Offline single-node evaluation installation

Overview

Important:

You must meet the hardware and software prerequisites before proceeding with the installation. See Hardware and software requirements.

You can use a dedicated script to validate the installation prerequisites and infrastructure readiness. See Validating the prerequisites.

For a smooth installation experience, make sure to follow our best practices. See .

The installation process has the following general steps:

Step	Description
Step 1: Download the installation packages	Perform this step from a Linux or Windows machine with access to the internet and to the offline machines where you plan to deploy Automation Suite. While the installation packages finish downloading, you can continue to some of the next steps. Step 1.1: Downloading the installation package Step 1.2: Getting all downloaded files on the machine
Step 2: Configure the installation	The interactive installer gathers inputs for most common installation options and generates a configuration that you can use during installation. Step 2.1: Configuring the installation: default configuration The interactive installer offers a default experience with a limited number of configuration options. To customize the installed products, set up separate SQL servers for specific products, and more, edit the configuration file. Step 2.2: (Optional) Configuring the installation: advanced configuration (optional)
Step 3: Run the installation	Run the installation.Once the installation is complete, you can start using the cluster. Step 3: Running the installation
Step 4: Complete the installation	You have completed the installation successfully and can move to post-installation steps. You can now access the newly created cluster and suite, update certificates, resize the PVC, and more. Step 4: Completing the installation

Important:

RHEL kernel version kernel-4.18.0-477.10.1.el8_8 is affected by an issue that interrupts the installation or management of the Automation Suite cluster. Make sure that none of the Automation Suite nodes uses this kernel version either pre- or post-installation. You can update the kernel version by running the following command:

dnf install -y kernel kernel-tools kernel-tools-libs

Step 1: Downloading the installation packages and getting the files on the machine

Step 1.1: Downloading the installation packages

You must perform this step on a Linux or Windows machine with access to the internet and to the machine in the offline environment where you plan to install Automation Suite.

The commands on this page are for a RHEL-based OS. For Windows or other OSes, adjust for equivalent commands specific to those environments.

Important: You must install the required RPM packages before launching the Automation Suite installer. For details, see RPM package requirements.

ON THE SEPARATE MACHINE WITH INTERNET ACCESS

This section explains how to get the required files to start the installation process.

1. Connect to a machine with internet access and run the following command to get the interactive installer file:

   ssh <user>@<dns_of_vm>

2. If you used an SSH key, run the following command:

   ssh -i <path/to/Key.pem> <user>@<dns_of_vm>

3. Download the following packages:
   • installUiPathAS.sh – Mandatory. See installUiPathAS.sh for download instructions.
   • as-installer.zip – Mandatory. See as-installer.zip for download instructions.
   • as.tar.gz – Optional. Required only when no external Docker registry is available. See as.tar.gz for download instructions.
   • as-infra.tar.gz - Optional. Required only when using an external Docker registry or joining additional nodes, such as Task Mining or GPU. See as-infra.tar.gz for download instructions.
   • du-ondemand.tar.gz – Optional. Needed only for Document Understanding. See du-ondemand.tar.gz for download instructions.
     Note: Not following this optional step limits the functionality of the Document Understanding services.
   • cv-ondemand.tar.gz – Optional. Needed only for Computer Vision. See du-ondemand.tar.gz for download instructions.
     Note:

     Not following this optional step prevents access to the Computer Vision services.

Step 1.2: Getting all downloaded files on the machine

Make sure to take the following steps:

• Check that all files finished downloaded on the machine with internet access;
• Create the target folder on the machine;
• Copy the files from the online machine to the target machine.

ON THE MAIN MACHINE OF THE CLUSTER

Create the installation folder by running the following command:

sudo su -
mkdir -p /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/
chmod -R 755 /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite
mkdir -p /uipath/tmp
chmod -R 777 /uipath/tmp

Note: Running mkdir -p /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/ is not required if you use the configureUiPathDisks.sh script.

ON THE SEPARATE MACHINE WITH INTERNET ACCESS

Copy the files to one of the nodes:

1. From the machine with internet access, copy the files to the installation folder on the target machine, and the offline bundle(s) to the /uipath/tmp folder.

   scp ~/installUiPathAS.sh ~/as-installer.zip <username>@<node dns>:/uipath/tmp 
   scp ~/as.tar.gz <username>@<node dns>:/uipath/tmp/

   If you plan to join additional nodes, such as for Task Mining or GPU, run the following command instead:

   scp ~/installUiPathAS.sh ~/as-installer.zip ~/as-infra.tar.gz <username>@<node dns>:/uipath/tmp
   scp ~/as.tar.gz <username>@<node dns>:/uipath/tmp/

2. (Optional) To use Document Understanding, copy the following bundle to the /uipath/tmp folder.

   scp ~/du-ondemand.tar.gz <username>@<node dns>:/uipath/tmp/

   Warning: Not following this optional step prevents access to the Document Understanding services.
3. (Optional) To use Computer Vision, copy the following bundle to the /uipath/tmp folder.

   scp ~/cv-ondemand.tar.gz <username>@<node dns>:/uipath/tmp/

   Warning: Not following this optional step prevents access to the Computer Vision services.

