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Upgrading to Pega Robot Manager 8.2

Updated on October 8, 2021

Upgrade to Pega Robot Manager™ 8.2 to take advantage of new features, such as instant email notification in case of issues, and the ability to start, stop, terminate and schedule robots from the Pega Robot Manager interface. For a complete list of new features, see Pega Robot Manager 8.2.

Prerequisites

  1. Back up your application files and Pega Platform in case you need to restore your system.
  2. Ensure that you are using Pega version 8.0 SP1 2029 or later of Pega Robotic Automation™.
  3. Install the latest available release of Pega Platform 8.2, and then verify your installation as described in the Platform Installation Guide for your environment, available on the Deployment guides page.
  4. If you previously customized dynamic system settings related to Pega Robot Manager, note them down so that you can restore them after upgrading. To view the current dynamic system settings, perform the following actions:
    1. In the navigation panel of Dev Studio, click Records.
    2. Expand the SysAdmin category, and then click Dynamic System Settings.
    3. Filter by Owning Ruleset Pega-Robotic-AutomationPackageManagement.

Upgrade procedure

To upgrade to Pega Robot Manager 8.2, perform the following steps:

  1. Download Pega Robot Manager 8.2 from the Pega Robot Manager Exchange page.
  2. Extract the files from the PegaRobotManager_v82.zip file.
  3. Log in to Pega Platform and import the Pega Robot Manager application bundle:
    1. Log in to Pega Platform by using the Pega Platform administrator ID.

      The default Pega Platform address is https://<hostname>:<port>/prweb

      Note: To log in, use the administrator ID and password that you set up when you installed Pega Platform. This login must be a Pega-Plaform-level administrator (and not an application-specific account).
    2. Open the Import Wizard. In the header of Dev Studio, click Configure > Application > Distribution > Import.
    3. Browse to the location where you extracted the PegaRobotManager_v82.zip file, open the Rules\PegaRobotManager_v82.jar file, and then click Next.
    4. Select Enable advanced mode to provide more granular control over the import process, and then click Next.
    5. To preserve existing operators, do not select the Enable new operators and overwrite existing operators on import check box.
    6. Click Next and finish the upgrade process.
  4. If you are upgrading Pega Robot Manager from releases earlier than version 5, run the pxMigrateRobotLogEntriesToV5 activity to upgrade rendering of the following pages and widgets:
    • Robots > Work groups and Robots > Robots pages (Previously located under Work groups and Users > Robots)
    • The page that displays when you click a robot
    • The page that displays when you click an assignment type
    • The Robot status and Automation alerts over time widgets
    Perform the following actions:
    1. In Dev Studio, search for pxMigrateRobotLogEntriesToV5.
    2. In the search results, click the pxMigrateRobotLogEntriesToV5 activity to open it.
    3. Click Actions > Run.
      Depending on the volume of historical robotic process automation audit data in your database, this activity might take some time to complete.

Adding Pega Robot Manager to an existing application that uses a UIKit version earlier than 13.01

​If you have an existing Pega Platform application that uses a version of the UIKit earlier than 13.01 , you can add Pega Robot Manager to your application by completing the following steps:

  1. Log in to Dev Studio as an administrator of your existing application.
  2. Open your application record:
    1. In the navigation panel of Dev Studio, click Records.
    2. Expand the Application Definition category, and then click Application.
    3. Click your application.
  3. In the Edit Application form, in the Built on application(s) section, add UIKit 13.01 to the application stack:
    1. Click Add application.
    2. In the Name field, press the Down Arrow key and select UIKit.
    3. In the Version field, press the Down Arrow key and select 13.01.
  4. Add your PegaRoboticAutomationConsole to your application stack:
    1. In the same Edit Application form, in the Built on application(s) section, click Add Application.
    2. In the Name field, press the Down Arrow key and select PegaRoboticAutomationConsole.
    3. In the Version field, press the Down Arrow key and select 8.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Create an access group that points to the PegaRobotAutomationConsole application:
    1. Click +Create > Security > Access Group.
    2. Enter a name and description, and then click Create and Open.
    3. In the Application section, in the Name field, enter PegaRoboticAutomationConsole.
    4. In the Version field, enter 8.
    5. In the Available portals section of the access group, add pyRoboticConsole to the list of portals.
    6. On the Advanced tab of the access group, add the default work pool of your existing built-on application.
    7. Click Save in the Edit Access Group form.
  7. Assign the new access group to your users. For more information, see Profile tab on the Operator ID form.

