Run bot with queue

Collectively process all work items of a queue across all the Bot Runners present in one or more device pools.

Prerequisites

To run a bot with queue, ensure that you are allocated the following roles and permissions:

Feature type Privileges
Activity permissions Provide the following permissions for all bots and its dependencies:
  • View my in progress activity
  • View my scheduled bots
  • Schedule my bots to run
  • View ALL scheduled activity from my Folders
  • Manage ALL scheduled activity from my Folders
  • Schedule permission at the folder level.
Note: The bot must be linked to the same work item structure as the queue.
User role Your custom role must have the following:
  • Consumer access to the queue you want to process
  • Consumer access to the device pool on which you want to process the queue
  • Run as user assigned to the role
To Run bot with queue, note the following:
  • You can run bots only on unattended Bot Runners. You cannot run bots on attended Bot Runners from the Control Room.
  • The bots have to be checked in to the public folder in order for the bots to qualify to be run with queue.
  • Work item sorting is done on the batch added to the queue. For example, if you add 2 batches of work items a, c, b and a, c, b to be sorted by name, the work items will be processed for queuing as a, b, c and a, b, c.
  • If you use the same device pool for inserting and processing work items for the same queue, you will see duplicate entries in the In-progress activity and Historical page. To resolve this issue, use one device pool to insert work items and a different device pool to process work items in a queue.

Procedure

Use the Run a bot with queue option from any of the following pages:

  1. Activity > In progress
  2. Manage > Scheduled
  3. Manage > Devices
  4. Manage > Device pools
  5. Manage > Queues
The procedure for running a bot with a queue is the same in all these pages.

  1. Select the bot to run with queue.
    • Latest version: Click Latest version tab to select the latest version of the bot.
    • Labeled version: Click Production version tab to select the labeled version of the bot.
    Available bots are displayed along with any Input values and dependencies. If the production label option is selected for the parent bot, the corresponding dependent bots with the production label are also automatically selected. If any of the dependent bots do not have the production label applied, the latest version of the bot is selected.
    Note: Ensure that the bot does not have a timeout setting. For more information, see Configure timeout for bot execution.
  2. Optional: Select Run with administrative privileges if the bot has actions that require administrative privileges to run.
  3. Select a queue with which to run the bot.
    Note: Ensure the following to see the list of available queues:
    • You do not have the AAE_Admin role
    • Your role is added to Queue > Consumers
    • The bot and queue work item templates are identical
  4. Optional: Set the queue running time.
    1. Click Add running time in the Processing time tab.
    2. Select the days from Days of the week field.
    3. Enter the Start time and End time.
    4. Click Add time to add another time period for the days selected.
      You can add up to three time periods which cannot overlap with each other.
    5. Click Add running time to add another running time and provide the day and time details.
      You can add up to three running times. If the running time is not set, the queue runs for 24 hours.
    6. Optional: Click Remove running time to delete any running time.
  5. Select the Bot Runner user from the Available bot runners list.
    To enable a device, it must be connected to the Control Room.
    Note: If a device does not appear in the list, ensure the user running the bots is assigned a role that provides access to the appropriate Run-As Users.
  6. Optional: Select the option to run on bot running devices.
    If you want to select Bot Runners that are mapped one-on-one with their default (single-user) devices, select the Run on bot running devices option. This option enables the Work Items to be deployed only to the user's default device, whereby the security policy does not allow a user to log in to any other device or when applications for automation are installed on the default device.

    If you select this option, ensure that all the default devices are part of the same device pool when you select from the Device Pool tab.

    Tip: Do not select this option if the run as users (Bot Runners) are configured to use multiple devices. In that configuration, if any device in the pool is processing an automation, the run as user can log in to another device, and the work items will be processed on that device. This enables optimal utilization of licenses (run as user) and devices.

    For information on scenarios for choosing bot running devices for run as users, see Considerations for running a bot.

  7. Select Device pools.
    Select the pool from the list of available device pools.
  8. Optional: Click the up or down arrow to set the selected device pools in preferred order.
    When a bot is deployed, the Control Room selects the first available device based on the order in which you organized the device pools. If none of the devices are available at the time of deployment, the bot is queued.
  9. Select the Automation priority from the General tab.
    Set the priority to high, medium, or low based on your requirements for resource optimization. The default permission is set to medium.
  10. Click Run bot with queue.
    Note:
    • If a user who created the WLM automation using the Run bot with queue option is deleted, the automation is also affected and queues cannot be processed.
    • Bots are not deployed when Bot Runners are mapped one-on-one with their default (single user) devices with Run on bot running devices option selected and one or more devices in the selected device pool is disconnected.
    • If you have more number of resources (devices and run-as users) than the number of work items added, you might observe the proxy deployments on the Activity > Historical page. To view the appropriate work item status, refer Work item status and actions.
    • Historical activity displays only the bots that are processing the work items, while each bot deployment can include multiple work items processed as one activity.

    The following video demonstrates how to run a bot with queue.