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Using Pega Robot Manager version 5

Updated on October 8, 2021

Use Pega® Robot Manager to:

  • Manage and deploy automation packages to both robotic desktop automation (RDA) and robotic process automation (RPA) virtual machines (VMs)
  • Monitor the performance, health, and throughput of your RPA VMs

See the following topics for more information about using Pega Robot Manager:

​​Configuring your organizational hierarchy

You can use Pega Robot Manager to deploy automation packages to end-users that are running desktop automations on their local workstations. For example, you want contact center agents in the customer service department to run an automation package that assists the agents in collecting claim information. You also want to deploy a different automation package to accountants in your finance department. You can model your organization in Pega Robot Manager and then assign the automation packages to different departments and individual end-users.

See the following topics for more information:

Adding departments

You can add multiple top-level departments, and you can add multiple subdepartments to a department, either manually or by using a .csv file to import departments in bulk.

Manually adding departments

You can manually add departments to your corporate hierarchy and then assign users to them.

  1. Click Departments.
  2. Click Actions > New department.
  3. Select the parent level to which the department belongs.
  4. Enter a description, and then click Submit.

Importing departments

You can import departments by importing a .csv file.

The file must contain the following columns:

  • Department name
  • Department description
  • Parent path

Do not provide a value in the Parent path column for the topmost department. Use an exclamation point to denote a subdepartment, for example, BankerProCorporation!Customer service.

You can also download a template in .csv format, which contains these columns, that you can use to import departments, by doing the following actions:

  1. Click Departments.
  2. Click Actions > Import CSV file.
  3. To download a template that you can modify, click Download Template.

To import a .csv file, do the following actions:

  1. Click Departments.
  2. Click Actions > Import CSV file.
  3. Click Browse and select the file.
  4. Click Import.

Modifying departments

You can modify the name and description of a department.

  1. Click Departments.
  2. Expand the organizational tree, click the SelectorSelector icon, and click Edit.
  3. Enter a name and description, and then click Submit.

Deleting departments

You can delete a department that has no users in it.

  1. If the department has users, either delete them or move them to another department. See Moving users to another department or Deleting users for more information.
  2. Click Departments.
  3. Expand the organizational tree, click the Selector (Selector) icon, and click Delete.
  4. Click Submit.

Adding users

You can add users to departments and specify their access groups, which are associated with the roles that define the tasks that they can perform. You cannot edit email addresses for users who use basic authentication or edit the user principal name (UPN) for users who use SSO authentication.

Operator IDs are created for each user that you add, and users log in with the email address or UPN that you specify.

Manually adding users

You can manually add users to departments in your corporate hierarchy.

  1. Click Users.
  2. Click Add new.
  3. In the New user or Edit user dialog box, in the First Name field, enter the first name of the user.
  4. Click the Department field and select the department to which the user belongs. This department is at least the third level in the organizational hierarchy.
  5. In the Last Name field, enter the last name of the user.
  6. In the Role field, press the Down Arrow key and select the access group to which the user belongs.
  7. In the Email address field, enter the email address of the user. This field is required for user roles that use basic authentication. Users log in to Pega Robot Manager with their email addresses.
  8. In the UPN field, enter the UPN. This field appears for roles that use SSO authentication and is required.
  9. In the Status field, press the Down Arrow key and select the status of the user (Active or Inactive).
  10. Click Submit.

For users who log in to Pega Robot Manager with basic authentication, the system generates the password 'pega'. Users should change their passwords by clicking Forgot password? on the Pega Robot Manager login page and having an email sent to them.

Importing users

You can import users by importing a .csv file.

The file must contain the following columns:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address (provide a value for users who log in to Robot Manager with basic authentication; otherwise, leave this column blank)
  • UPN (provide a value for users who log in to Robot Manager with SSO authentication; otherwise, leave this column blank)
  • Department
  • Role
  • Status

Use an exclamation point to denote that a user belongs to a subdepartment, for example, BankerProCorporation!Customer service!Corporate accounts. You cannot assign a user to the top two departments in the organizational hierarchy.

You can also download a template in .csv format, which contains these columns, that you can use to import users by doing the following actions:

  1. Click Users.
  2. Click Actions > Import CSV file.
  3. To download a template that you can modify, click Download Template.

To import a .csv file, do the following actions:

  1. Click Users.
  2. Click Actions > Import CSV file.
  3. Click Browse and select the file.
  4. Click Import.

For users who log in to Pega Robot Manager with basic authentication, the system generates the password Pega. Users should change their passwords by clicking Forgot password? on the Pega Robot Manager login page and having an email sent to them.

Modifying users

You can modify user information, such as name, role, and status.

  1. Click Users.
  2. Click Actions > Edit.
  3. In the New user or Edit user dialog box, in the First Name field, enter the first name of the user.
  4. Click the Department field and select the department to which the user belongs. This department is at least the third level in the organizational hierarchy.
  5. In the Last Name field, enter the last name of the user.
  6. In the Role field, press the Down Arrow key and select the access group to which the user belongs.
  7. In the Email address field, enter the email address of the user. This field is required for user roles that use basic authentication. Users log in to Pega Robot Manager with their email addresses.
  8. In the UPN field, enter the UPN. This field appears for roles that use SSO authentication and is required.
  9. In the Status field, press the Down Arrow key and select the status of the user (Active or Inactive).
  10. Click Submit.

Moving users to another department

You can move users to another department.

  1. Click Departments.
  2. Expand the organizational tree to find the department that contains the users that you want to move, and click the department.
  3. In the Users section, select one or more check boxes for the users that you want to move.
  4. Click Move.
  5. In the Move users dialog box, select the department to which to move the users.
  6. Click Move.

Deleting users

You can delete users, which also removes their operator IDs.

  1. Click Departments.
  2. Expand the organizational tree to find the department that contains the users that you want to delete, and click the department.
  3. In the Users section, select one or more check boxes for the users that you want to delete.
  4. Click Delete.

Pega Robot Manager dashboard

The Pega Robot Manager dashboard is a centralized workspace that displays operational information about your robotic process automations and key performance indicators, such as the status of your VMs.

See the following topics for more information:

Templates and widgets

Each dashboard uses a template that provides preconfigured layouts that define the standard size and position of widgets. Several standard templates are available.

After you apply a template to your dashboard, you can add widgets to each slot to display helpful functions in your console. Slots in a template are shown as gray rectangles.

Customizing the dashboard

The dashboard is displayed each time that you log in to your application. When personalization is enabled, you can configure your dashboard based on your individual preferences and business needs.

For example, you can add a widget that displays the number of assignments that could not be processed or the number of assignments that did not meet a service-level agreement (SLA) goal.

Click the Gear icon to display the Edit dashboard panel to customize your dashboard.

For information about configuring your dashboard display, adding and configuring widgets, and publishing your dashboard, see Configuring your dashboard.

You can click Publish only when you publish a dashboard, which displays the dashboard for your own login.

Pega Robot Manager widgets

Pega Robot Manager provides the following widgets that you can add to your dashboard:

  • Automation alerts – Displays failed robotic automations.
  • Automation alerts over time – Displays the number of failed robotic automations over a period of time.
  • Case activity – Displays the cases that were created and resolved over a period of time.
  • Cases past SLA – Displays the cases that exceeded an SLA goal.
  • Resolved cases by type – Displays the number of resolved cases by case type.
  • Robot status – Displays the VMs in each work group that have issues or that are not running.

Creating widgets and displaying them in the dashboard

You can create your own widgets to display in the Pega Robot Manager dashboard.

For example, you can create a report that displays the percentage of robotic automations on a VM that run and are successfully completed on the first attempt. The following procedure describes how to create a report widget to display in the dashboard.

  1. Create a report in Designer Studio in your application ruleset. For more information, see Creating reports in Designer Studio.
  2. Create a section in your application ruleset. For more information, see Sections - Completing the Create, Save as, or Specialize form.
  3. Add a chart control to the section and configure it so that it displays the report that you created:
    1. In the Data Source section, from the Type list, select Report Definition.
    2. In the Applies to field, press the Down Arrow and select the class to which your report applies.
    3. In the Report field, press the Down Arrow and select the name of your report.
    4. From the X-axis data field, select the property to use for the X-axis.
    5. Configure other information, as appropriate. For more information, see Harness and section forms - Adding a chart.
    6. Click Submit.
  4. Mark the section as a widget, and configure the report widget.
    1. In the Edit Section form, click Settings.
    2. In the Widget title section, enter the name of the widget.
    3. From the Category list, select Robotic process automation.
    4. Configure other information, as appropriate. For more information, see Settings tab of the Section form.
    5. Click Save.

After you log out and log back in to Pega Platform and start the Robotic Console, you can select the widget and display it in your dashboard.

Managing work queues and VMs

You can use Pega Robot Manager to manage your work queues and VMs in several ways. For example, you can start and stop queues and modify the frequency of ping commands that are sent from your VM to your Pega Platform application.

See the following topics for more information:

Monitoring VMs

You can view information about VMs to monitor their performance. For example, you can view a history of all the assignments that VMs in a work group processed.

You can do the following actions on the Work groups page:

  • View all the work groups in your application, all the work queues in each work group, and all the VMs that retrieve assignments from those work queues.
  • Click a workbasket to view information about assignments in a work queue, such as how many assignments are in it.

A work queue displays a red icon if the number of queued items meets or exceeds the maximum number of assignments that should be in it.

  • Click a VM to view information about VM performance, such as audit trail information and how many assignments the VM could not process.

A VM displays a red icon on the Work groups and Dashboard pages in one of the following scenarios:

  • The number of run-time automations is greater than the number of automations that can be in a work queue.
  • The connection to the VM is lost (the heartbeat interval has been exceeded).
  • The last automation took longer than expected to complete.

Reprioritizing work queues

VMs retrieve assignments from work queues in order of priority. Assignments are retrieved from the work queues according to their order on the Work groups page, from the top of the list to the bottom. You can reprioritize work queues by completing the following steps:

  1. Click Work groups.
  2. Click Edit in the panel for the work group that contains the work queue that you want to reprioritize.
  3. Drag the work queue to its intended priority in the list.
  4. Click Save.

Starting and stopping work queues

You can start or stop a work queue by completing the following steps:

  1. Click Work groups.
  2. In the panel for the work group that contains the work queue that you want to start or run, click Edit.
  3. From the State list for the corresponding work queue, select RUNNING or STOPPED.
  4. Click Save.

Configuring assignment information on work queues

You can configure information about assignments that are running on VMs within a work queue. For example, you can specify the number of assignments that should be running on a VM in a work queue.

  1. Click Work groups.
  2. Click the work queue that you want to modify.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. In the Max items field, enter the maximum number of assignments that should be in the work queue at any time.

If the number of queued items meets or exceeds this threshold, the work queue turns red on the Work groups page, indicating that the VMs are not keeping pace with the incoming rate of work.

  1. In the Max automation run time (in sec) field, enter the expected run time for the assignments in this queue.

If the run time of an automation exceeds the value that is specified on its originating work queue, the VM displays a red icon on the Work groups and Dashboard pages, indicating that it might need administrative attention.

  1. Click Save.

Modifying the heartbeat and work polling intervals

Each VM sends a heartbeat, or periodic message, to your application to indicate that the VM is still running and available. The work polling interval is the period of time that a VM waits before polling its work queue for more assignments.

You can modify these intervals by completing the following steps:

  1. Click Dashboard, and then click a VM in the Robot Status section.
  2. Click the Edit icon Edit icon in the Robot Settings section.
  3. In the Heartbeat interval field, enter the heartbeat interval, in seconds, that VMs should use when they send a ping command to your Pega Platform application.

A VM displays a red icon on the Dashboard and Work groups pages if the heartbeat interval has been exceeded, indicating that the connection to the VM has been lost.

  1. In the Work polling interval field, enter the polling interval, in seconds, that the VM should use when requesting assignments from a work queue.
  2. Click Save. The new intervals are applied after the VM next registers with your Pega Platform application.

Configuring the number of automations that can fail on a VM

You can configure the number of automations that can fail on a VM. If automation failures exceed this value, Pega Robot Manager indicates that there are issues with the VM health on the Dashboard page.

  1. Click Work groups, and then click the VM that you want to modify.
  2. Click the Edit icon Edit icon in the Compliance section.
  3. In the Max failed automations field, enter the number of automations that can fail on a VM during its processing life.

If the number of failures is greater than this value, the VM displays a red icon on the Dashboard and Work groups pages to indicate that the maximum number of failed automations has been exceeded.

  1. Click Submit.

Viewing conflicts for work assignments

You can view work assignments for which there are conflicts. Conflicts appear when an automation was successfully run but returned data that did not meet validation criteria for the case or assignment. Use conflict information to determine which automations to review, which could mean that you need to update validation rules or that the automation developer should review the format of the values that are returned by the automation.

  1. Click Dashboard.
  2. On the Automation alerts widget, click Conflicts.

Viewing work assignments time-outs

You can view work assignments that have timed-out. Work assignments time out when automations were pulled by the RPA VMs but not completed.

Carefully review each time-out to determine whether the automation was run, but the run was not communicated to Pega Robot Manager, or the automation was not run, in which case you can requeue the automation to be processed by another VM.

  1. Click Dashboard.
  2. On the Automation alerts widget, click Time-outs.

Processing failed assignments

If an assignment is not successfully processed, you can resend it to the work queue for reprocessing, or you can skip processing on the automation by manually continuing the flow in a case type. You an also requeue multiple failed assignments at a time.

Processing a single failed assignment

You can resend a single assignment to a work queue for reprocessing or manually continue a flow in a case type to skip processing on an automation.

  1. Click Dashboard.
  2. In the Automation alerts section, click Failures.
  3. From the drop-down list, select the work queue for which you want to view failed assignments.
  4. Click the case that contains the failed assignment that you want to process.
  5. In the Assignments section, click Begin.
  6. Do one of the following actions:
    • To manually continue the flow, select Actions > Manually continue the flow, and then click Submit.
    • To resend the assignment back to its work queue to be reprocessed by the VM that is running the assignment, do the following actions:
      1. Optional: Click Action > Edit to update a field.
      2. Click Submit.

Processing multiple failed assignments

You can requeue multiple failed assignments to a work queue to reprocess them.

  1. Click Dashboard.
  2. In the Automation alerts section, select the failed assignments that you want to reprocess.
  3. Click Requeue all.

Automation packages

After Pega Robotic Automation Studio developers build an automation, they can publish automation packages to a Package Server and then to Pega Robot Manager, which displays all the available packages that developers can publish. In Pega Robot Manager, you can then deploy the automation package to a robotic work group, department of users, or individual users in your organization. For example, a package can contain updates to customer service tasks, which you can test and then deploy those changes to contact center agents who field calls from customers.

When a VM logs in to Pega Platform, the VM registers into its defined work group, retrieves the automation package assigned to that work group, loads it, and then begins requesting automation assignments.

See the following topics for more information:

Package versions

Packages can have one or more versions, and you can deploy and promote any version of a package. For example, a Pega Robotic Automation Studio developer can publish an initial 1.0 package, which has been deployed to a production level. The developer can later publish an updated 1.1 package, which you can deploy to your QA level, where you can test it and then deploy it to production users.

Modifying package details

You can modify the name and description of a package.

  1. Click Packages.
  2. Click the package that you want to rename.
  3. Click Actions > Edit.
  4. Enter a name, description, or both, and then click Submit.

Viewing package versions

You can view information about versions of a package, such as when a package was published and by whom, that are on Pega Platform.

  1. Click Packages.
  2. Click the package for which you want to view version information.
  3. Click Actions > Versions.
  4. Click Close.

Deleting package versions

You can delete a version of a package from Pega Robot Manager.

  1. Click Packages.
  2. Click the package for which you want to delete a version.
  3. Click Actions > Versions.
A Lock icon indicates that a package version has been deployed, and you cannot delete it. You must remove the package deployment first. For more information, see Removing a package from a deployment level.
  1. Click Delete for the package version that you want to delete from Pega Platform.
  2. Click Close.

Deleting a package

You can delete a package from Pega Robot Manager.

  1. Click Packages.
  2. Click the package that you want to delete.
  3. Optional: If a package is assigned to a department, work group, or user, remove the package assignments. For more information, see Removing package assignments.
  4. Optional: If a package is deployed, remove the package from all levels to which it is deployed. For more information, see Removing a package from a deployment level.
  5. Delete each version of the package. For more information, see Deleting package versions.
  6. Click Actions > Delete.
  7. Click Submit.

Deployment levels

The deployment pipeline defines the levels through which an automation package moves from software development to a production environment. You deploy a package to a level and assign the deployment level to departments, users, and robotic work groups in that level so that the appropriate resources can develop, test, and use the package.

Pega Robot Manager provides the following default deployment levels:

  • Development – The level in which developers update and maintain packages
  • UAT – User acceptance testing. The level in which business users test packages to validate that a package performs as expected in real-world scenarios
  • Production – The level in which case workers use the final version of the package in a live environment

You cannot rename, change the respective order of, or delete these deployment levels.

See the following topics for more information:

Adding a deployment level

You can add deployment levels to your pipeline, in addition to the three default levels that Pega Robot Manager provides. For example, you can create a QA level, where QA testers can run performance tests before you promote the package to the UAT level.

  1. Click Packages.
  2. Click the package for which you want to add a deployment level.
  3. Click the Down Arrow of the deployment level to the left of where you want to add the new level.
  4. Click Add deployment.
  5. Enter a name, and then press Enter. The deployment level is displayed to the right of the level that you clicked.

Renaming a deployment level

You can rename a deployment level that you created.

  1. Click Packages.
  2. Click the package for which you want to rename a deployment level.
  3. Click the Down Arrow for the deployment level that you want to rename.
  4. Enter a name, and then press Enter.

Reordering deployment levels

You can move deployment levels to change their order in the deployment pipeline.

  • You cannot move the Deployment or Production deployment levels from their locations.
  • The UAT level must be located between the Development and Production levels.
    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package for which you want to reorder a deployment level.
    3. Drag the deployment level that you want to move to the appropriate location.

    Deleting a deployment level

    You can delete a deployment level that you created.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package from which you want to delete a deployment level.
    3. If a package has been deployed to the deployment level, you must first remove the package deployment. For more information, see Removing a package from a deployment level.
    4. Click the Down Arrow for the deployment level that you want to delete, and then click Delete.

    Deploying a package

    You deploy a package into a deployment level and then assign the deployment level and its package to the appropriate robotic work group, department, or user.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package that you want to deploy.
    3. Complete one of the following actions:
    • Deploy a package into a development level on which there is no package deployment:
    1. Click Deploy version in the development level into which you want to deploy a package.
    2. In the Available versions dialog box, click Deploy for the package version that you want to deploy.
    • Deploy a package version that has already been deployed to a deployment level:
    1. Click the Deploy icon Deploy icon in the deployment level to which you want to deploy a package.
    2. In the Available versionsdialog box, click Deploy for the package version that you want to deploy.
    3. Assign the deployment level and package to the appropriate resource. See Assigning deployment levels and packages for more information.

    Assigning deployment levels and packages

    You assign a deployment level and the package that is deployed in it to a robotic work group, department of users, or individual users. For example, you can assign the Production deployment level, which contains a package so that VMs can automatically process claims, to a robotic work group.

    When you assign a deployment level and package to a department, the package is inherited by all the subdepartments and users in each subdepartment. If you later add users or subdepartments to the department, any packages that were assigned to the department are also inherited by new subdepartments and users.

    You can assign multiple deployment levels and packages to a user. For example, users inherit packages on a deployment level that are assigned to their departments, and you can also assign deployment levels and their associated packages directly to those users. If users are assigned multiple packages, they can select which package they want to use when they log in to their workstations.

    Note: You can assign only one package to a robotic work group.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package, and then click the deployment level that you want to assign.
    3. Click Assign new.
    4. In the Create assignment dialog box, assign the deployment level and package.
    • To assign a deployment level and package to a robotic work group:
    1. Click the Group radio button.
    2. In the Group field, press the Down Arrow key and select the work group.
    • To assign a deployment level and package to a department:
    1. Click the Department radio button.
    2. From the Department drop-down list, select the department.
    • To assign a deployment level and package to a user:
    1. Click the User radio button.
    2. In the User field, press the Down Arrow key and select the user.
    1. Click​ Next.
    2. Optional: If a package configuration is defined, click the configuration that you want to assign. For more information, see Package configurations.
    3. Click Next.
    4. Click Assign.

    Removing assignments

    You can remove an assignment, for example, if a case worker was inadvertently assigned to use the Development deployment level and package.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package for which you want to remove an assignment.
    3. Click the deployment level that you want to remove.
    4. In the Assigned to section, click the Delete icon for the department, work group, or user to which the deployment level is assigned.
    5. Click Submit.

    Viewing assignments

    You can view all the packages that are assigned to departments or to individual users.

    To view package assignments for a department:

    1. Click Departments.
    2. Click the department for which you want to view package assignments.

    To view package assignments for a user, click Users, and then click the user.

    The Assigned to section displays all the packages that are assigned to the department or user.

    Enabling and disabling assignments

    You can enable or disable packages that are assigned to departments or users.

    To enable or disable a package assignment for a department, which enables or disables it for all subdepartment users:

    1. Click Departments.
    2. Click the department for which you want to enable or disable a package assignment.
    3. Click the switch in the Assigned to section to enable or disable a package assignment.

    To enable or disable a package assignment for a user:

    1. Click Users, and then click the user.
    2. Click the switch in the Assigned to section to enable or disable a package assignment.

    Package configurations

    A package can contain one or more configurations, which are defined on the automation by the Pega Robotic Automation Studio developer. Configurations act as variables into which different information can be substituted as needed.

    For example, an automation developer builds an automation that retrieves parcel delivery information from an intranet website. A user must enter a tracking number in the website to retrieve parcel information.

    For performance purposes, two sites are maintained on the intranet website—one for the East Coast of the United States, and one for the West Coast, with separate URLs for each site. The automation developer can create two configurations for the automation package, with one for the East Coast and one for the West Coast. Depending on which package configuration is used, when the automation runs, it loads either the East Coast or West Coast website URL.

    In Pega Robot Manager, when you assign a package, you can assign the package configuration for the East Coast website to East Coast users and the package configuration for the West Coast website to West Coast users.

    Promoting a package to another deployment level

    After a package has been deployed to a level, you can promote the package to another level in the pipeline. For example, after business users finish testing in the UAT level, you can move the package from the UAT level to the production level.

    Package deployments are not removed from the original deployment level when you promote them to another level.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package that you want to promote.
    3. Click the package on the deployment level that you want to promote.
    4. Drag the package to the deployment level to promote the package to that level.

    Removing a package from a deployment level

    You can remove a deployed package from a deployment level.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package that you want to remove from a deployment level.
    3. Optional: If the deployed package is assigned to a department, work group, or user, you must remove the package assignments. For more information, see Removing assignments.
    4. Click the Delete icon for the package version that you want to delete.

    Restoring a package on a deployment level

    You can restore a previously deployed version of a package deployment on a deployment level. For example, if you deployed a package version from UAT to Production but need to perform more testing, you can restore a previously deployed production package in the Production level.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package for which you want to restore a package version.
    3. In the deployment level for which you want to restore a package, click the Down Arrow, and then click Deployment history.
    4. Click Restore for the package deployment that you want to restore.

    Viewing package deployment history

    You can view details about a package deployment, such as which version of a package was deployed and when it was deployed.

    1. Click Packages.
    2. Click the package for which you want to view the deployment history.
    3. In the deployment level for which you want to view the deployment history, click the Down Arrow, and then click Deployment history.

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