Changes to dynamic system settings

Note: The default setting for WorkgroupSpecifiedInPayloadTakesPrecedence dynamic system setting was changed from "true" to "false" between Pega Robot Manager versions 5 and 6.

The following dynamic system settings were added in Pega Robot Manager 6:

  • AllowedWaitTimeForRobotRegistration - specifies the maximum expected time that the RPA Service should take to start up the robot runtime system. It includes the time to unlock the remote machine and start the runtime process. Default value: 120 seconds.
  • MaxStartsIssuedPerScheduleAction - prevents Pega Robot Manager from continuously attempting to restart a robot that has failed to start during one Scheduled action or Otherwise event. Pega Robot Manager checks this value before attempting to start a robot. If the number of start attempts is less than the number provided, the start is issued. Default value: 4
  • ServiceOperatorHeartbeatInterval - defines how often the RPA Service should send a heartbeat signal to Pega Robot Manager. When the RPA Service does not send a heartbeat within this interval, it is assumed to be not running. When the RPA Service is not running, UI options (such as Start a robot and Terminate a robot) are not available from Pega Robot Manager. Default value: 45 seconds.
  • TimeoutIntervalForRobotCommandToBeCompleted - determines the time-out interval for the start command issued to robots in conjunction with the RPA Service heartbeat interval. Default value: 30 seconds.

Changes to decision tables

The following decision tables were added in Pega Robot Manager 6:

  • pyGetWorkGroupbyRobotID - allows robots to register to their base work groups based on robot ID.
  • pyGetCandidateWorkGroupListByDispatchOperator - maps the ID of the administrative operator to a comma-separated list of work groups. All robots registered by a specific operator can be moved between the specified candidate work groups. The move command can be issued by a user or by a schedule.
    Note: The list of candidate work groups must contain the robot's base work group.
  • pyGetThresholdByNotificationType - allows users of Pega Robot Manager 6 and later versions to change the default conditions for triggering a notification. For more information, see Configuring notifications.

Changes to agents

Note: All agents must have their Access group set to PegaRoboticConsole:Administrators. For more information about setting Access groups, see Profile tab on the Operator ID form.

The following Agents were added in Pega Robot Manager 6:

  • MonitorRobotCommandAndHeartbeat - checks the status of robots and the RPA Service if the RPA Service and robot send a heartbeat signal regularly, and if robots react appropriately when they are issued commands such as start or stop. The status of robots displayed in Pega Robot Manager is updated based on the actions of this agent. By default, the check is performed every 30 seconds; this is the recommended value, because a longer interval delays notifying the user about issues such as a time-out.
  • ProcessRobotScheduleActions - checks for the schedule that is set on a robot and executes the defined schedule. The check is performed every 300 seconds, which is the recommended value.
    Note: The ProcessRobotScheduleActions agent must be run in a Periodic pattern on a single node. For more information, see Agents rules – Completing the Schedule tab.
  • NotifyRobotSchedulingAgentTermination - checks the status of the ProcessRobotScheduleActions agent and notifies the user if it is down. The check is performed every 1800 seconds, which is the recommended value.
    Note: In multinode environments, the NotifyRobotSchedulingAgentTermination agent must run on the same node as ProcessRobotScheduleActions agent.

Changes to pyCompleteAutomation flow action

In previous versions of Pega Robot Manager, the pyCompleteAutomation flow action had no default behavior defined and was not marked as an Extension. In Pega Robot Manager 6 and later, this flow action is marked as an Extension, and its default behavior is to consider the automation status as "Complete" and move the flow to the next stage of the case life cycle.

Note: It is strongly recommended to customize the default behavior of pyCompleteAutomation flow action to better suit the needs of your organization.

Configuring email notifications

Pega Robot Manager 6 and later supports notifying users by email in case of unexpected behavior or errors. To use this feature, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure an email account to use to send the notifications. For more information, see Creating an email account.
  2. Set the Public Link URL to the following format: http://<host>/prweb/PRServlet. For more information, see System Settings – Resource URLs tab.

What to do next

For further technical details about Pega Robot Manager 8.2, see Configuring Pega Robot Manager 8.2.

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