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UiPath Orchestrator

The UiPath Orchestrator Guide

About Processes

A process represents a package version linked to a particular folder. When you deploy a new process, it becomes available for all accounts that have access to that folder.

The Processes page enables you to deploy an uploaded package as a new process, manage previously created processes, keep all your processes up to date with the most recent package versions, and directly start a job using the desired process. This helps you distribute packages across all accounts in your organization and execute processes faster whether from the Processes or Jobs page.

In addition to executing processes from the Processes and Jobs pages, you can also configure any process to automatically start when the Robot agent is launched. As an administrator, this enables you to ensure that necessary processes are launched without delay or failure from the machine user, for example, to ensure adherence to company IT policies.

The table below contains field descriptions for the Processes page.

FieldDescription
NameThe display name of the process.

The process type is illustrated with an icon displayed alongside the version. The icon represents the type of that specific process version.
Requires User Interface requires_user_interface
Background Process requires_user_interface

You can sort the processes list by Name.
Package Name Not visible by default. To display the column, select it from the Columns menu.

The name of the package that was deployed.

You can sort the processes list by Package Name.
VersionThe number of the package version currently being used in a given process.

The update_available icon next to this field indicates that you are not using the latest available version.
If the package version associated with a process is no longer available in the configured NuGet repository, it is indicated with the following icon version_not_available.
If you are using the latest available version, the following icon using_latest_version is displayed.
Environment Available only for classic folders.
The name of the environment assigned to a given package.
Job priorityThe priority of the job.
Click here for details about the job prioritization mechanism.

You can sort and filter the processes list by Job priority.
Scope Not visible by default. To display the column, select it from the Columns menu.

The scope of a project, set at design time in Studio. The following options are available:
Process - displayed for Studio projects of type Process or Library
Testing - displayed for Studio projects of type Test Automation

You can filter the processes list by Scope.
Execution typeThe type of the process execution. Linked to the Attended Automation project setting in Studio:
if you turn on the toggle, the process is executed in an Attended context
if the toggle is off, the process is executed in an Unattended context

The Unspecified value is displayed for packages published prior to the 2021.10.3 Studio version.

Click here for details about the Attended Automation.
CompatibilityThe compatible operating system for the underlying target framework of the automation project.

Click here for details about the process compatibility.
Entry pointThe workflow file used to start the execution of the process. By default, the Main.xml file is set as the entry point. If your project contains multiple entry points, the one selected at process creation is displayed.

Click here for details about the entry point.
DescriptionA custom description for the process. It is recommended that you populate this field, especially when dealing with multiple users and processes in Orchestrator.
LabelsThe list of all labels associated with the process.
PropertiesThe list of all key-value pairs associated with the process.
Retention actionThe retention policy outcome at the end of the retention duration.
Retention (days)The duration of the retention policy.
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Runtime Arguments


Entry Points

There are cases when your automation projects consist of multiple workflows. For such projects, it is a good practice to hold your project's main workflow in the Main.xaml file. All other automation .xaml files included in the project should be linked to the Main.xaml through the Invoke Workflow File activity since in typical scenarios only the Main.xaml file is executed when you run a job, it being the default entry point of any automation project. Learn more about project organization and design principles in Studio.

You can change the entry point of an automation project, i.e. change its execution "gate" by changing the main .xaml file. Similarly, you can add multiple entry points for your RPA processes, which enables you to execute only a certain branch of your automation project.

You can change the main .xaml file or add multiple entry points in RPA processes in Studio by right-clicking a different .xaml file and setting it as main or adding it as an entry point.

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Important

This feature only works for unattended execution, i.e. jobs started from Orchestrator. When launching a job using the Assistant, the Robot executes the main entry point set at design time in Studio, regardless of the entry point set in Orchestrator.

Say you build a workflow that checks invoices. The invoice could be downloaded from cloud storage or it could be located on your device.
You design two workflows inside the project and set them both as entry points:

  • DownloadInvoiceFromStorage.xaml — workflow that downloads the invoice from an external storage
  • GetInvoiceFromLocal.xaml — workflow that gets the invoice from your device.

At run time in Orchestrator, you select as an entry point the workflow that corresponds to your scenario. If the invoice is already on your local device, you set GetInvoiceFromLocal.xaml as an entry point. This starts the execution beginning with that step and continues with the invoice checking workflow (the Main.xaml file).

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Note

  • For packages published before July 2020, Orchestrator cannot determine the main entry point, hence no entry point is selected by default. You need to select the entry point from the drop-down manually.

  • If the process doesn't support multiple entry points, Orchestrator displays Default in the Entry point drop-down, and the field is disabled.

In, Out, In/Out Arguments

Designing your project in Studio to accept In or Out arguments enables you to use them in other third-party apps or Orchestrator. This means that any process you create can receive input arguments through the Orchestrator API or interface.

In Orchestrator, arguments and related information are displayed in multiple places: at the process level, job level, and trigger level in the dedicated arguments sections (Runtime Arguments or Arguments tab).
You can specify values for any input arguments. For more info on input and output arguments in Orchestrator, please visit this page.

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1 - Select the entry point. Only enabled if multiple entry points are available.
2 - Filter the displayed arguments according to their direction (Input, Output, All)
3 - See arguments and related information for the .xaml set as the entry point.

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Note

Default values provided for In arguments in Studio are not displayed in Orchestrator, at any level.

Background vs Foreground Processes


This section describes existing process types according to the user interface requirements. The process type is configured in Studio on the Project Settings window and illustrated accordingly in Orchestrator after publishing the project.

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There are two types of processes, according to the user interface requirements:

  • doesnot_require_user_interface Background Process - Does not require a user interface, nor user intervention to get executed. For this reason, you can execute multiple such jobs in unattended mode on the same user simultaneously. Each execution requires an Unattended/NonProduction license. Unattended robots handle background processes in Session 0, under NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE, which has no UI and cannot interact with a user session.
    Learn more about background process automation in Studio.
  • requires_user_interface Foreground Process - Requires user interface as the execution needs the UI to be generated, or the process contains interactive activities, such as Click. You can only execute one such process on a user at a time.

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Note

The same user can execute multiple background processes and a singular foreground at the same time.

The following table shows the UiPath Robot version required to run foreground/background processes according to the robot credential considerations.

Process typeCredential considerationsRobot version
BackgroundRobot with credentialsAny
ForegroundRobot with credentialsAny
BackgroundRobot without credentials2021.10+
ForegroundRobot without credentialsInvalid configuration! Jobs cannot be executed.

Process Compatibility


When creating an automation project in Studio, developers must configure a compatibility attribute that impacts the underlying target framework of the automation project and the compatible operating system.

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The following table shows the UiPath Robot version required to execute processes according to their target frameworks and OS compatibility considerations.
Learn more about target frameworks in Studio.

Target frameworkOperating systemRobot version
.NET Framework 4.6.1Windows - LegacyAny
.NET 5.0+Windows2021.10+
.NET 5.0+Cross-platform2021.10+

Version Management


If a new version of a package is available in Orchestrator (you published a new version from Studio), it is indicated with the update_process icon next to the process it is part of. For more information, see the Managing Package Versions page.

You may update processes to the latest available version individually, on the corresponding View Processes window, or you may update them in bulk, by selecting multiple of them and clicking the global Use Latest button. For more information, see the Managing Package Versions page.

If a package version associated with a process is no longer available in the configured NuGet repository, it is indicated with the cannot_find_process icon.

If you are using the latest available version of a package in a specific process, the using_last_package_version icon is displayed next to the process.

Used applications


Windows applications that are used by the underlying Studio package are displayed in the Applications section.
If the package uses applications that cannot be identified, an Unknown apps entry is displayed, suffixed by the number of unidentified apps, in parentheses.
If no applications can be retrieved, a No app(s) could be retrieved for this package message is displayed. This is most likely due to one of the following reasons:

  • Your Studio version is older than 2023.2.
  • Your Studio version is 2023.2, but a governance rule is in place, preventing this information from being logged.
  • Your package was uploaded from an external feed. Only packages from internal feeds can provide this information.
  • The package does not use any applications.

These details are also displayed in the Show release notes window for each package version.

Processes Permissions


Creating a process:

  • View permission on Packages;
  • View and Create permissions on Processes.

Starting a job from the Processes page:

  • Permissions for creating a process
  • Create on Jobs

Deploying processes in classic folders:

  • Permissions for creating a process
    View on Environments is also required.

Read more about roles.

Updated 2 days ago


About Processes


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