Automation 360 v.24R2 Release Notes for Internet Explorer 11 EOL

Release date: 17 May 2022

This release notes applies to the Automation 360 v.24R2 patch release for Cloud , On-Premises , Sandbox, and Community Edition users impacted by the Internet Explorer end-of-life (IE EOL) and who have therefore chosen to convert IE bots.

Cloud, On-Premises, IQ Bot, Sandbox, and Community Edition are on Build 13343.
Note: The IQ Bot build does not include any specific updates and is available to match the Control Room build.

Why this release

Microsoft has announced end-of-life (EOL) for Internet Explorer beginning June 2022 and recommends Microsoft Edge or Microsoft Edge in IE mode. This release contains packages certified on Edge in IE mode and an IE Update Bot wizard to help you update bots in bulk to work with Edge in IE mode. The upcoming IE EOL might affect your deployments based on the operating system you are currently using where the bots are run.

See the following table for details:
Microsoft operating system Automation 360 bots
Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel Upgrade the bots to use a compatible browser.

For a list of supported browsers, see Browser requirements for Automation Workspace.
All other supported operating systems No immediate impact

Starting from the upcoming Automation 360 v.25 release, you will be prompted to access the Control Room through an alternative supported browser, such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (Chromium) instead of Internet Explorer. Your Control Room will no longer be accessible on Internet Explorer. By aligning with Microsoft's strategy for browser support, we can provide you with enhanced functionality that latest browsers such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge make technologically possible.

Updating to this release

You can update to Automation 360 v.24R2 On-Premises from the following previous releases that are certified for update:
  • v.24 (Build 12350)
  • v.23 (Build 11513)
  • v.22 (Build 10526)
  • v.21 (Build 9664, 9642, 9595)

As Community Edition and Sandbox are Cloud deployments, no manual upgrade is required. These environments are automatically updated to Automation 360 v.24R2 Build 13343.

If you are not on any of the above certified releases, update Automation 360 to one of the certified releases (listed previously) before updating to this release.

For information on updating to this release, see these resources:

For the latest updates to the Automation 360 extensions for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox, see Browser extensions for Automation 360.

Bot Agent updates

This release includes an optional Bot Agent update. To use the features in Automation 360 v.24R2 patch, update the Bot Agent available with the following builds:
  • Bot Agent version 21.200 for Build 13343
  • Bot Agent version 21.1000.14009 for Build 13331 (On-Premises pre-GA)

Note that if you want to run your existing bots, you do not have to update your Bot Agent to this release.

If you have installed the Automation 360 v.24R2 pre-GA patch (Build 13331) with Bot Agent version 21.1000.14009, perform the following steps.
  1. Uninstall the pre-GA Bot Agent version 21.1000.14009.
  2. Install Bot Agent version 21.200 for Automation 360 v.24R2 (Build 13343).
Important: If you have moved your bots from the user acceptance testing (UAT) environment and deployed them in a production (PROD) environment with Bot Agent version 21.1000.14009, you must update the packages with the latest Bot Agent version 21.200.

Community Edition features

Packages
Microsoft Edge browser support for Browser package and window variables
  • The following actions of the Browser package now support Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser:
    • Close
    • Get source code
    • Go back
    • Open
    • Run JavaScript
  • In the Browser option, you can now select the Microsoft Edge tabs from the list of active tabs.
Support for last used browser tab in Browser > Open action for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome
You can now open a web page on a new tab or an existing tab using the Last used browser tab preset in the following browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Microsoft Edge with IE mode
  • Google Chrome
Automate Java web applications

You can now automate Java web applications that run on Microsoft Edge Chromium with IE mode by using the Recorder > Capture or the Start recording option.
Default wait time for loading page in Microsoft Edge browser with IE mode

When you automate any web applications in Microsoft Edge browser with IE mode, the Recorder now waits for 30 seconds by default to allow the web page to load completely before recording any objects on the page, thereby making object detection more reliable.

Cloud, On-Premises, and Sandbox features

Control Room and Packages
New Update Bot wizard for Internet Explorer
  • Use the new Update Bot wizard in the Control Room to convert your existing Internet Explorer bots to Microsoft Edge with IE mode to ensure that these converted bots continue to run after IE EOL.

    Update Bot wizard for converting IE bots

  • As an administrator, you can enable a user to use the Update Bot wizard by assigning the new Bot update feature permissions to access and convert a bot from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge with IE mode.

    Feature permissions for a role

  • Use the View Bot update action in a bot conversion instance to view the summary and status of each bot conversion. You can review action details at the individual line numbers and take action if required for the bots that are in failed status, or in completed with action or review required status.

    View conversion details for IE bots

Automate Java web applications

You can now automate Java web applications that run on Microsoft Edge Chromium with IE mode by using the Recorder > Capture or the Start recording option.
Convert Automation 360 bots with browser-specific packages using Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge with IE mode

You can convert bots that use Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge Chromium with IE mode for the following packages:

  • Recorder
  • Browser
  • Application
  • Simulate keystrokes
  • Screen
  • Mouse
  • Window
  • OCR
  • App Integration
  • Image Recognition
  • If
  • Loop
  • Wait

To convert these bots, use the Update Bot wizard in the Administration > Bot update tab in the Control Room.

Update Bot wizard for converting IE bots

The following properties of browser-based packages and actions are updated from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge browser with IE mode:
  • Bots created using the browser or application-based window, window title, and application path
  • Window variable's default value, window title, and window application path
  • Browser variables and browser title
Microsoft Edge browser support for Browser package and window variables
  • The following actions of the Browser package now support Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser:
    • Close
    • Get source code
    • Go back
    • Open
    • Run JavaScript
  • In the Browser option, you can now select the Microsoft Edge tabs from the list of active tabs.
Support for last used browser tab in Browser > Open action for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome
You can now open a web page on a new tab or an existing tab using the Last used browser tab preset in the following browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Microsoft Edge with IE mode
  • Google Chrome
Default wait time for loading page in Microsoft Edge browser with IE mode

When you automate any web applications in Microsoft Edge browser with IE mode, the Recorder now waits for 30 seconds by default to allow the web page to load completely before recording any objects on the page, thereby making object detection more reliable.
Migration features
Scan bots that use Microsoft Internet Explorer

You can now use the Bot Scanner to scan and identify Internet Explorer bots. You can also analyze the report generated by the Bot Scanner to get usage statistics about Internet Explorer used in your bots.

Bot Scanner for EOL features | Analyze report for Internet Explorer bots | Internet Explorer conversion or scanning messages

Packages and actions

You can now migrate and convert Internet Explorer bots from Enterprise 11 or Enterprise 10 to Automation 360 with Microsoft Edge with IE mode for the following packages and actions:

  • App Integration
  • Delay
  • IF/ELSE and Loop
  • Image Recognition
  • Launch Website
  • Manage Window Controls
  • MetaBot Screen
  • Mouse
  • Object Cloning

    Image Play mode and Coordinates Play mode are supported. Coordinates Play mode supports the mouse click action with keystrokes after it.

  • OCR
  • Open Program/File
  • Screen
  • Simulate keystrokes
  • Wait

    Support for Wait for condition, Wait for screen change, and Wait for window actions

  • Web Recorder
  • Windows Actions

For more information, see Package mapping for migration.

To migrate and convert bots , go to Administration > Migration > Migrate bots and select the Convert bots built using Internet Explorer to Edge with Internet Explorer mode option in the Control Room.

The following properties of browser-based commands and actions are updated from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge with IE mode:
  • Bots created using the browser or application-based window, window title, and application path
  • Window variable's default value, window title, and window application path
    Note: Bots that use value type variables are not updated to Microsoft Edge. You must first enable the configure settings in the Legacy Automation package to open bots built using Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge compatibility mode.
  • Browser variables and browser title
Convert IE bots to Microsoft Edge with IE mode

When you migrate your bots from Enterprise 10 or Enterprise 11, you can use the new Convert bots built using Internet Explorer to Edge with Internet Explorer mode option in the Bot Migration Wizard to convert your bots from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge with IE mode.

Migrate Enterprise bots

History and version updated for migrated bots

In the Bot Migration Wizard, when you migrate your Enterprise 10 or Enterprise 11 bots, the version history is now updated to show that it is a migrated bot (the check-in comment shows that the bot is migrated from Enterprise 10 or Enterprise 11 version). You can use this check-in comment to identify which version of the bot is migrated.

Bot Migration Wizard

Fixes

The following fixes are available for Cloud , On-Premises , and Sandbox:

Service Cloud case ID Description
01784593 You can now run migrated bots successfully even when a $ (dollar sign) is present as a value in the User Variables field. The Bot Scanner no longer displays a preprocessing error.
-- When you automate web applications running on Microsoft Edge Chromium with IE mode or Internet Explorer, the Recorder now captures the object from the currently selected browser tab. Previously, the Recorder captured the object from the last used tab.
01189873 After migration, when you use the Browser > Open action to open a URL that has a space character, use the Browser > Download files action to download the file from the specified URL, and then run the bot, the bot now opens the URL in a single tab and downloads the file from the specified URL.

Previously, when the specified URL had a space character, the bot split the URL and opened it in two separate tabs.

Known behavior and limitations

The following limitations apply to Cloud , On-Premises , and Sandbox:

  • When you execute a stored procedure with name parameter arguments that resides in another database in the SQL Server, the bot displays an error because of the JDBC driver issue with executing a stored procedures with name parameters of another database in the same SQL instance.

    Workaround: When you add parameters to provide an input parameter or configure an output parameter, ensure you do not enter any value in the Parameter name field. The bot will not encounter any error when executing the stored procedure because the Database package considers blank values as indexing.

  • Note that even when the number of schedules listed on the Control Room Schedules page is less (for example, five or six schedules), you might see the following error because of a query timeout: An unexpected problem occurred. This is an existing Control Room database performance related issue.
  • There are other limitations and behavior that apply to bots migrated from Enterprise 11 to Automation 360 and to Automation 360 bots that run on Internet Explorer and are converted to Microsoft Edge with IE mode. For more information, see Known behavior and limitations.
  • When you use the Browser > Close action to close a tab or a window opened in the Microsoft Edge browser, if only one Microsoft Edge browser window is open, the bot encounters the following error: Error occurred while closing the tab
  • When you use the Browser > Open action to open network URLs that start with two backslash (\\) characters in the Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox browser, the URLs might not open properly.

    Workaround: Replace the two backslash (\\) characters with file:// protocol.

  • When you use the Browser > Open action, select New tab or Existing tab option to open a specific webpage in Microsoft Edge with IE mode, the bot might throw an error after opening the webpage.
    Workaround: Use any of the following workarounds based on specific scenarios:
    • Option 1: Add Try/Catch block around the Open action and ignore the exception as the website opens.
    • Option 2: In the Browser > Open action, select the New window option instead for such websites.
  • When you use the New window option in the Browser > Open action with the 3.4.x version of the Browser package to open a URL with arguments, the bot might not perform the specific action as the 3.4.x version of the Browser package does not support argument flags.

    Workaround: Use any version other than the 3.4.x version of the Browser package to automate.

See also these resources: