Bot Process form in RPA Hub

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 11 minutes to read

    • Use the Bot Process form to associate it to the bot process configuration and populate the remaining fields required for a bot process.

    Table 1. Bot process form
    Field Description
    Bot Process
    Name Unique name of the bot process.
    Process Type Type of the bot process:
    • Unattended: Automations that don’t require any human intervention.
    • Attended: Automations that require human intervention.
    Bot Process Configuration [Auto-generated] Associated bot process configuration of the bot process.
    Order Priority order of execution for the bot process.
    • 1: Highest priority
    • 999999: Least priority

    If more than one unattended bot process is scheduled to start at the same time, the one with the highest priority runs, and the others are marked as Skipped.

    If multiple bot processes have the same priority and schedule, one bot process is chosen at random to run.

    The default value is set to 1.

    RPA business user can view this field.

    This field appears only when Unattended is selected from the Process Type field.
    Package Associated package of the bot process.

    For an unattended bot process, associate an unattended type package.

    For an attended bot process, associate an attended type package.

    Only published packages can be associated.
    Package Version Version of the active package in use.

    Only published package versions can be associated.
    Life Cycle Stage Status [Auto-generated] Life cycle stage status of bot process configuration.
    Run Time Threshold (mins) Expected duration for the bot process to run.

    The default value is 60 minutes.

    This field appears only when Unattended is selected from the Process Type field.

    RPA business user can view this field.

    This field is required.
    Job Purging (days) Number of days after which the job data is deleted.
    Managed by IT owner of the business process.

    This field appears only for an existing record.

    Roles required to edit this field: RPA release manager and RPA admin.
    Owned by Business user who is part of the managed by a group and is responsible for the business process.

    This field appears only for an existing record.

    This field depends on what you entered in the Managed By Group field.

    If an entry in the Managed By Group field is populated, then only those users who are a part of the Managed By Group field and have an RPA business user role can be added to the Owned By field.

    If the Managed by Group field is empty, then the Owned By field is read-only.

    Roles required to edit this field: RPA release manager and RPA admin.
    Enable Embedded Task Automation Option to trigger the attended bot process (automation) from the associated ServiceNow form that is mapped in the attended configuration record. For more information about the attended configuration record, see Attended Configuration form in RPA Hub.

    On enabling the Embedded Task Automation check box, two additional tabs, Process Field Parameters and Attended Configuration, are displayed on the bot process form.

    For more information about Embedded Task Automation, see Embedded Task Automation in RPA Hub.
    Description Description of the bot process.
    Session Settings
    Keep Monitor Active Option to keep the robot monitor active during automation on the machine where the robot is running the bot process.

    This field appears only when Unattended is selected from the Process Type field.
    Auto Session Restore Option to restore the state of the robot to the initial stage before the automation is executed.

    This field appears only when Unattended is selected from the Process Type field.
    Force Start Option to force start a bot process on a robot to override any other bot process already running on it.

    If the Force Start option is enabled for a bot process P1 and if bot process P2 is running on the same robot, P2 stops and P1 executes. Then, the process job of P2 moves to Canceled state.

    The Force Start option does not override the Order field. It is for existing running bot processes and not for the bot processes that are to be launched.

    This field appears only when Unattended is selected from the Process Type field.
    Enable Desktop In Desktop Option to enable attended automation to run in Desktop In Desktop window.

    On enabling this option, the End Desktop In Desktop on Complete check box is also selected.

    This field appears only when Attended is selected from the Process Type field.
    End Desktop In Desktop on Complete

    Option to close the Desktop In Desktop window on completion of bot process.

    This option is automatically selected when you select Enable Desktop In Desktop. To leave the Desktop In Desktop window open after the bot process completes, clear the check box.

    This field appears only when Attended is selected from the Process Type field.
    Screen Resolution Screen resolution for the Desktop In Desktop window.

    This field appears only when Attended is selected from the Process Type field.
    Log Settings
    Track Execution Logs Option to enable the tracking of process execution logs.

    After you enable this check box, the logs are captured when an automation is executed by either an attended or an unattended robot. These logs help in understanding the errors and the end-to-end logging of automation execution.

    If process jobs are purged, then the corresponding execution logs are purged.

    By using the Attach feature in RPA Desktop Design Studio, these execution logs can be used to replay the automation to understand where the automation has failed. For example, at which component the automation has failed or details of the inputs passed to that component.
    Note:
    The Attach feature doesn't support Flat file output type.
    Synchronize Execution Logs (seconds) Frequency, in seconds, for execution logs to synchronize.

    This field appears only when the Track Execution Logs option is selected.

    If you select Robot Machine in the Storage field, then this field is hidden.
    Storage
    Note:
    This field appears only when the Track Execution Logs option is selected.
    Storage location options for the execution logs:
    • Instance: Only error information is logged in the execution log, on the instance.

      If you select Instance, then the Log Level field appears with listing Error as the only option.

    • Robot Machine: More details about the execution can be logged.

      If you select Robot Machine, then you can view two options to select from the Log Level field- Error or Verbose.

      To view the execution logs of all the components, select Robot Machine from the Storage field and then select Verbose from the Log Level field.

      Then, the files are generated only in the robot machine where the automation is being executed. For optimum utilization of disk space in the robot machine, the existing logs are purged, based on the sn_rpa_fdn.purge_client_logs system property setting.

    If you select Robot Machine, then
    • Synchronize Execution Logs field is hidden.
    • The execution logs are stored in the machine on which the attended or unattended robot is installed.
    Output Type Output type of the execution log file. This log file is generated during the robot execution on the machine. There are two types of output:
    • DB File: Default value. It's a lite database file that stores the job process metadata and the process automation execution details. After the process job completion, you can attach the DB file using the Attach option in the RPA Desktop Design Studio project to replay the automation on the design surface.
    • Flat File: It's a file format that stores the job process metadata and the process automation execution details in plain text. It stores the execution data in a JSON format.

