Using the Run with queue - Use the Run with queue option to collectively process all work items of a queue across all the Bot Runners present in one or more device pools.

Automation 360

Use the Run with queue option to collectively process all work items of a queue across all the Bot Runners present in one or more device pools.

Before you begin

Review the following table that provides the necessary permissions needed to run an automation with queue:

Feature type Permissions
Activity permissions Provide the following permissions for all automations 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 automation 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
Note: Ensure that the Run as user is added correctly to both the Run as and Users tabs during the role configuration as WLM automation deployments might fail if it is not added in both the places. Such automation failures do not generate any visible error messages in the Historical activity page or audit logs.

To identify the root cause of such deployment failures, you can review the Bot Agent logs, where detailed error information is available.

About this task

Review the following considerations in order to run an automation with queue:

  • You can run automations only on unattended Bot Runners from the Control Room.
  • Ensure that the automation is checked in to the public workspace in order to run it 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 a single device pool for inserting and processing work items for the same queue, you will see duplicate entries in the In-progress 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

  1. Use one of the following methods to find the Run with queue option:
    • Click Activity > In progress > Run
    • Click Manage > Devices > Run
    • Click Manage > Device pools > Run
    • Click Manage > Queues
  2. Click Choose to select an available automation.
    If the automation is not displayed in the Find a file screen, enter the name in the search field or click Browse to find it.

    The automation that you have selected must be linked to the Work item template. For more information, see Attach work item template to bot.

    Note: Ensure that the automation does not have a timeout setting. For more information, see Configure timeout for bot execution.
  3. Use the Automation and dependencies tab to review or update the following:
    • (Optional) Click the Choose button in the Automation file field to select a different automation.
    • In the Run automation and dependencies using field, select one of the following options:
      • Latest version: To select the most recent version of the automation.

        This is the default option.

      • Production label: To run the selected automation and its dependencies using any of the available production labels.
      Note: If the Production label option is selected for the parent automation, the corresponding dependent automation with the production label are also automatically selected. If any of the dependent automations does not have the production label applied, the Latest version of the automation is selected.
    • Dependencies: Available dependencies for the selected automation are displayed.
  4. Click Next.
  5. In the Queue tab, click Choose to select a queue that must be used to run the automation.
    Note: Review the following conditions in order to see the list of available queues:
    • You do not have the AAE_Admin role
      Note: Automation 360 supports custom role creation by allowing all permissions to be non-default and editable. However, for releases before version v30, system-created roles such as, AAE_Admin are mandatory. For more information, see System-created roles.
    • Your role is added to Queue > Consumers
    • The automation and queue work item templates are identical.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Optional: In the Processing time tab, set the queue running time.
    1. Click Add running time.
      Note: If the running time is not set, the queue runs for 24 hours.
    2. Select the days from Days of the week field.
    3. Select or enter the Start time and End time.
    4. (Optional) 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. Optional: Click Remove running time to delete any running time.
  8. Click Next.
  9. In the Deployment tab, select one of the following options:
    • In the Default device tab, select the required run-as users to run automations on their default devices. This mode enables you to process multiple queues simultaneously.
      Note: The Available run-as users list shows only users with default devices and for which auto-login is enabled.
    • In the Device pool tab, click Choose to select an available device pool.
  10. Click Next.
  11. Use the Run-as users tab for the following options:
    • Click one of the following tabs:
      • Run on default device: Is the default option and the WLM manager will try to find the default users of all the devices in the device pool (that you have selected in the Device pool tab) for deploying the bot.

        In this option, the unattended Bot Runner user must own a default device. If the device is jointly owned by the unattended Bot Runner user along with another licensed user, the device will not be used since the unattended Bot Runner user is considered to have no default device. If the scheduler user has multiple unattended Bot Runner users and one of those users does not have a default device, the automation deployment fails.

      • Any: To deploy the automation on any available device.

        The automation is deployed on the available device in the device pool. It overrides the default device of the run-as user. The run-as user will then be logged into any available device in the device pool before deploying the automation.

    • In the Available run-as users, select the automation user from the list.
      Ensure that a device is connected to the Control Room in order to enable it. Also ensure that the Bot Runner users are a part of queue consumers.
      Note: If a run-as user does not appear in the list, ensure that it is assigned to your role. Also, you cannot select the run-as users who have not set their auto-login credentials.
  12. Click Next.
  13. Use the Resiliency settings tab to change the following options
    1. In the Pop-up handling field, select the Ignore unexpected pop-ups if you want the automation to continue even when there are unexpected pop-ups during the automation runtime.
      This option is enabled by default. If you disable this option, any unexpected pop-ups that occur during the automation run can impact the automation or delay the runtime.
    2. In the Bot execution recording field, change the following options:
      • Store bot execution recording: Clear this check box if you want to prevent the automation execution from being recorded.
      • Recording preferences: If you have opted to record automations, you can further select one of the following options for recording automation executions:
        • Only failed executions: Recording will be stored only when the automation execution fails.
        • All bot executions: Recording is stored irrespective of whether the execution is successful or failed.
  14. Optional: Use the General settings tab to change the default settings for the following options
    1. Name: Edit or rename the automation.
    2. Automation priority: Click the drop-down menu to set the automation priority.
      While Medium is the default automation priority, you can change it so that automations are processed for deployment accordingly.
  15. Click Run with queue.
    The automation is moved into a queue and will be deployed based on the scheduled running time.
    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.
    • Automations 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 automations that are processing the work items, while each automation deployment can include multiple work items processed as one activity.

    • With work items getting processed regularly, the number of completed work items will increase in Control Room, which might impact the system performance. We recommend that you use the Auto-purge settings in the Workload management to remove the completed work items.

      For more information , see Purge work items.

    • If the automation execution stuck in Queued status, see A360 | Bot Executions Stuck in Queued with status "Waiting for user: <user_name> or Device" <device_name> (A-People login required).
    The following video shows how to run an automation with queue:

    Video showing a demonstration of running a bot with queue