Requirements

The script requires python3 and uses selenium with a chrome to function.

Selenium

Install selenium:

pip3 install selenium

Following the installation instructions of selenium, make sure to also install chrome and the chromedriver.

Don't forget to add chromedriver to the PATH

Installation

To send alerts using emails, download the email folder.

For twitter alerts, download the twitter folder.

Copy the content (config.py, appointments.py and visa.py) in the directory of your choice. Our examples will suppose they are located in ~/visa/

Configuration

Edit the config.py file and set the directory_path variable. This is where the logs and temporary files will be created and stored.

You can use the script's folder as a path for example:

directory_path = '~/visa/

After running the script once, a visa.log and other useful files for the script will be created in this directory.

If you want to send emails jump to Email Configuration, otherwise continue reading.

Twitter configuration

You will need to create a Twitter app on the developper dashboard and generate the API keys.

Edit the config.py file and add your keys:

twitter_keys = {
    'api_key': '123412341234',
    'api_key_secret': '123412341234',
    'access_token': '123412341234',
    'access_token_secret': '123412341234'
}

Email configuration

You will need a Gmail account with less secured apps authorized. I recommend creating a dedicated account because it might put your main account at risk. See Authorize less secured apps.

Edit the config.py file and enter your gmail account credentials :

sender_email = 'my-email@gmail.com'
sender_password = 'password'

Also add the email addresses of the people you want to send the alerts to:

# List of recipients emails
mail_repicients = [
  'john.smith@live.fr',
  'alice.doe@yahoo.com',
]

Appointment configuration

To tell the script what prefectures and appointments to check, you need to edit the appointments.py file.

appointments = [
    {
        # URL of the appointment page (the one with the checkbox to accept the conditions)
        'url': 'http://www.hauts-de-seine.gouv.fr/booking/create/12069/0',

        # A unique name without spaces or special characters. this is used for naming temporary files
        'unique_name': 'nanterre_renouv_privee',

        # This is used for the tweet message
        'prefecture_name': 'NANTERRE',
        'appointment_name': 'Renouvellement de titre de séjour "vie privée et familiale"',
    },
    # Add more as needed
]

Is It Working?

Once all the configuration is done, check if your script works by running:

python3 ~/visa/visa.py

If no error appears on the console and in the visa.log file, you can proceed to the next step.

Run as a service

To run the script continuously and check for appointments 24/7 you can use systemd to run it as a service.

Download the visa.service file from github and place it in /etc/systemd/system/.

Then modify the paths on line 5 to match python and your script locations

ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3.7 ~visa/visa.py

Also change the user and group names on lines 8-9 to match yours:

User=user
Group=user

Usage

Enable the service with (this will start the service on boot)

systemctl enable visa.service

Start the service manually with:

systemctl start visa.service

And you can stop the service by running:

systemctl stop visa.service

Help & Contact

If you have any issue with the installation or for any other reason you can contact me on twitter @NanterreRDV (FR or EN)