About

Using Robots in Linux environments allows you to run unattended automations in Docker containers and provides a faster experience and an easier way of scaling up your deployment.

When Linux environments are used, robots can only run processes developed as cross-platform in Studio that do not require UI Interaction.

Prerequisites

• Docker Environment.
• Network connection to Orchestrator.
• Machine or Machine Template Key.

Developing Cross-Platform Automations

Linux robots are only able to run unattended automations that do not require user interface. For this, when creating an automation, make sure to select Cross-platform.
This way, only cross-platform activities are shown, while unsupported ones are hidden.

The default activities packages for cross-platform projects are:

• UiPath.System.Activities
• UiPath.WebAPI.Activities

Deployment

In order to deploy unattended robots in a Linux environment, follow the steps below:

Orchestrator Configuration

Create an unattended robot in orchestrator, as shown in this document, then save the machine key so it can be used later.

Client Machine

1. Open a command line terminal and get the docker image using the following command:

docker pull registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime

2. Start the downloaded image using the parameters to connect the Robot to Orchestrator using the command below:

docker run -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept -e ORCHESTRATOR_URL="https://cloud.uipath.com/organization/tentant/orchestrator_" -e MACHINE_KEY="$KEY" -tid registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime

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Important!

In order to successfully start the robot, you must accept the license agreement by adding the -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept parameter in the command.

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Important!

Every time you run the command presented in step 2, a new robot is spawned in Orchestrator.

3. To see the status of your robots on the machine use the following command:

docker ps -a

4. To disconnect a robot use the command below:

docker stop {container_id}

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Important!

Using docker kill container_id stops the robot on the machine but does not disconnect it from Orchestrator.

5. To reconnect a specific robot use the command below:

docker start {container_id}

Logging

If you need to persist log files beyond the lifecycle of the container instance, use the following command:

docker run -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept -e MACHINE_KEY="{machine_key}" -e ORCHESTRATOR_URL="https://cloud.uipath.com/organization/tentant/orchestrator_" -v C:\Users\user.name\Desktop\logs:/root/.local/share/UiPath/Logs/ -ti registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime

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Note:

The Robot Linux image is based on the Alpine Linux version of the mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/runtime. All files required by the application are placed in the /root/application directory.

Running Jobs on Linux Robots

The procedure for running an unattended job on Linux robots is identical to the one for Windows.

Remote Debugging

To test your process, you can enable debug mode using the following command:

docker run -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept -e DEBUG_SESSION=true -ti -p8573:8573 registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime

The command starts a new Robot Container with the Debug feature enabled running on port 8573. After the container is started, you can connect to the docker image using the host machine ip and the port 8573 making use of the Studio Remote Debugging feature.

If you want to debug an already started Robot container you can use the unattended roboot connection feature with a robot container connected to the orchestrator.