Scanning and converting bots that use Internet Explorer

As Microsoft Internet Explorer is reaching end-of-life (EOL) in June 2022, Microsoft recommends you to move your legacy application or websites running on Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge (IE compatibility mode). You can upgrade to the latest Automation Anywhere Enterprise patch, run the utility to convert bots, and test your bots on Edge (IE Mode).

Perform the tasks shown in the following workflows to convert bots that run on Internet Explorer browser to Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer mode:

The following image shows the workflow for using the conversion utility to convert automations running on IE to work on Edge:

Figure 1. IE EOL and Bot conversion utility
IE EOL work flow and bot conversion utility

See the following video on preparing to scan and convert bots that use IE:

Scan bots

Before you convert your (.atmx and .mbot) bots, you must scan all the bots and an output report is generated in CSV format for information about the commands and variables used in these bots and how many of these commands and variables are supported for conversion.

The system creates three reports, and the summary report provides the following information:
  • Bot command report: Contains reports of the bots that can and cannot be scanned and require your review or action.
  • MetaBot command report: Contains reports of the MetaBots that can and cannot be scanned and require your review or action.
  • Failed bot report: Contains reports of any bots that were not scanned and the reason for the failure.

    This report is generated only if there are any failed bots.

See the following video on scanning bots for IE usage:

Conversion utility

The conversion utility converts bots (Task Bots and MetaBots running in Microsoft Internet Explorer browser) to work on the Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer mode. The utility displays the following information after it is run:
  • Total bots available in the folder
  • Bots failed to scan
  • Bots considered for conversion
  • Bots converted successfully
  • Bots that were not converted
  • Report created at the <path> location
The system creates three reports, and the summary report provides the following information:
  • Bot command report: Contains reports of the bots that can and cannot be scanned and require your review or action.
  • MetaBot command report: Contains reports of the MetaBots that can and cannot be scanned and require your review or action.
  • Failed bot report: Contains reports of any bots that were not scanned and the reason for the failure.

    This report is generated only if there are any failed bots.

Run the conversion utility

Before you begin: Ensure you complete the following prerequisites:
  • Create a backup of all your bots before running the utility.
  • Turn off version control: Log in to Control Room, click Administration > Settings > Bots and disable the Version control.
Note: The conversion utility only updates bots that are using the Internet Explorer browser for automations and does not update bots that use other browsers.
  1. Download the latest version of the bot conversion utility (Bot_Conversion_Utility_v6) from the Automation Anywhere Support site: A-People home page (login required).
  2. Extract the files from the zip file you have downloaded and create a folder (for example Bot conversion utility) in the installed path location:

    Example: C: Documents\Test Data\ Bot Conversion Utility\ Bot Conversion Utility

  3. From the list of files in the Bot conversion utility folder, select the app.properties file. Edit the app.properties file in a notepad and you can update the following key pair values as per your requirement:
    csv.report.path=C:\\ProgramData\\AutomationAnywhere\\Bot_Command_Scan_Report
 convert.bot.rules.constraints.default=[\"*-* Internet Explorer\",\"*-*Internet Explorer\",\"*- Internet Explorer\",\"-*Internet Explorer\",\"*Internet Explorer\",\"*-* Internet*Explorer\",\"*-*Internet*Explorer\",\"*- Internet*Explorer\",\"-*Internet*Explorer\",\"*Internet*Explorer\",\"*Explorer\",\"* Explorer\",\"- Internet Explorer\",\"*Internet*\",\"* Internet Explorer\",\"- Internet*\",\"*-* |ie|\",\"*-*|ie|\",\"*- |ie|\",\"-*|ie|\",\"*|ie|\",\"- |ie|\",\"* |ie|\"]
 feature.open.program.files.internet.explorer.update=true
 open.program.files.internet.explorer.path.replace.value=msedge.exe
 feature.disabled.commands.update=true
  4. Perform the following task to change the default values of the properties files.
    • csv.report.path: You can provide the required folder path where you want the Bot Conversion Utility scan reports to be generated. The default path is C:\\ProgramData\\AutomationAnywhere\\Bot_Command_Scan_Report
      Note: Bot Conversion Utility will not run if invalid paths are provided. For example, CSV.report.path= will be considered as the invalid path.
    • convert.bot.rules.constraints.default: The strings provided in the array will be converted to *Microsoft*Edge. You can also add a new string that needs to be converted to *Microsoft*Edge. We recommend that you do not modify any existing given values in the array.
    • feature.open.program.files.internet.explorer.update: If you want to convert iexplore.exe provided in the Open Program/File command, you should not change the value of the feature.open.program.files.internet.explorer.update property. By default, the value is set to true. Note that if you change the property value to false, the Open Program/File command will not be considered for conversion.
    • open.program.files.internet.explorer.path.replace.value: If feature.open.program.files.internet.explorer.update is set to true, then by default, iexplore.exe in the Open Program/File command will get converted to msedge.exe. You can provide a new value to this property file to convert iexplore.exe to any other required value. The default value of this property file is msedge.exe.
    • feature.disabled.commands.update: To convert commented lines in the bot, do not change the value of feature.disabled.commands.update property. By default, the value of this property is set to true. If you set the value of this property to false, the commented line of code will not be considered for conversion.
    Following are the limitations of the app.properties file.
    • For commented lines, if the property value is set to false, then commented line (command) will not get converted, but the Window Title in edit mode of that command will get converted.
    • For Open Program/File command, even if the property value of the feature.open.program.files.internet.explorer.update is false, the lines will be displayed in the Scan bot report.
  5. From the list of files in the Bot conversion utility folder, select the Scan_Bots.bat file to scan the bots.
  6. Edit the Scan_Bots.bat file in a notepad and update the following variables:
    • jrepath: Path to java.exe as provided in the utility.
    • folderPath: Complete path to the folder containing the bots to scan.
    • jarFilePath: Complete path to the Bot Conversion Utility jar file.
      Example: 
      SET jrepath=Test Data\Bot Conversion Utility\ Bot Conversion Utility\jre11\bin\java.exe”
SET folderPath= “C:\Automation Anywhere Files\Automation Anywhere\My Tasks\ConvBots”
SET jarFilePath= “C:\Bot Conversion Utility\bot-conversion-1.0.0_RC1.jar”
%jrepath%-jar  %jreFilePath%-folderPath  %folderPath%
@pause
  7. Save the file.
  8. Open the Windows command prompt in administrator mode and run the Scan_Bots.bat file to scan the bots.

    Three reports are generated in a CSV file with details (such as the line number) about bots after the scan is complete: reports for Task Bots and MetaBots and for bots that were not scanned. You can verify the report to check if you must take any action or review any bot.

  9. From the list of files in the Bot conversion utility folder, select the Convert_Bots.bat file to convert the bots.
  10. Edit the Convert_Bots.bat file in a notepad and update the following variables:
    • jrepath: Path to java.exe as provided in the utility.
    • folderPath: Complete path to folder containing the bots to scan.
    • jarFilePath: Complete path to Bot Conversion Utility jar file.
      Example: 
      SET jrepath=Test Data\Bot Conversion Utility\ Bot Conversion Utility\jre11\bin\java.exe”
                                            SET folderPath= “C:\Automation Anywhere Files\Automation Anywhere\My Tasks\ConvBots”
                                            SET jarFilePath= “C:\Bot Conversion Utility\bot-conversion-1.0.0_RC1.jar”
                                            %jrepath%-jar  %jreFilePath%-folderPath  %folderPath%
                                            @pause
  11. Save the file.
  12. Open the Windows command prompt in administrator mode and run the Convert_Bots.bat file to convert the bots.

    Three reports are generated in a CSV file with the conversion status (Success or Failure) and other details for each line item for all the bots after the conversion is complete: reports for Task Bots and MetaBots and for bots that were not converted. You can verify the report to check if you must take any action or review any updated bot.

  13. After the conversion utility finishes, run the updated bot to validate that the bots complete successfully in Microsoft Edge with Internet Explorer mode.

See the following video on converting bots that use IE: