Installing IQ Bot in Custom mode

Use Custom mode to install IQ Bot with configuration details.

Procedure

  1. Run the Automation_A360_IQ_BOT_<build number>.exe installation file as an administrator.
  2. For first-time installations, a server restart might be required after the installation. Restart the IQ Bot installation process if required.
  3. In the Automation Anywhere IQ Bot setup wizard, click Next.
    1. Click Next in the Prerequisites window.
  4. Read the license agreement, accept the terms, and click Next.
    IQ Bot runs a pre-installation verification.

    The pre-installation screen appears, displaying the applications that do not have the required version and necessary ports along with the services occupying those ports.

  5. If the pre-installation verification is not successful, uninstall the mentioned software and free the required ports.
    1. Click Retry.
    2. When the pre-installation verification is successful, click Next.
    The Installation Type page appears with Express and Custom options.
    Note: Express installation installs HTTP-based IQ Bot without Active Directory support.
  6. Select the Custom option and click Next.
  7. On the Database Configuration window, add these details:
    1. Hostname or IP: Enter the hostname or IP address.
      Note: An underscore is not accepted in a hostname.
    2. Port: Enter the port number.
      Note: If a Microsoft Windows SQL Server Express database is installed locally on the target machine, the hostname is auto-populated as localhost, and port as 1433.
  8. Optional: To connect to your CyberArk vault to store the custom keys for encrypting and decrypting IQ Bot data, select the Use CyberArk external vault option and provide the following connection details to your CyberArk account.
    • Vault URL: The CyberArk URL endpoint on the CyberArk server
    • Application ID: The CyberArk-issued Application ID
    • Object and Safe Name: Identify the custom key in CyberArk
    • Client certificate path: The Control Room Client Certificate certificate used to authenticate to CyberArk. If the certificate is distributed in a passphrase protected file, you must enter the passphrase.
    • (Optional) Server certificate: You can load the CyberArk AIM Server certificate to the Control Room trust store here to make sure that the Control Room will trust the CyberArk server.
    Obtain the connection details from your CyberArk vendor or IT team.
  9. Enter the following database server details on the Database Configuration window, and click Next.
    OptionDescription
    Option 1 Provide your Microsoft Windows SQL Server user credentials to log in to the database server.
    Option 2 If you select the Use Windows Authentication check box, you do not need to provide the Microsoft Windows credentials to log in to the database server because the installer detects them automatically.
    The Unable to connect to the SQL server with given configuration error message appears if the following scenarios occur:
    • Incorrect server name/IP address, and port number
    • Incorrect database server credentials
    • Insufficient user privileges to connect to the database
    Note:
    • When installing IQ Bot, configure the credentials of a newly hosted database on Microsoft Azure SQL PaaS. This can take up to 300 seconds to verify the credentials and move to the next screen. However, if the on-premise database for IQ Bot is already migrated to Microsoft Azure SQL PaaS before the installation, there is no delay during the database configuration.
    • IQ Bot does not support retry logic for Microsoft Azure SQL PaaS. Avoid operating IQ Bot during planned maintenance events in the Microsoft Azure SQL database.
    • When IQ Bot and the database instance already exist, and IQ Bot is installed again, and IQ Bot takes the default database instance during installation.
    • Windows authentication with the local system works only if the NT Authority/System user has system administrator permissions.
    • The combination of the Local System account for Service credentials and the Microsoft Windows authentication for SQL connection is not supported if you use the remote SQL server to create databases.
  10. In the Services Configuration window, select the Local system account check box and click Next.
    • Select the Local system account check box to run the services on your local system account.
    • If you do not select the Local system account check box, provide your user credentials to run the IQ Bot services.
      • A valid system administrator user requires Windows authentication with the Services user credentials.
      • When entering user credentials, ensure the credentials are associated with a domain. For example: example.com/testuser. The user cannot avail this function without the domain.
  11. Enter the following details in the IQ Bot Portal Configuration window and click Next.
    Portal security
    Select the security type: HTTPS or HTTP.
    If you select HTTPS, verify that you can browse and then select a valid PFX certificate file from the Certificate Path field.

