[ Bug]: Could not start a new session -intermittently

Author: himani-dangwalCreated Dec 23, 2024Updated Aug 17, 2026
LabelsR-awaiting-answer

What happened?

I have around 5 threads running concurrently But during execution of testcases in between I am getting error of session not created. The issue is very intermittent

Command used to start Selenium Grid with Docker (or Kubernetes)

bash
apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2beta1
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: selenium-grid
  namespace: selenium-grid
spec:
  chart:
    spec:
      chart: selenium-grid
      version: 0.38.1
      sourceRef:
        kind: HelmRepository
        name: selenium-grid
        namespace: selenium-grid
  interval: 5m
  targetNamespace: selenium-grid
  releaseName: selenium-grid
  values:
    videoRecorder:
      enabled: true
      extraVolumeMounts:
        - name: selenium-grid-videodir
          mountPath: /videos
      extraVolumes:
        - name: selenium-grid-videodir
          persistentVolumeClaim:
            claimName: selenium-video-pvc
    basicAuth:
      enabled: false
    isolateComponents: true
    firefoxNode:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: "2Gi"
          cpu: "1"
    chromeNode:
      enabled: false
    edgeNode:
      enabled: false

Relevant log output

bash
org.openqa.selenium.SessionNotCreatedException: Could not start a new session. Response code 500. Message: Could not start a new session. Could not start a new session. Build info: version: '4.27.0', revision: 'd6e718d'
System info: os.name: 'Linux', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '6.1.115', java.version: '17.0.13'
Driver info: driver.version: unknown 
Host info: host: 'selenium-grid-selenium-distributor-76ff4c5987-pfkjm', ip: '172.22.10.42'
Build info: version: '4.27.0', revision: 'd6e718d'
System info: os.name: 'Linux', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '6.1.115', java.version: '17.0.13'
Driver info: driver.version: unknown
Build info: version: '4.25.0', revision: '8a8aea2337'
System info: os.name: 'Linux', os.arch: 'amd64', os.version: '6.1.115', java.version: '11.0.24'
Driver info: org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver
Command: [null, newSession {capabilities=[Capabilities {acceptInsecureCerts: true, browserName: firefox, moz:debuggerAddress: true, moz:firefoxOptions: {prefs: {remote.active-protocols: 3}, profile: UEsDBBQACAgIAMI4l1kAAAAAAAA...}}]}]
Capabilities {acceptInsecureCerts: true, browserName: firefox, moz:debuggerAddress: true, moz:firefoxOptions: {prefs: {remote.active-protocols: 3}, profile: UEsDBBQACAgIAMI4l1kAAAAAAAA...}}
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.ProtocolHandshake.createSession(ProtocolHandshake.java:114)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.ProtocolHandshake.createSession(ProtocolHandshake.java:75)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.ProtocolHandshake.createSession(ProtocolHandshake.java:61)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.HttpCommandExecutor.execute(HttpCommandExecutor.java:162)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.TracedCommandExecutor.execute(TracedCommandExecutor.java:53)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.execute(RemoteWebDriver.java:545)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.startSession(RemoteWebDriver.java:245)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.<init>(RemoteWebDriver.java:174)
	at org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver.<init>(RemoteWebDriver.java:152)
	at com.umantis.test.framework.webdriver.LocalDriverFactory.createInstance(LocalDriverFactory.java:79)
	at com.umantis.test.framework.webdriver.LocalWebDriver.create(LocalWebDriver.java:68)
	at com.umantis.test.framework.configuration.TestBase.methodSetup(TestBase.java:80)
	at jdk.internal.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor258.invoke(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.MethodInvocationHelper.invokeMethod(MethodInvocationHelper.java:141)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.MethodInvocationHelper.invokeMethodConsideringTimeout(MethodInvocationHelper.java:71)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.ConfigInvoker.invokeConfigurationMethod(ConfigInvoker.java:400)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.ConfigInvoker.invokeConfigurations(ConfigInvoker.java:333)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestInvoker.runConfigMethods(TestInvoker.java:833)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestInvoker.invokeMethod(TestInvoker.java:600)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestInvoker.invokeTestMethod(TestInvoker.java:230)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.MethodRunner.runInSequence(MethodRunner.java:63)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestInvoker$MethodInvocationAgent.invoke(TestInvoker.java:992)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestInvoker.invokeTestMethods(TestInvoker.java:203)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestMethodWorker.invokeTestMethods(TestMethodWorker.java:154)
	at org.testng.internal.invokers.TestMethodWorker.run(TestMethodWorker.java:134)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:515)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
	at org.testng.internal.thread.graph.TestNGFutureTask.run(TestNGFutureTask.java:22)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1128)
	at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:628)
	at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:829)

Operating System

Kubernetes EKS

Docker Selenium version (image tag)

latest

Selenium Grid chart version (chart version)

0.38.1

Source: SeleniumHQ/docker-selenium