A package in Automation 360 is a collection of actions that you use and configure to build automations.

What is a package

A package provides the following building blocks for automation:

  • Actions (also called commands in v11 and v10)
  • Conditional statements (used to set If conditions)
  • Iterators (used to set the number of times something has to be run)
  • Triggers (conditions that cause an automation to run)
  • Variables (system or custom)
As a developer, you can access the packages in the Bot editor in the following ways:
  • Go to Automation > Files and folders list , and click an automation. In the Actions pane on the left, view packages and actions, variables, and triggers. Add new actions or modify the existing property values in the automation.
  • Go to Automation > Create new > Task Bot. In the Actions pane on the left, view packages and actions, variables, and triggers that you use to build your automations.
For more information, see Actions to build automations.

Watch the following video for an overview on packages:

How packages are updated in Control Room

Updates to packages are available with each release of Automation 360. As an administrator, you can configure Control Room settings to get package updates. You can also enable or disable automation updates of packages in the Control Room.

See Updating packages in Control Room.

Package permissions

Users must have the appropriate administrative permission (PAKAGE MANAGER role) to view or manage packages.

  • View packages: A user with View packages permission can view the packages that are available to Bot Creators. Go to the Manage > Packages page to view all the packages in the Control Room that are available for Bot Creators. Packages can have multiple versions.
  • Manage packages: A user with the Manage packages permission can add new packages to the Control Room and manage which packages versions are available in the Control Room. Go to Manage > Packages page and use the Add icon (plus sign) on the top-right of the packages list to add packages.

    See Add packages to the Control Room.

    To manage Control Room packages by setting a package as default, disabling it, or deleting it, see Manage Control Room packages.

    If a specific version of the package is disabled, a Disabled package alert is displayed against any of the actions from that package that you might have used in your existing bots.

Package visibility

As a Control Room administrator or user (with View packages and View packages permissions), you can view the list of automations that use given package. When you navigate through the required package, the Usage tab lists all the automations that use given package. With this package visibility into automations, you can easily identify which all automations are using same packages and update such automations with another required package.
Note:
  • This feature is available only for On-Premises deployments.
  • Ensure that you have View packages and Manage packages permissions to view the automation list and count for the given package.

By quickly identifying automations that share the same package or package version, offers several benefits, including:

  • Bulk updates to ensure all relevant automations that are aligned with the latest package standards.
  • Improved performance by replacing or updating older packages with newer, more optimized ones.
This streamlined approach to package management helps maintain a high level of operational efficiency and adaptability in response to evolving business needs. Easy-to-understand package visibility details offer:
  • List of automations from the public repository.
  • Sorting of automation list by all columns except the Modified by column. The default sorting preference is by Package version in ascending order.
    Note:
    • With ascending order, you can view old versions first. The Default version No will be displayed first, followed by the Default version Yes.
    • If the Package status and Package version are same for listed automations, the automation list is sorted by the Last modified column in ascending order, and Automation name is not considered.
  • Export the list of automations to a CSV file.

Configuring RBAC on packages

As an administrator, you can configure package availability for specific users for which you want to give access, select View package from the menu for that package and in the Availability tab, edit the settings as required.

See RBAC on packages.

Updating package versions

You can choose and select which package version to set as default in the Control Room. You can also quickly update bots to a secure, stable, and default package version across multiple bots.

Note: We recommend that developers update their bots to use the latest version of a package.

See Updating package versions.

Global session for parent and child bots
When a session is shared across parent and child bots using Global Session, ensure that the parent and child bots have the same package version before you update. For example, the following packages should have the same version for parent and child bots:

Usage notes

  • On the packages landing page Manage > Packages ( On premises and Cloud), if all versions of a package are disabled, the status is displayed as Disabled.

    All related fields, such as recommended Control Room version, Bot Agent version, and Last modified, will show the status as Not Available.

    Note: The Version column is renamed to Default version.
  • When you update to Automation 360 v.24, the Apache log4j2 library is no longer bundled in the packages. Note that earlier packages (from Automation 360 v.23 and earlier) might continue to have the log4j2 library bundled within them. If you want to use packages without the log4j2 library, we recommend that you use the newer Automation 360 v.24 packages in your auotmations.