About

Using Robots in Linux environments enables you to run unattended automations in Docker containers, providing an easy way to scale up your deployment.

The Linux robot image referenced in this document can only run processes developed as cross-platform that do not require UI Interaction. To run processes that require a user interface, you need to use the Linux docker image built for Chrome Automation.

Prerequisites

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

Developing Cross-Platform Automations

Linux robots can only run unattended automations. When creating an automation, make sure to select the Cross-platform compatibility. 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
• UiPath.UIAutomation.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

docker pull registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime:<tag>

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

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

To retrieve or start a specific version of the robot, replace the <tag> parameter with the actual version from the Docker Image Tags column in the table below:

Not using any tag retrieves the most recent enterprise patch for the latest enterprise version.

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Troubleshooting tip:

If you encounter issues connecting the robot to Orchestrator, this might be caused by a host machine configuration (e.g. firewall rules). To resolve this, add a specific DNS server in the command.
Example: docker run --dns="1.1.1.1" -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept -e ORCHESTRATOR_URL="https://cloud.uipath.com/organization/tentant/orchestrator_" -e MACHINE_KEY="$KEY" -tid registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime
Where 1.1.1.1 refers to the public DNS resolver from Cloudflare. This can be any DNS resolver that can resolve the SignalR Hub.

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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.

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

docker run -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept -e ORCHESTRATOR_URL="https://cloud.uipath.com/organization/tentant/orchestrator_" -e CLIENT_ID="$Client_ID" -e CLIENT_SECRET="$Client_secret" -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.

Configuring package feeds

The packages used to run automations on the linux robots are available in the /root/.local/share/UiPath/Packages/ directory on the docker container. If you want to configure specific packages for the host machine, you can configure the volume which should be used to persist the nuget packages using 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 <path to packages>:/root/.local/share/UiPath/Packages/ -ti registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime

docker run -e LICENSE_AGREEMENT=accept -e ORCHESTRATOR_URL="https://cloud.uipath.com/organization/tentant/orchestrator_" -e CLIENT_ID="$Client_ID" -e CLIENT_SECRET="$Client_secret" -v <path to packages>:/root/.local/share/UiPath/Packages/ -ti registry.uipath.com/robot/runtime

Where <path to packages> refers to the location on the host machine.

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 Robocontainer, you can use the unattended robot connection feature with a robot container connected to the orchestrator.