Using Connect action for Terminal Emulator

Use the Connect action to establish a connection with a host machine on which you want to automate a task. You can use this action to establish a connection with the TN3270E, TN5250E, ANSI, VT220, and VT100 terminal types.

This action enables you to specify the details of the host machine and associate it with a session name. Use the session name provided in this action in the other actions, so that you do not have to provide details of the host machine in those actions again.

Important: If you use any other action from this package before establishing the connection, you will encounter an error.

Procedure

To establish a connection with a host machine, perform the following steps:

Double-click or drag the Connect action from the Terminal Emulator node in the Actions palette.
Specify a name for the session in the Terminal emulator session name field.

Note: Use the different session name to open multiple terminal windows. If you want to use the same session name, you must first close the session of the first terminal window before using the same session name for another terminal window.
Specify the Host name of the machine you want to connect to:
1. Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault.
2. Click the Variable tab to use a variable to specify the host name.
Enter a value in the Port field to specify the port you want to use to connect to the host.

Select one of the following options to specify the terminal type:

Option	Steps
ANSI	Select an option from the Connection type list to specify the type of connection you want to establish: Telnet SSH2 For SSH2 connection type: For User authentication: User name: Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault. You can also click the String tab to enter a value manually. For Password: Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault. You can also click the String tab to enter a value manually. For Key file authentication: Click one of the following options to specify the location of the file: Control Room file: Enables you to select a PDF file that is available in a folder. Desktop profile: Enables you to select a PDF file that is available on your device. Variable: Enables you to specify the file variable that contains the location of the PDF file. For User name: Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault. You can also click the String tab to enter a value manually.
TN3270E	Select an option from the Host name security list to specify the security you want to use: NONE SSL TLS Select the Enable TN3270E support check box if you want to choose a connection method. Select an option from the Connection method list: GENERIC: Enables you to specify the Device name. SPECIFIC: Enables you to specify the Device name and Resource (LU) Name. Select an option from the Terminal model list to specify the terminal workstation you want to connect to. Select the check box to enable extended attributes on the TN3270E terminal. Select an option from the Code page list to specify the encoding you want to use for the terminal.
TN5250E	Select an option from the Host name security list to specify the security you want to use: NONE SSL TLS Select the Enable TN5250E support check box if you want to specify details about the device and resource. Enter a value in the Device name and Resource (LU) Name fields. Select an option from the Terminal model list to specify the terminal workstation you want to connect to. Select an option from the Code page list to specify the encoding you want to use for the terminal.
VT Series VT100 VT220	Select an option from the Terminal model list to specify the terminal type you want to connect to. Select an option from the Encoding list to specify the encoding you want to use for the terminal: ANSI DBCS UTF-8 The CodePage field appears when DBCS option is selected. The CodePage supports only Japanese Shift-JIS (932). Select an option from the Connection type list to specify the type of connection you want to establish: Telnet SSH2 For SSH2 connection type: For User authentication: User name: Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault. You can also click the String tab to enter a value manually. For Password: Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault. You can also click the String tab to enter a value manually. For Key file authentication: Click one of the following options to specify the location of the file: Control Room file: Enables you to select a PDF file that is available in a folder. Desktop profile: Enables you to select a PDF file that is available on your device. Variable: Enables you to specify the file variable that contains the location of the PDF file. For User name: Click the Credential tab to select an entry from the Credential Vault. You can also click the String tab to enter a value manually.

Note: When you connect with the SSH2 server using public key authentication, the SSH client uses the private key file associated with the public key that has been authorized on the server.

Depending on the software used to generate SSH2 private keys, you can store SSH2 private keys using any of the file formats:

Java KeyStore (JKS) format: Used by Java applications to store private keys, certificates, and other cryptographic data. The private key is stored in a file with a .jks extension.
OpenSSH format(default format): Used by the OpenSSH suite of tools, including the ssh-keygen utility. The private key is stored in a file with no extension, typically named id_rsa, id_dsa, or id_ecdsa (based on the key type).
OpenSSL format: Used by the OpenSSL library and other software that uses OpenSSL, such as Apache and NGINX. The private key is stored in a file with a .pem or .key extension.
PKCS8 key format: Used as a standard format for securely storing private keys using the PKCS#8 standard. The private key is stored in a file with a .pem or .key extension.
PuTTY format: Used by the PuTTY SSH client for Windows. The private key is stored in a file with a .ppk extension.

Select the Show terminal window check box to show the terminal window when the bot runs this action.
Select the Set cursor position to the beginning check box to edit the screen of the Terminal emulator session manually and set the focus to the first editable field.
Select the Wait for the terminal prompt to appear while connected check box to wait for the terminal prompt to appear on the screen of the terminal after the connection is established.
1. Enter the text you want to display when you connect to the terminal in the Terminal prompt field.
2. Enter a value in the Wait time out field to specify the period in (milliseconds) the system must wait before the connection request is timed out.
Select any of the following tabs to create a terminal emulator session:
- Local session: Specify a session name that can be used only in the current bot.
- Global session: Specify a session name that can be used across multiple bots such as parent bots, child bots, and other child bots of the parent bots.
- Variable: Specify a session variable that can be used to share that session with other child bots.

Automation 360

Using Connect action for Terminal Emulator