Orchestrator 2016.2
In this advanced video tutorial, you will learn about creating, deploying, and monitoring processes, managing multiple Robots, handling package versions, employing Assets to ease the automation process, tailoring custom Logs to meet each user's demands, using Queues and Schedules, as well as using the Studio activities that affect Orchestrator processes.
You should already be familiar with automation projects, activity properties, and passing variables between activities.
Deploying and Monitoring Processes Executed by Multiple Robots
Three Robots are used - a local and two remote ones. To enable them to execute a certain Studio project, perform the following steps:
1. Publish the project in Studio. The project is sent to Orchestrator as a package.
2. Create an environment with the three Robots in Orchestrator.
3. Link the environment with the package by creating a new process on the Processes page.
Managing Package Versions
When a published Studio project is edited and then republished, a new version of the package becomes available. Robots still execute the previous version unless the package is updated manually. To update it, perform the steps below.
1. In the Processes section, click the View Packages button. The Packages page is displayed.
2. Click the Versions button correlated with your package. The Package Versions window is displayed.
3. Click the Latest button to update the package.
4. To initiate the execution of the project, start a new Job by selecting your process.
User Interface
The Orchestrator UI comprises the following sections:
1. The navigation panel, which enables users to browse through functionalities.
2. The Admin panel, where the settings of your account can be adjusted.
3. The Dashboard, where various charts representing the status of the Orchestrator components over time are displayed.
Connecting the Local Robot to Orchestrator
1. Click the Robot icon in the system tray. The UiPath Robot menu is displayed.
2. Click the Advanced button and select Settings. The Settings window is displayed.
3. Copy the Machine Name.
4. Open the Provision Robot window in Orchestrator, on the Robots page, and paste the Machine Name in the Machine field.
5. Add the name of the Robot in the Name field.
6. Additionally, if the Robot runs unattended, add the Windows credentials in the Username and Password fields.
7. Copy the Key.
8. In the Settings window, paste the previously copied Key in the Robot Key field.
9. Copy the address of the Orchestrator website and paste it in the Orchestrator URL field, and then click OK to end the configuration of the Robot.
Managing and Stopping Processes
To start the execution of a project in Orchestrator, complete the steps below.
1. Register all the Robots to execute the process to Orchestrator according to the instructions above.
2. In Studio, click the Publish button to send the project to Orchestrator as a package.
3. Create an Environment with all the Robots to be used.
4. Create a Process to deploy the package to the Robot environment.
5. Start a new Job to initiate the execution of the package.
To end the execution of a process, either the Cancel or the Terminate button can be used.
a) The Cancel command is executed when the autonation project reaches the Should Stop activity in Studio.
b) The Terminate command ends the process at that moment, regardless of the activity that is being executed.
Schedules
The execution of a Job in Orchestrator starts as soon as it is triggered if the assigned Robots are available. If the Robots are busy, the Job is placed in a pending state and the execution is postponed until the ongoing Job ends. However, you can also run Jobs according to a schedule, which can be configured in the Schedules page. Jobs can be set to run once every few minutes, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or according to a custom cron expression. You can also configure the Job to stop after a specific amount of time.
Managing Logs
Every time a Job is executed, a Log file is generated. The default log level is Information. It can be changed in the Robot Settings, in the Robot Logging section, in the Level field. Log files can also be customized to contain additional information using the Add Log Fields activity in Studio.
Assets
Assets enable you to store information that needs to be shared in multiple automation projects. Their values can be unique or different for each individual Robot. The value of Assets can be retrieved in Studio through the Get Asset activity.
Queues
Queues are containers for various types of data. Queue items can have the following statuses:
| New | The item has just been added to the queue. |
| In progress | The item has been sent to a Robot to be processed. |
| Successful | The item has been successfully processed. |
| Failed with Application or Business Exception | The item has been processed, but an exception was thrown. If the Auto Retry option is enabled, the item is sent back to the Robot to be processed. Its status changes to the one below. |
| Retried | The item failed and was resent to the Robots to be processed again. The Auto Retry option had been selected when the queue was created. |
| Abandoned | The processing of the item failed, it was sent back to the queue, but it was not processed within 24 hrs. |
The Studio activities that affect Queues and Transactions are Add Queue Item, Get Transaction Item, Set Transaction Status, and Postpone Transaction Item. More information about the activities can be found here.
