py
cd ..

7. Doing somes particulars things to make it work!

7.1. Special folders

Thoses things are requireds because the program ask for access to particular folder.

mkdir /app
chmod 777 /app
mkdir /.undetected_chromedriver
chmod 755 /.undetected_chromedriver
mkdir /root/.undetected_chromedriver
chmod 755 /root/.undetected_chromedriver
cp /usr/local/bin/chromedriver /app/chromedriver
chmod 777 /app/chromedriver
cp /usr/local/bin/chromedriver /app/chromedriver.exe
chmod 777 /app/chromedriver.exe

7.3. Linux compatibility

Thoses things ar required for linux compatibility.

rm -rf ./dist/package/flaresolverr/chrome/*
cp /usr/local/bin/chrome ./dist/package/flaresolverr/chrome/chrome

#showing the ELF mark on the file
brandelf ./dist/package/flaresolverr/*.so.*

#change the ELF mark on the file (if is not 'Linux')
brandelf -t Linux ./dist/package/flaresolverr/*.so.*

#showing the result of the change
brandelf ./dist/package/flaresolverr/*.so.*


# seams to be a a bug of the linux compatibility package installed earlier the file did not exist, created the file with
# a simlink with a existing simlink in the hope it will be easier to find than the real file

ln -s /compat/linux/usr/lib64/libc.so.6 /compat/linux/usr/lib64/libc.so.7

8. Create user

pw useradd flaresolverr -s /usr/sbin/nologin

9. Moving folder and changing owner and permission

mv ./dist/package/flaresolverr /usr/local/share/flaresolverr
chown -R flaresolverr:flaresolverr /usr/local/share/flaresolverr
chmod -R 770 /usr/local/share/flaresolverr

10. Create the rc.d config file to define the service

create the file

touch /usr/local/etc/rc.d/flaresolverr
chmod 755 /usr/local/etc/rc.d/flaresolverr

edit the file with your prefered text editor

#!/bin/sh
#
# PROVIDE: flaresolverr
# REQUIRE: networking
# KEYWORD: shutdown

# flaresolverr_enable="YES"

. /etc/rc.subr

name="flaresolverr"
rcvar="flaresolverr_enable"


flaresolverr_log_file="/var/log/flaresolverr/flaresolverr.log"

start_precmd=flaresolverr_prestart
stop_postcmd=flaresolverr_poststop

load_rc_config ${name}
# Defaults
# Usable parameter in rc.conf with those default parameter
: ${flaresolverr_enable:=NO}
: ${flaresolverr_deamon_user:=flaresolverr}
: ${flaresolverr_path:="/usr/local/share/flaresolverr"}
: ${flaresolverr_LOG_LEVEL:="info"}
: ${flaresolverr_LOG_HTML:="false"}
: ${flaresolverr_CAPTCHA_SOLVER:="false"}
: ${flaresolverr_TZ:="UTC"}
: ${flaresolverr_HEADLESS:="true"}
: ${flaresolverr_BROWSER_TIMEOUT:="40000"}
: ${flaresolverr_PORT:="8191"}
: ${flaresolverr_HOST:="0.0.0.0"}
: ${flaresolverr_TEST_URL:="https://www.google.com"}

pidfile_deamon="/var/run/flaresolverr/flaresolverr_deamon.pid"
pidfile_child="/var/run/flaresolverr/flaresolverr_child.pid"
procname="${flaresolverr_path}/flaresolverr"
command="/usr/sbin/daemon"

command_args="-f -p ${pidfile_child} -P ${pidfile_deamon} -o $flaresolverr_log_file -u ${flaresolverr_deamon_user} ${flaresolverr_path}/flaresolverr"

flaresolverr_prestart()
{

    install -d -o root -g $flaresolverr_deamon_user /var/run/flaresolverr
    install -d -o root -g $flaresolverr_deamon_user /var/log/flaresolverr

    export LOG_LEVEL=$flaresolverr_LOG_LEVEL
    export LOG_HTML=$flaresolverr_LOG_HTML
    export CAPTCHA_SOLVER=$flaresolverr_CAPTCHA_SOLVER
    export TZ=$flaresolverr_TZ
    export HEADLESS=$flaresolverr_HEADLESS
    export BROWSER_TIMEOUT=$flaresolverr_BROWSER_TIMEOUT
    export PORT=$flaresolverr_PORT
    export HOST=$flaresolverr_HOST
    export TEST_URL=$flaresolverr_TEST_URL

