Download and edit the MSI installer file

MSI installer file can be used for bulk installation of Bot Agent. After you have downloaded the Bot Agent MSI installer file from Control Room, edit it to add the registration key and Control Room URL. This enables you to remotely install the Bot Agent on multiple devices.

Prerequisites

  • To perform the task, you must have a Control Room administrator account with the required rights and permissions.

  • Ensure the Windows 10 Software Development Kit including Orca and Control Room are installed on your device.

    You can install Orca from C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\bin\10.0.18362.0\x86\Orca-x86_en-us.msi.

  • Set up the Microsoft Active Directory group policy to remotely install the Bot Agent on multiple devices.

    Use Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy to remotely install software

The parameters required to install across multiple devices are available in the Bot Agent MSI file. Review the following instructions on how to download the MSI file from Control Room and edit it. This enables Control Room administrator to implement the auto-update Bot Agent policy.

Procedure

  1. Download AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file from one of the following locations:
    • In Control Room, click Administrator > Settings > Bot agent bulk install.

      The Download installer option is available for On-Premises and Cloud deployments.

    • Select the file from the <application filepath>\crui\asset folder. For example C:\Program Files\Automation Anywhere\crui\asset

      This option is available only for On-Premises deployments.

    Note: If you are trying to download the MSI file for the first time, you must click Settings > Bot agent bulk install > Edit > Save changes to generate a registration key and view the Download installer for the MSI file.
  2. Edit the AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file using Orca tool.
  3. Click the Property option.
    Various parameters are displayed. Review the following table to understand what each parameter is used for:
    Parameter Description
    AA_CRURL Enter the Control Room instance to which the Bot Agent will to be connected.
    Note: Ensure you do not add a backslash (/) at the end of the Control Room URL. For example, mycr.mydomain.com/.
    AA_CRTOKEN Enter the corresponding registration key value for each Control Room. The registration key is provided by the Control Room admin.
    You can configure up to 20 Control Room URLs. Ensure that:
    • You provide the corresponding registration tokens under AA_CRTOKEN, AA_CRTOKEN2 through AA_CRTOKEN20 for each configured Control Room URL.
    • There is a one-to-one match between CR_URL and CR_TOKEN.
    • There is no skipping between CR_URL and CR_TOKEN, and this is filled consecutively.

      For example, to configure three Control Room URLs, it must be populated in the following order: AA_CRURL, AA_CRURL2, AA_CRURL3.

    See Generate Control Room registration key to install Bot Agent in bulk.
    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 Room instances configured from the device where the Bot Agent is installed, the Bot Agent on that device will be automatically registered 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
    Note: Ensure that you enter the values in uppercase.
    AA_LIFESPAN Enter one of the following values for a non-persistent or persistent device:
    • TEMPORARY
    • PERSISTENT
    Note: Ensure that you enter the values in uppercase when you install the Bot Agent.
    AA_CONCURRENT_SESSIONS Enter the concurrent sessions allowed, from 1 through 99. The default value is 1.
    Note: The concurrent sessions are only applicable for multi-user devices (AA_DEVICE_TYPE = Multiuser)
    AA_INSTALL_ONLY Choose whether you want to install the Bot Agent without registering with the Control Room.
    • Enter True to only install and not register the Bot Agent.
      Note:

      The autoregistration.properties file is created when AA_INSTALL_ONLY is set to True. You can set AA_INSTALL_ONLY to True only for system-level installation.

    • Enter False to install and register the Bot Agent.
    AA_DEVICE_POOL_NAME Specify the device pool name. The default value is 0.
    Note: Ensure that you use an existing device pool.
  4. Change the value for AA_CRTOKEN and AA_CRURL.
  5. Save your changes.
  6. Copy the AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file to the VM instance (golden image) on which you want to install the Bot Agent.
    Note: Ensure that you do not restart the VM instance (golden image).
  7. Run the AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file.
  8. Validate that the Bot Agent is installed on the VM instance.
    Also review the Services tab in the Task Manager to ensure that the Bot Agent service is not running.
    Note: An autoregistration.properties file will be generated at:
    C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\AutomationAnywhere\autoregister

    Sample autoregistration.properties file

    url=http://ec2-myexampleCR.com
url2=URL2
url3=URL3
url4=URL4
token=eyJhbGciOiJSUzUxMiJ9.eyJjbGllbnRUeXBlIjoiQk9UX0FHRU5UX0FVVE9fUkVHSVNUUkFUSU9OIiwidGVuYW50VXVpZCI6ImI4ZjVmNDE0LWMzZDMtNGRhNy04NDljLWMxOGUwOGNiM2Q5ZCIsImlhdCI6MTY1NTg3NTgyMiwiZXhwIjoxOTcxMjM1ODIyLCJpc3MiOiJBdXRvbWF0aW9uQW55d2hlcmUiLCJuYW5vVGltZSI6NzMxMDYzMzkwNzQ5NX0.BA2bPiIECl9PE34BC1mj2iePLuTlSd8y8Fe1LtIkOKYrD8mR-KVOnMeupDQF4IQ3oZbjpyk73vrLI2k0UeTVpvKuURbZhz8bPIBYer4zlzRjEB-9nOID8MtNRcpzlXgkQ27GEN2pOn4Xs_k198rPJEYHcTwaHRbQ8Mv5UF0eGd8_Q9sLgZB6jt1BhnzMNS3qwZBl1aG1xbOc7orlfyBfTGSvAxnlsRa3_fF7QeFKiw7EdfJDGsIVmIZ58-IMzer-R8sxMnr7hSfi_aYDx8emyoH2XtFAQAYuXiw6vOXWa1o-TYDtPknIJsga6aAiFJ9-w6ndJAov0JvTClmeyLQgBA
token2=t2
token3=t3
token4=t4
device_type=MULTIPLE_USERS
concurrent_sessions=4
lifespan=TEMPORARY
delay_registration_until_login=true

In order to deploy the Bot Agent on temporary or non-persistent devices, you must configure the SysPrep settings and create machine images on the VM instance.

  1. Shut down the VM instance without SysPrep after you enable temporary or non-persistent computer name settings for the VM.
    For an example of how to use SysPrep on AWS EC2 instance, see Use Sysprep to create and install custom reusable Windows AMIs.
  2. Create machine images on the VM instance as required.
    For an example of creating Amazon Machine Images (AMI) from AWS EC2 instance, see Create an AMI from an Amazon EC2 Instance.

Next steps

Validate that the devices are added on the Control Room Devices page.

Troubleshooting

If a Bot Agent is registered in the VM instance by mistake, perform these steps to restore the machine image:
  1. Uninstall the Bot Agent from the Windows Control Panel of the VM instance.
  2. Delete all files from C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\AutomationAnywhere.
  3. Enter True for the AA_INSTALL_ONLY parameter in the AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file that you previously used to install the Bot Agent.
  4. Run the AutomationAnywhereBotAgent.msi file again.