Step 2: Configuring the installation

Step 2.1: Default configuration

ON THE MAIN MACHINE OF THE CLUSTER

1. Add the prerequisites folder to the current PATH.
   The interactive installer requires jq, and the Automation Suite offline bundles already include it. Run the following commands to add it to PATH, and make sure you are still root:

   mv /uipath/tmp/installUiPathAS.sh /uipath/tmp/as-installer.zip /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite
   cd /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite
   unzip ./as-installer.zip -d .
   chmod +x ./bin/jq
   export PATH=${PATH}:/opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/bin

   If you plan to join additional nodes, such as for Task Mining or GPU, run the following command instead:

   mv /uipath/tmp/installUiPathAS.sh /uipath/tmp/as-installer.zip /uipath/tmp/as-infra.tar.gz  /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite
   cd /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite
   unzip ./as-installer.zip -d .
   chmod +x ./bin/jq
   export PATH=${PATH}:/opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/bin

2. Provide permissions to the installer folder.
   It is required to give adequate permissions to the /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite folder where the install scripts are placed and will be executed.The installer will also create some files (output.json) after the execution of each stage.To provide the required permissions, run the following command:

   chmod -R 755 /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite

3. Run the interactive installer to configure the installation options.
   Important:

   The interactive installer tries to download as-installer.zip and fails in offline environments. To bypass the download step and prevent any installation issues, run the following command:

   export BUNDLE_FILE="/opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/as-installer.zip"

   To start the interactive installer, run the following command:

   chmod +x ./installUiPathAS.sh 
   ./installUiPathAS.sh

   The interactive installer guides you through the configuration steps and generates the configuration that you can then customize through the remaining installation steps.

Running the interactive wizard in single-node offline mode

Run the interactive installer to configure the installation options. The tool gathers inputs for the most common installation options and generates a configuration file. HAA is not supported in single-node evaluation mode.

To install Automation Suite, take the following steps:

1. Start the interactive installer.
2. Accept the license agreement to continue the installation.
3. In Main Menu select your deployment mode. Choose Single-node deployment (recommended for demo/evaluation purposes) and confirm your selection.
   
4. In Deployment configuration select your environment type. Choose Air-gapped.
5. Choose your product selection. Your options are:
   • Complete (All products)
   • Select products

   Note:

   For details on the product selection options, see Hardware and software requirements.

6. If you chose Select products in the previous step, indicate the products you want to install. Your options are:
   • Action Center
   • AI Center
   • Apps
   • Automation Hub
   • Automation Ops
   • Automation Suite Robots
   • Data Service
   • Document Understanding
   • Insights
   • Orchestrator
   • Process Mining
   • Task Mining
   • Test Manager

   Important:

   Some Automation Suite products have additional dependencies on each other. When selecting the products you want to install, make sure you consider Cross-products dependencies. Trying to install a product without its dependencies would result in an error.

   Some Automation Suite products, such as Task Mining and Document Understanding, require a dedicated agent node. Before continuing, make sure you meet the hardware requirements.

7. To install AI Center, you must follow additional steps:
   1. Specify whether AI Center requires an external Orchestrator.
      • If AI Center does not require an external Orchestrator, continue to Step 8.
      • If AI Center requires an external Orchestrator, continue to Step 7b.
   2. Copy the Orchestrator certificate to the virtual machine. For more information on this, check the Copy the Orchestrator certificate page.
   3. Specify the Orchestrator URL for AI Center. Example: https://orchestrator.example.com.
   4. Specify the Identity URL for AI Center. Example: https://orchestrator.example.com/identity.
   5. Specify the path to the Orchestrator certificate file. Example: /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/UiPath_Installer/orch.cer.
   6. Specify the path to Identity certificate file. Example: /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/UiPath_Installer/identity.cer.
      Important: In offline installations, you do not need to specify the metering API key. To complete the AI Center installation, follow the step from the Completing the installation section.
8. Confirm your product selection to determine the minimum hardware and software requirements.
9. Enter the Automation Suite FQDN.
10. Specify whether you would like to bring your own object store for the selected products. If you select No, you opt for the default object store. If you select Yes, choose one of the following options:
    • Azure Storage Account – Indicate if you want to use managed identity-based with your Azure storage account, provide the following details corresponding to your choice, then specify if you want the containers to be automatically provisioned for all the selected products:
      • If Yes, provide the Azure storage account name and endpoint suffix, and your client ID;
      • If No, provide the Azure storage account name and endpoint suffix, and your Azure account key;
    • AWS S3 – Provide the prefix and suffix for the bucket names, the AWS region where buckets are hosted, the access key and the secret key for the S3 account, and specify if you want the buckets to be automatically provisioned for all the selected products.
    • Other S3 Compatible storage – Specify the prefix and suffix for the bucket names, the S3 server FQDN, the S3 port, the access key and the secret key for the S3 account, and specify if you want the buckets to be automatically provisioned for all the selected products.
      Important: Many S3 objectstores require the CORS set to all the traffic from the Automation Suite cluster. You must configure the CORS policy at the objectstore level to allow the FQDN of the cluster.
11. Specify whether you want to bring your own OCI-compatible external Docker registry.

    • If you select No, you opt for the default internal Docker registry.

    • If you select Yes, you must provide the following details on the registry you want to use: registry URL with port, username, password, and pull secret.

12. Specify whether you want to use Kerberos Authentication for SQL connections.
13. Enter the SQL Server URL. Follow the prompt to enter the connection port, username, and password.
    Important: If you install Process Mining, a second SQL Server is recommended. Make sure to provide the warehouse SQL Server URL, connection prompt, username, and password.

    For details on the hardware requirements the second SQL Server must meet, see SQL requirements for Process Mining.
14. Specify whether you want the installer to automatically create the necessary databases.
15. Provide CA certificates for any external software that requires a secure TLS communication, otherwise the installation will fail. If you did not enable the TLS communication, you can configure the certificates post-installation.
    Important: The installer accepts only Base64-encoded DER certificates in `PEM` format. If the external servers have different CAs, you can concatenate all the public certificates in a single file.
16. After defining the configuration parameters, the installer autogenerates the configuration. You can edit the configuration parameters directly in the terminal.
    Important: After generating the configuration file and the folder, you can exit the installer and proceed with the following remaining steps to complete the installation.

At the end of the installation process, you are prompted with a deployment summary that gives you access to the Cluster Administration portal, host portal, organization administration interface, Rancher, ArgoCD, and more.

Step 2.2: (Optional) Advanced configuration

This step is optional.

You can find the cluster_config.json file in the UiPathAutomationSuite folder. You can use this file to enable additional products, disable any of the default products, configure your SQL DBs and their respective connection strings, and certificates. You can also enable proxy settings if you use a proxy for internet connection.

For single-node evaluation installation, note that you cannot enable High Availability.

For advanced configuration, see Advanced installation experience.

Note:

You can re-run the wizard after the complete installation.

Step 3: Running the installation

Make sure you copied the downloaded files on the main offline machine, where you performed the configuration, in the install folder created by the install wizard.

Accepting the license agreement

Before running the installation, make sure to read the License Agreement.

To accept the license agreement, choose one of the following methods:

• Option 1 (Environment Variable): Set the LICENSE_AGREEMENT environment variable to accept by executing the following command: export LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept
• Option 2 (Inline parameter): Alternatively, append --accept-license-agreement to every execution of install-uipath.sh.

Running the installation

Execute the infrastructure installation and install Kubernetes, storage, and networking components by running the following command:

./install-uipath.sh -i ./cluster_config.json -o ./output.json -k --offline-bundle /uipath/tmp/as.tar.gz --offline-tmp-folder /uipath/tmp --accept-license-agreement

Uploading the offline bundles when using internal Docker registry

Once infrastructure installation is complete, if you use an internal Docker registry, upload your offline bundles by running the following command on the first node:

./configureUiPathAS.sh registry upload --offline-bundle /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite/as.tar.gz --offline-tmp-folder /uipath/tmp

Finishing the installation

Run the installation commands to install the products (estimated duration: 2h30min - 3h30min):

cd /opt/UiPathAutomationSuite
./install-uipath.sh -i ./cluster_config.json -o ./output.json -f -s --install-type offline --accept-license-agreement

For help, you can run ./install-uipath.sh -h --accept-license-agreement.

Loading the optional bundles

Note:

This step is required only if you did not opt for external Docker registry.

To load the optional Documeyent Understanding bundles, execute the following commands:

./configureUiPathAS.sh registry upload --optional-offline-bundle "/uipath/tmp/du-ondemand.tar.gz" --offline-tmp-folder "/uipath/tmp"

To load the optional Computer Vision bundle, execute the following command:

./configureUiPathAS.sh registry upload --optional-offline-bundle "/uipath/tmp/cv-ondemand.tar.gz" --offline-tmp-folder "/uipath/tmp"

This document focuses on -a command argument as this caters to need of installing all the required components.

Installing the Task Mining node

If you install a Task Mining node in single-node evaluation mode, you need to run an additional set of steps. Follow the Task Mining installation guide to complete the steps for Task Mining.

Step 4: Completing the installation

Note: You have completed the installation successfully, and you can now move to post-installation steps.

Updating certificates

The installation process generates self-signed certificates on your behalf. These certificates are compliant with FIPS 140-2. The Azure deployment template also gives you the option to provide a CA-issued server certificate at installation time instead of using an auto-generated self-signed certificate.

Self-signed certificates will expire in 90 days, and you must replace them with certificates signed by a trusted CA as soon as installation completes. If you do not update the certificates, the installation will stop working after 90 days.

If you installed Automation Suite on a FIPS 140-2-enabled host and want to update the certificates, make sure they are compatible with FIPS 140-2.

For instructions, see Managing certificates.

Accessing Automation Suite

To access the newly created cluster and suite, see Accessing Automation Suite.

Completing an AI Center installation

If AI Center requires an external Orchestrator, run the following command to complete the installation:

./configureUiPathAS.sh aicenter configure --installation-token <identity token>

For more information on how to configure Orchestrator for AI Center, check the Configuring Orchestrator page from the AI Center guide.