    Configuring IQ Bot with HTTP when Control Room is configured with HTTPS

    If you select HTTP then go to the next step.
    Enter a valid certificate passphrase from the Certificate Passphrase field.
    Portal configuration
    Hostname or IP Enter the hostname or IP address of IQ Bot or use the auto-populated default, which is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the machine on which you are installing IQ Bot.
    Note: This is auto-populated by default with the FQDN of the machine on which you are installing IQ Bot.
    Port Enter the port number or use the auto-populated default, 3000.
  12. In the Load Balancer Configuration window, do the following:
    1. Select the Use same as IQ Bot Portal check box to use the same hostname and port number for the load balancer as specified previously in the IQ Bot Portal Configuration window. This check box is selected by default. Keep this check box selected if any of the following conditions exist:
      • You are installing the IQ Bot on a single machine
      • You plan to keep the load balancer configuration the same as the IQ Bot page
    2. If the configuration values for the load balancer are different from the IQ Bot page, clear the Use same as IQ Bot Portal check box and enter the following:
      • Load Balancer Hostname: Enter the hostname or IP address.
      • Load Balancer Port: Enter the port number.
    3. Select the Load Balancer can handle SSL Offloading check box if required, and click Next.
      Note: When configuring the load balancer, if you set the security mode to HTTPS in the IQ Bot Portal Configuration window, the SSL offloading is disabled by default. To enable SSL offloading for the load balancer, select HTTP in the IQ Bot Portal Configuration window.
      These are some additional load balancer customization options:
      • When you install IQ Bot on AWS, to access the IQ Bot server from an external location, replace the Host Gateway name with the Public DNS .
      • During re-installation, the hostname of the load balancer and port are automatically detected by the installer based on the previous installation details stored in the Control Room. Change them as required because this is useful when you install multiple instances of IQ Bot for scalability (because you are not required to remember the details for each instance).
      • When using an HTTPS certificate in the load balancer with an alias name, which is different from the hostname of the machine (FQDN), enter the alias name as the hostname.
      • The installer takes the value from the IQ Bot Portal Configuration window, (from the previous page), but shows the previously retrieved values in the disabled text boxes from the Control Room.
  13. In the Destination Folder window, make the required changes to the destination folders and click Next.
    • Installation Path: Select a different installation path if required.

      The default installation path is: C:\Program Files(x86)\Automation Anywhere IQ Bot <version number>\

      IQ Bot A360.21 onward: C:\Program Files (x86)\Automation 360 IQ Bot\

    • Output Path: Select the output path where the output is stored. The output path can also be a shared network path. During re-installation, the Output Path is automatically detected by the installer (based on the previous installation details stored in IQ Bot's Configuration database). Change the details if required.

      The default output path is: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Automation Anywhere IQ Bot Platform\Output\

  14. In the Ready to Install the Program window, verify and review your installation settings and click Install to start the installation.
    • On first installation, during the installation process, a Microsoft Windows Security alert can prompt you to allow the installer to install Erlang. If prompted, click Allow access.
    • Sometimes, the Windows Security Alert window is not visible (it can be hidden behind other active windows). Use the Alt plus tab key combination, and verify that the Windows Security Alert window is not hidden behind other visible windows.
  15. Click Allow access to complete the installation, and in the Installation Successful window, click Finish.
    An IQ Bot icon is created on the desktop.

    If you encounter an error in launching IQ Bot, you might have to restart the Automation Anywhere Control Room Reverse Proxy and the Automation Anywhere Cognitive Console services.

  16. For the Control Room, set the cluster.properties file as required based on the release version..

Next steps

Verify that IQ Bot is installed, ensure that the IQ Bot services are running using the healthcheck APIs, and register IQ Bot with the Control Room. Postinstallation checklist