How to Fix the CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED Error When Using BeautifulSoup on Linux

Learn how to resolve the `CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED` error in BeautifulSoup4 on Linux, allowing you to scrape web pages effortlessly.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/63581573/ asked by the user 'Simon' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/12288571/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/63582022/ provided by the user 'Humayun Ahmad Rajib' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/9501508/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Resolving the CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED Error in BeautifulSoup on Linux

When working on web scraping projects, you may encounter the CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED error, especially while trying to access specific websites using libraries like BeautifulSoup on a Linux operating system. This error can be particularly frustrating and may hinder your ability to scrape the data you need. So, let's break down the issue and explore how to resolve it effectively.

Understanding the Problem

The CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED error typically occurs when your Python environment fails to verify the SSL certificate of the website you are trying to access. This can happen for a number of reasons, including:

The website's SSL certificate is self-signed.

Your local machine doesn't recognize the certificate authority (CA) that signed the website's SSL certificate.

There is a misconfiguration in your local SSL settings.

The Code Snippet in Question

Here is the code that triggers the error:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

When running the above code, you may receive an error traceback that looks something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This shows that the HTTPS connection could not be established due to the SSL certificate issue.

Solution: Disabling SSL Verification

To bypass SSL certificate validation in this specific instance, you can simply set the verify parameter to False in the requests.get() call. While this isn't a long-term solution or recommended for production environments—due to security risks—it can be effective for quickly accessing data without interruptions.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Here's how to modify your code to disable SSL verification:

Modify the requests.get() call:

Add verify=False as an argument.

Example Code:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Expected Result:

When you run the modified code, instead of receiving the CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED error, you should get a successful response:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

The CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED error can be a roadblock when scraping specific web pages using BeautifulSoup in Python on Linux. By adjusting your code to disable SSL verification, you can work around this issue effectively. However, always consider the security implications of bypassing SSL verification in a production environment.

If you continue to face issues or have questions, feel free to reach out or check community forums for additional support!

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