Bot Agent installation - Windows installer

The Bot Agent Windows installer file can be used to remotely install Bot Agent on multiple devices. After you have downloaded AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file from Control Room, edit the public properties as per your requirement.

For more information on using the Windows installer and reviewing the available public properties:

Windows installer | Public properties

Configuration

Prerequisite

Install Windows SDK that includes Orca.exe for editing the public properties of AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file.

Procedure

  1. Edit the AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi.
  2. Click Property to display the different public properties.
    Review the following table to understand what each public property is used for:
    Parameter Description
    AA_CRURL Enter the Control Room URLs for connecting the Bot Agent.
    Note: Ensure that you do not add a backslash (/) at the end of the Control Room URL. For example, mycr.mydomain.com/.
    You can configure up to 20 Control Room URLs and their corresponding registration keys. Ensure that:
    1. You provide the correct registration key for the corresponding Control Room.

      There must be a one-to-one match between CR_URL and CR_TOKEN. For example: The registration key set in AA_CRTOKEN is generated for the Control Room where the URL is set in AA_CRURL. Similarly, AA_CRTOKEN2 through AA_CRTOKEN20 must match AA_CRURL2 to AA_CRURL20.

    2. Do not skip a CR_URL and CR_TOKEN pair midway.

      The values must be filled consecutively in the MSI properties. For example, to configure three Control Room URLs, the following MSI properties must be populated in the specified order:

      AA_CRURL, AA_CRURL2, AA_CRURL3 followed by AA_CRTOKEN, AA_CRTOKEN2 and AA_CRTOKEN3.

    AA_CRTOKEN Enter the corresponding registration key for each chosen Control Room.
    For information on generating or using an existing registration key, see Generate Control Room registration key to install Bot Agent in bulk
    Note: You can configure up to 20 Control Room URLs. Ensure that:
    1. You provide the correct registration key for the corresponding Control Room.

      There must be a one-to-one match between CR_URL and CR_TOKEN. For example: The registration key set in AA_CRTOKEN is generated for the Control Room where the URL is set in AA_CRURL. Similarly, AA_CRTOKEN2 through AA_CRTOKEN20 must match AA_CRURL2 to AA_CRURL20.

    2. Do not skip a CR_URL and CR_TOKEN pair midway.

      The values must be filled consecutively in the MSI properties. For example, to configure three Control Room URLs, the following MSI properties must be populated in the specified order:

      AA_CRURL, AA_CRURL2, AA_CRURL3 followed by AA_CRTOKEN, AA_CRTOKEN2 and AA_CRTOKEN3.

    AA_DELAY_REGISTRATION_UNTIL_LOGIN Enter True to delay the Bot Agent registration to a Control Room until a user logs in to that Control Room.

    If a user logs in to any of the Control Rooms, configured using the AA_CRURL property, from the device where the Bot Agent is installed, the Bot Agent on that device will be automatically register with that associated Control Room. If the logged-in Control Room URL is not configured, then Bot Agent is not registered with that Control Room.
    AA_DEVICE_TYPE Enter one of the following values for the device type:
    • SINGLE_USER
    • MULTIPLE_USERS

    For more information, see Configure device registration.

    Note: Ensure that you enter the property value in uppercase.
    AA_LIFESPAN Enter one of the following values for a temporary or persistent device:
    • TEMPORARY
    • PERSISTENT

    For more information, see Configure device registration.

    Note: Ensure that you enter the property value in uppercase.
    AA_CONCURRENT_SESSIONS Enter the concurrent sessions allowed, from 2 through 999. The default value is 2.
    Note: The AA_CONCURRENT_SESSIONS parameter is only applicable for multiple user devices (AA_DEVICE_TYPE = MULTIPLE_USERS)
    AA_INSTALL_ONLY Choose whether you want to install the Bot Agent with or without a Control Room registration.
    Note: You can set AA_INSTALL_ONLY to True only for system-level installations. The autoregistration.properties file is created when AA_INSTALL_ONLY is set to True.
    • Enter True to only install the Bot Agent.
    • Enter False to install and register the Bot Agent with a Control Room.
    AA_DEVICE_POOL_NAME Provide a device pool name. The default value is 0.
    Note: Ensure that you use an existing device pool.
  3. Save your changes in the Orca editor.

Installation

Install the Bot Agent remotely on multiple devices using any software configuration manager of your choice, such as Microsoft Configuration Manager. If your organization uses the Microsoft Active Directory for device management, use the Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy to remotely install the Bot Agent on multiple devices. See Use Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy to remotely install software.

This section provides the instructions for installing the Bot Agent remotely on multiple devices from a central location using Microsoft Configuration Manager:

Prerequisites
  • Ensure that Microsoft SCCM is installed on two machines:
    • First on a machine that hosts the Control Room primary site and distribution server.
    • Then on a second machine that hosts the database server to store and process all client-server communication and operations.
  • Ensure that the latest AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi is downloaded and the public properties are modified as per your requirement.

Procedure

  1. Configure the Bot Agent application in SCCM.
    1. Add general details, such as application name.

      For example, Automation Anywhere Bot Agent Windows installer (*msi file).

    2. Add content details, such as content location, settings for uninstalling, and deployment options.
      For example:
      • Content location: \\crserver\msibackup\
      • Settings for content uninstalling: Same as install content
      • Deployment options: Download content from distribution point and run locally
    3. Provide the program commands required to install the application.

      For example, msiexec /i "AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi"/q.

    4. Provide the application detection method to determine whether the application is already installed on a device.

      The SSCM automatically detects and adds the clause for the msi file.

    5. Provide user experience details, such as installation behavior (install for system or user), logon requirement, installation visibility (interactive or hidden), and whether or not to enforce configuration manager behavior.
      For example:
      • Installation behavior: Install for system
      • Logon requirement: Whether or not a user is logged on
      • Installation visibility: Hidden
    For more information, see Create and deploy an application with Configuration Manager.
  2. Distribute the application on devices using the SCCM Distribution Point (DP).

    To install the Bot Agent, configure the DP on the primary server on which the Control Room is installed. It is important to ensure that after the application is created, it is distributed properly to DP and it can be monitored in SCCM.

    For more information, see Install and configure distribution points in Configuration Manager.

  3. Use boundaries in SCCM to virtually partition the devices identified through domains, subnets, or a range of IP addresses.

    Boundaries help in segregating the DP for different applications and can be configured through the hierarchy configuration section from the Administration option of SCCM.

    For more information, see Define network locations as boundaries for Configuration Manager.

  4. Right-click Automation Anywhere Bot Agent application to deploy the Bot Agent using the SCCM Applications option.
  5. Verify that the devices are added on the Control Room Devices page.