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Chromium manager

Chromium manager

The Chromium manager installs, manages and selects the Chromium version the Runner uses for web automation. That matters when you need a specific browser version to stay compatible with a particular site or system.

The screen at a glance​

The tab shows:

  • Active version — the Chromium currently in use (or "No active version" if none is selected)
  • Installed versions table — every Chromium downloaded onto the Runner
  • Override the Chrome path — use the managed Chromium instead of the system's Chrome

Installing a new version​

  1. Click Install new version.
  2. In the modal, pick the year of the version you want.
  3. Wait for the available versions to load, then pick the exact one in the second dropdown.
  4. Click Download.
  5. Follow the progress bar and the MB counter.
  6. When it finishes, you get "Download complete!".
Versions already installed

Versions you have already downloaded are marked (Installed) in the dropdown. You can keep several installed at once.

Choosing the active version​

The active version is the one the Runner uses by default for web automation.

  1. Find the version you want in the installed versions table.
  2. Click the radio button on the left of its row.

The version you picked then appears as the active Chromium version at the top of the tab.

Overriding the Chrome path​

By default the Runner may use the Chrome installed on the operating system. Turning on Override the Chrome path makes it use only the Chromium selected in the manager, ignoring the system's Chrome.

That is worth doing when:

  • You need a specific browser version for compatibility
  • The system's Chrome updated and broke automation that used to work
  • The machine has no Chrome installed

To turn it on:

  1. Select an active version in the table.
  2. Turn on the Override the Chrome path toggle.
No active version selected

Turning the override on without an active version raises a warning, and browser automation may fail. Select an active version first.

Reinstalling or removing a version​

Every row in the installed versions table has two buttons:

  • Reinstall — downloads the same version again. Useful if the installation is corrupt. Asks for confirmation.
  • Remove — deletes that Chromium from the machine. Asks for confirmation.
Removing the active version

If you remove the version set as active, the Runner is left with no Chromium configured. Set another one as active, or reinstall the one you removed, to keep using browser automation.

Cancelling a download​

While a new version is downloading, a Cancel download button is available. Click it to stop the installation in progress.

Troubleshooting​

Error fetching versions (the firewall is blocking the download)​

Corporate firewalls — FortiGate especially — can intercept the manager's HTTPS requests and stop Chromium versions from downloading. The symptom is "Error fetching versions for [year]" in the install modal, even after Roberty's bypass has been allowed through the firewall.

In those environments the firewall does SSL inspection with a certificate of its own, and Node.js does not trust that certificate by default. The fix is to tell Node.js about the company's root certificate through an environment variable.

How to fix it:

  1. Get the A1 certificate (the firewall's root certificate) from your IT team and convert it to one of the supported extensions: .crt, .cer or .pem.
  2. Save it somewhere fixed on the machine (e.g. C:\certs\company.crt).
  3. Open Windows' Environment Variables:
    • Right-click This PC → Properties → Advanced system settings → Environment Variables.
  4. Under System variables, click New and add:
    • Name: NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS
    • Value: the full path to the certificate (e.g. C:\certs\company.crt)
  5. Click OK and restart the Runner.
tip

With the variable set, try fetching the versions again. The manager will now trust the firewall's certificate and can list and download Chromium normally.

The antivirus is deleting Chromium files​

Antivirus software — Windows Defender included — can delete chrome_elf.dll or other files Chromium needs, so the browser never starts. When that happens the robot fails with:

Error: Could not connect to the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) debugger after 30000ms.

You can confirm it by opening the Chromium executable in the Runner's folder by hand — if it does not open, the antivirus has probably removed something essential.

How to fix it — Windows Defender as the example:

  1. Open Windows Security and click Virus & threat protection.
  2. Under Virus & threat protection settings, click Manage settings.
  3. Scroll to Exclusions and click Add or remove exclusions.
  4. Find your user's Chromium folder:
    • Press Win + R
    • Type %appdata%\roberty-v4\vendor\chromium and press Enter
    • Copy the full path from Explorer's address bar (e.g. C:\Users\yourUser\AppData\Roaming\roberty-v4\vendor\chromium)
  5. Back in Exclusions, click Add an exclusion → Folder and paste the path.
Reinstall after adding the exclusion

Once the exclusion is in place, use Reinstall in the versions table to download the files the antivirus may have removed.

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