    This Output Type field appears when the Track Execution Logs option is selected and when the Robot Machine is selected from the Storage field.

    If a bot process, with Flat File as the Output Type, is triggered, then the execution log file is added to the process job folder in .txt format in the given locations. Similarly, for DB output type you will view .db format in the given locations.

    The location of both the flat files and the DB files is in the machine on which the attended or unattended robot is installed.
    • During execution: Users\<Userprofile>\ServiceNow RPA Logs\.executionlogs\{InstanceName}\{ProcessJob number}.

      For example, Users\john.smith\ServiceNow RPA Logs\.executionlogs\{InstanceName}\PJB0001165.

    • After execution is complete: Users\<Userprofile>\ServiceNow RPA Logs\.executionlogs\{InstanceName}\.archive\{ProcessJob number}.

      For example: Users\john.smith\ServiceNow RPA Logs\.executionlogs\{InstanceName}\.archive\PJB0001165.

    The content in the flat files is in JSON format. The following image gives the content structure.

    When you choose the Flat File option to store the execution logs, two flat files are generated and stored in the locations given.
    • ExecutionJobMetadata.txt: Contains information on the process job such as the Process ID, Robot ID, and the log level. The image shows the structure of the content in the file.
      Figure 1. Structure of content in Flat File
      Execution metadata.
    • File name in the format ddMMMyyyy HHmmss.txt (For example, 28Dec2023 125036.txt): Contains the execution log entries. For example, the file gives the name of the Activity, component execution start and end time, duration, and the result in boolean, if applicable.

    The flat files follow the rules on data purging set in the sn_rpa_fdn.purge_client_logs system property. For more information about the system property, see Configure RPA Hub properties.

    Important:
    In RPA Desktop Design Studio, if you mark one or more input or output ports of one or more components or methods in an automation as Mark Data as Sensitive, the flat file does not log the execution data of its corresponding process job. Instead, in the JSON file the data corresponding to the port appears as SENSITIVE. The following image gives an example.
    Figure 2. Port indicated as sensitive
    Port indicated as sensitive.
    For more information about marking an input or output port as Mark Data as Sensitive, see Configure port properties

    Since the actual data for the execution logs contain abundant data, the required data is only preserved. The content in text file is JSON type.​

    To modify the value of this field for an existing bot process, ensure that the associated bot process is In Maintenance state.
    Log Level Select a log level to capture:
    • Error-

      On selecting Instance from the Storage field, the log level is set to Error.

    • Verbose-

      When you select Verbose, the flat files record details of the execution of all components in the automation. If the size of the flat file exceeds 10 MB while the process job executes, the flat file continues to split into multiple flat files with the log sequence appended in the file-naming convention until it executes the complete automation. The naming conventions of such files are <timestamp>_<LogSequence>.

      On selecting Robot Machine from the Storage field, you can view two options to select- Error or Verbose.

    This field appears only when the Track Execution Logs option is selected.
    Track Automation Logs Track automation logs that are generated by the robot. The robot logs the automation execution in automation logs. The logs help the RPA users to track the automation progress.

    For more information about viewing the automation logs, see View automation logs in RPA Hub.

    To view automation logs of a bot process, in RPA Desktop Design Studio, use the Log component in the associated automation and populate the required details.

    For more information about the Log component, see Use the Log component.
    Access
    Managed by Group Group that can access the bot process.
    Robot Pool

    Roles required to edit this field: RPA release manager and RPA admin.

    If an RPA developer and RPA support user are a part of the Managed by Group, then they can view and edit these fields.

    RPA business user can view these fields.
    Enable Robot Pool Option to enable the robot pool for the bot process.

    On enabling this option, the Assign Robots tab on the bot process is hidden.

    For more information about robot pool, see Robot pool in RPA Hub.
    Robot Pool Robots that you can allocate dynamically from a selected robot pool.

    Select a robot pool from a list of existing robot pool names.

    This field appears only when the Enable Robot Pool option is selected.
    Allocation Type Robots that you can allocate based on the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of the work items or the percentage of efficiency gain.
    Select the allocation type:
    • SLA Based: Allocation of robots from the pool based on the SLA of the work item. The work items are sorted and prioritized based on the SLA.

      If you select the allocation type as SLA Based, ensure that the work items must contain a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

    • Percentage Reduction: Allocation of robots from the pool based on the efficiency percentage.

    The default value is SLA Based.

    This field appears only when Enable Robot Pool option is selected.
    Percentage Reduction This field appears only when Percentage Reduction is selected from the Allocation Type field.

    Reduce the total execution time of a bot process by allocating more robots by a selected percentage.

    For example, if there are 100 work items assigned to a bot process. It might take 100 minutes to execute the bot process. If you want to reduce that time to 75 minutes, you define a value 25 in this field.

    After you provide a value in this field, multiple robots are allocated to distribute the work load. Thus, the automation performs faster by that percentage.

    The default value is 25.

    Robots are allocated to distribute the workload, based on the percentage you select:
    • If you select a value from 5 to 50, 2 robots are allocated.
    • If you select 55, 60, or 65, 3 robots are allocated.
    • If you select 70 or 75, 4 robots are allocated.
    • If you select 80, 6 robots are allocated.
    • If you select 85, 7 robots are allocated.
    Compose
    Work notes (Private) Work notes for the bot process.

    View the changes executed on the associated package, package version, process parameter, shared parameter, queue, and schedule.
    Additional Comments Additional comments that are related to the bot process.