Score:0

Ubuntu

Unable to launch browser from shell - it opens VSCode instead

edmz

4/30/23, 8:42 AM

I have a problem when some shell command is trying to launch my browser. Example below with browse command, but same with jupyter notebook. It looks like the target is opened in VSCode instead.

I'm running Ubuntu 20.04, with zsh, in a pyenv virtual environment.

Thanks!

~ browse askubuntu.com
    command= "code" args= ("code", "http://askubuntu.com")                                                                                                                                
~ Copying QUrl("http://askubuntu.com/")  to QUrl("file:///home/username/.cache/kioexec/krun/8292_0/unnamed")
    Telling kioexecd to watch path "/home/username/.cache/kioexec/krun/8292_0/unnamed" dest "http://askubuntu.com/"
    All files downloaded, will call slotRunApp shortly
    EXEC "/snap/bin/code /home/username/.cache/kioexec/krun/8292_0/unnamed"
    EXEC done

... then VSCode opens the target as a html file.

EDIT: Same error when I run xdg-open 'http://askubuntu.com'
EDIT: xdg-settings get default-web-browser yields code-2.desktop
EDIT: if I do xdg-settings set default-web-browser firefox.desktop, no error raised but it doesn't actually change the value (stays as code-2.desktop)
EDIT: $BROWSER askubuntu.com works perfectly fine
SOLVED: Thanks to @Koen I went to System settings/Applications/Default Applications (I'm on KDE) --> Web Browser --> Open http and https URLs "in the following application: Firefox" instead of "in an application based on the contents of the URL"

0 + 0

firefox

browser

zsh

edmz

4/30/23, 12:40 PM

I meant Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS

Koen

5/1/23, 5:26 PM

do a "echo ?" after setting the default web browser - correct value is probably firefox_firefox.desktop

Score:1

Ubuntu

SouthernCure

5/1/23, 12:10 AM

You forgot the http:// which defines that what you are browsing is a website instead of a file. when you type "browse" alone you get

xdg-open - opens a file or URL in the user's preferred application

Try browse http:/google.com

This should fix the issue.

0 + 0

edmz

5/1/23, 4:14 PM

Thanks for your answer but it does not fix the issue. The issue is really that it does not launch my browser. Same when I use jupyter. It opens VSCode instead

Score:0

Ubuntu

Koen

5/1/23, 5:27 PM

xdg-settings fails silently - an echo $? can show you that return code is not 0 when it failed

return codes:

1 Error in command line syntax.
2 One of the files passed on the command line did not exist.
3 A required tool could not be found.
4 The action failed.

browse is a link to xdg-open - so you need to supply an url to open the default browser

the default browser can also be set via gui tools

gnome: gnome-control-center - default applications - web
KDE: System settings/Applications/Default Applications --> Web Browser --> Open http and https URLs "in the following application: Firefox"

0 + 0

edmz

5/1/23, 5:41 PM

Thank you, but `echo $?` yields code `4` when I try setting with `firefox_firefox.desktop` as well

Koen

5/1/23, 5:44 PM

in my system the desktop files are stored here : /var/lib/snapd/desktop/applications/ - check if you have a desktop file there for firefox

Koen

5/1/23, 5:53 PM

otherwise start gnome-control-center and select the default browser via "default applications" menu

edmz

5/1/23, 5:55 PM

It's /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop ...while the one actually called is ~/.local/share/applications/code-2.desktop

edmz

5/1/23, 6:08 PM

Great! It works: I went to System settings/Applications/Default Applications (I'm on KDE) --> Web Browser --> Open http and https URLs "in the following application: Firefox" instead of "in an application based on the contents of the URL"

edmz

5/1/23, 6:10 PM

Jupyter notebook also launches in the browser now. Thank you!

edmz

5/1/23, 6:13 PM

I'm a bit new to this stack: should I edit your answer to match the actual solution? Anyway I edited the main question text

Koen

5/1/23, 6:25 PM

I updated my answer with the different points

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: Unable to launch browser from shell - it opens VSCode instead

TH: ไม่สามารถเปิดเบราว์เซอร์จากเชลล์ - จะเปิด VSCode แทน

RO: Nu se poate lansa browserul din shell - se deschide VSCode

RU: Невозможно запустить браузер из оболочки - вместо этого открывается VSCode

VI: Không thể khởi chạy trình duyệt từ shell - thay vào đó nó sẽ mở VSCode

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