Automation Suite stack

High-level architecture

Automation Suite allows you to bring and manage your own Kubernetes cluster.

There are two sections of the stack:

1. UiPath® managed: UiPath® services and components optimized for Automation Suite provided and supported by UiPath®.

2. Customer managed: Prerequisites for deploying Automation Suite on your cloud infrastructure managed and supported by you. For supported configurations, see the Compatibility matrix.

Stack Component	Description
UiPath® managed
UiPath® products	When you deploy Automation Suite, a minimum set of shared capabilities are installed by default, such as UiPath® Portal, Identity, License, Org Management, and Audit. You can choose which UiPath® products to enable on Automation Suite both at the time of installation or post-installation. Note that there are cross-product dependencies you must address.
Customer managed
Kubernetes cluster (OpenShift)	OpenShift is a managed Kubernetes service from Red Hat. Make sure to configure your OpenShift cluster correctly, with the required worker nodes and capacity.
ArgoCD	Open-source declarative CD tool for Kubernetes. It follows the GitOps pattern of using Git repositories as the source of truth for defining the desired application state. It is optimized to provide application life cycle management (ALM) capabilities for Automation Suite. OpenShift provides the OpenShift GitOps Operator, which ensures similar functionality to ArgoCD.
Istio	Open-source service mesh that provides functionality such as ingress, request routing, traffic monitoring, etc., for the microservices running inside the Kubernetes cluster. OpenShift provides OpenShift Service Mesh, which ensures similar functionality to Istio.
Object storage	Automation Suite and UiPath® Services require Object Storage - Azure Blob Storage, Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), or an S3-compatible objectstore. Red Hat provides OpenShift Data Foundation as an S3-compatible object storage solution.
Block storage	Block storage is similar to disk storage needed for Automation Suite platform and UiPath® products. Automation Suite is compatible with Azure Disk Storage and Amazon’s Elastic Block Storage. Also, Red Hat provides OpenShift Data Foundation as a block storage solution.
File Storage	File storage is hierarchical data storage methodology and is needed for several UiPath® products. Automation Suite is compatible with Azure Files and Elastic File Storage from Microsoft and AWS, respectively.
Caching	Caching is required by several UiPath® products. Automation Suite is compatible with Cloud Redis for Azure and Elasticache for AWS. You can also use the Redis Enterprise Operator from OpenShift.
Database	SQL Server and SQL databases are needed for all UiPath® products. Automation Suite is compatible with Microsoft SQL server, Azure SQL and AWS managed (RDS) SQL services.
Cert Manager	Cert Manager is an open-source certificate controller for Kubernetes. You can choose to keep the Cert Manager pre-configured within Automation Suite or bring your own. If you bring your own, you are responsible for managing the lifecycle of that component. Important: You must install Cert Manager if you plan to install Process Mining.

Important: Istio and ArgoCD are mandatory components that Automation Suite is dependent on. For Automation Suite on OpenShift installations, OpenShift Service Mesh can replace Istio and the OpenShift GitOps Operator can replace ArgoCD. As installing Istio, ArgoCD or the equivalent components from OpenShift requires admin privileges, you must install the components separately before installing Automation Suite.

Responsibility matrix

Activity	UiPath® responsibility	Customer responsibility
Infrastructure prerequisites	Document guidance on capacity for nodes in the cluster Document compatibility matrix of supported cloud services and their versions Document prerequisite validation checks before installation	Provision required infrastructure resources dedicated to Automation Suite Manage the infrastructure on an ongoing basis (e.g., patching, availability, etc.)
Network policies (optionally provided by UiPath®)	N/A	N/A
Gatekeeper and OPA policies (optionally provided by UiPath®)	N/A	N/A
uipathctl (management tool)	Provide management tool (similar to kubectl) optimized for installing and managing Automation Suite Documentation on how to use the tool associated with use cases (ex: running pre-checks, installing, etc.)	Management node / machine with uipathctl, connectivity to the cluster and cluster admin access to install and run Automation Suite
Automation Suite upgrades	Provide minor updates to Long Term Support (LTS) versions that consist of service image updates for bug fixes and security patches typically every two months Provides new LTS versions of Automation Suite that consist of new service features (e.g., Orchestrator) and updates component versions typically every 12 months. UiPath® will also publish an updated compatibility matrix of the new LTS version and infrastructure components (e.g., OpenShift versions)	Consume minor updates regularly to get bug fixes and security patches. Minor releases are meant to be lightweight Update to major LTS versions to get feature updates and updated compatibility matrix
Infrastructure upgrades	Publish compatibility matrix for each new LTS version release to allow you to upgrade your infrastructure and stay within supported versions of OpenShift. For supported OpenShift versions, see the Compatibility matrix.	Update the infrastructure based on Automation Suite compatibility matrix Follow best practice of taking backups before upgrades
Backup and Restore	N/A	Use your own solution and follow UiPath® documentation on best practices and maintenance mode. For infrastructure prerequisites (such as SQL or Storage), you must take backups.
Support	Provide support based on Support Programs mentioned here. Provide support for Automation Suite Provide diagnostics tool to help identify the root cause of common issues (the Automation Suite package or your infrastructure)	Manage and support the infrastructure prerequisites or non-Automation Suite bundled components