    
}

flaresolverr_poststop()
{
    sleep 2
    killall -u ${flaresolverr_deamon_user} -c Xvfb
}

run_rc_command "$1"

11. Clean no more usefull files and folders

rm -rf /tmp/venv
rm -rf /tmp/FlareSolverr-master
rm -rf /tmp/build
rm -rf /tmp/master.zip

12. Enable service in rc.conf and start the deamon

sysrc flaresolverr_enable="YES"

You could find all allowed parameter to be used with the rc.d script within the file and configure the parameter with sysrc
Those parameter will be loaded as variable env

ex:

sysrc flaresolverr_PORT="80"

Now you should be able to start the deamon and enjoye!

service flaresolverr start

service flaresolverr status

tail -f /var/log/flaresolverr/flaresolverr.log

[ngosang]

Could you review and update this page in the Wiki?
https://github.com/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr/wiki/Installing-FlareSolverr-in-FreeBSD-or-FreeNAS-TrueNAS-jail

[furonair]

Since is done for version 2.x in with node JS this page is not relevant anymore. I didn't have the right to do change or propose change in the wiki to add the information I added in this discution. I will be glade to add this to the wiki for reference.

[ngosang]

I changed the Wiki. Thank you!

[furonair]

updated to follow the change in 3.1.2

[ilike2burnthing]

Thanks, updated.

[FroggMaster]

@ilike2burnthing Would you be able to review the information that I posted here: #95 (comment) and update the Wiki accordingly? I ran into a few issues when following the the guide and hope that the additional info helps anyone else that might find it helpful. Thanks. :)

[dbolser]

Thanks @FroggMaster, did this get updated, or should I follow the guide here + your guide? (Or the guide on the wiki?) Where is the definitive guide :-)

Cheers,

[ilike2burnthing]

Click the linked issue and scroll down.

[dbolser]

So sorry, which link? It says 'LEGACY' is this whole guide old?

I'm seeing this error:

(venv) root@flaresolverr:/tmp/FlareSolverr # tail -f /var/log/flaresolverr/flaresolverr.log
2025-01-25 18:04:55 INFO     FlareSolverr 3.3.21
2025-01-25 18:04:55 INFO     Testing web browser installation...
2025-01-25 18:04:55 INFO     Platform: FreeBSD-14.2-RELEASE-amd64-64bit-ELF
2025-01-25 18:04:55 INFO     Chrome / Chromium path: /usr/local/share/flaresolverr/_internal/chrome/chrome
/usr/local/share/flaresolverr/_internal/chrome/chrome: error while loading shared libraries: libnss3.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
2025-01-25 18:04:55 ERROR    Chrome / Chromium version not detected!

I know I'm being stupid, but I can normally follow a guide... don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[ilike2burnthing]

The only link in the comment you're replying to.

To skip a few steps here - https://github.com/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr#from-source-code-freebsdtruenas-core

[dbolser]

Thanks @furonair, is the key information here getting all the versions lined up in a 'working' state, or is it around setting up the permissions / users 'just right'? I did the latter but still got issues, which I suspect may be related to versions (see #1434).

If versions are the sticking point, I'll try to create a 'matrix' of python / FlareSolverr / FreeBSD where it works vs. fails.

[dbolser]

Right... Those instructions aren't working for me unfortunately.

…

On Mon, 27 Jan 2025 at 02:44, ilike2burnthing ***@***.***> wrote: The only link in the comment you're replying to. To skip a few steps here - https://github.com/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr#from-source-code-freebsdtruenas-core — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#748 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAA7NE636V4DUAKWLSJ55JL2MWMRHAVCNFSM6AAAAABVQDQNUGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTCOJWGM4TMNY> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>

[ilike2burnthing]

Given the error, did you run this?

pkg install nss

[dbolser]

Thanks so much again @ilike2burnthing, in fact the above error was related to the out of date node version (I was following the old guide by mistake). On the new guide, on the forked code, it works :-) 🎉

Sorry for all the noise I've generated on the issues / discussion.

For absolute clarity (for idiots like me):

WORKING VERSION:

• FreeBSD RELEASE 14.2 (Jail)
  • Followed the guide here: https://github.com/FlareSolverr/FlareSolverr#from-source-code-freebsdtruenas-core
• FlareSolver version from here:
  • https://github.com/21hsmw/FlareSolverr/tree/nodriver-support

I needed to edit the code to point to chrome, but then it works.