Custom Package Folders and Network Paths

A Package combines all parts used in an automation and it can include: Activities, Workflows, Files, Data Sources, and other components needed for running the automation. A project created in Studio is published as a Package to a location/feed from where it is later downloaded by the robot and used to run an automation.

The following locations/feeds are configured by default in Studio:

• Orchestrator Tenant and Orchestrator Host
• Local
• Official
• Marketplace

Custom feeds can be used as well, but before setting up a custom location to publish a Package, make sure that Robots have access to it.

Important: For Packages Location, absolute paths need to be used. Relative paths are not supported.

For more information on how feeds work and how to change them, see the Managing Activities Packages document which goes in more details on this subject.

Changing Package Location

The Package Location can be changed via Setup Command Line using the PACKAGES_FOLDER parameter or by editing the uipath.config file. This enables you to change the download location of your workflows and their dependencies for Studio and/or Robot.

When installing the Robot via command line, if you do not provide this parameter the default folder is %userProfile%\.nuget\packages.

It is possible to use environment variables such as %USERNAME% or %USERPROFILE% but needs to be escaped as follows:

:fa-caret-right: When the setup is invoked from Command Prompt - use - UiPathStudio.msi PACKAGES_FOLDER=C:\Some\Path\^%USERNAME^%.

:fa-caret-right: Batch scripts - use % - UiPathStudio.msi PACKAGES_FOLDER=C:\Some\Path\^%USERNAME^%.

:fa-caret-right: PowerShell console or scripts - no escaping is needed.

:fa-caret-right: When using Active Directory domain accounts, it is recommended to specify the domain name in the folder structure too, such as C:\packages\^%UserDomain^%.^%Username^%.

Using the same path for multiple robots

Multiple robots can use the same path (local folder or shared network folder) to download and execute automations.

Based on the location and robot deployment type, there can be some limitations:

Service Mode

Local path

• No restrictions when a local path is used by multiple service mode robots on the same machine.

Network path

• When the robot is deployed in service mode and Secure XAML is used, network paths are not supported.
• Service mode robots installed on separate machines cannot connect to the same folder on a network. Each machine must have its own folder.
• Only non-mapped paths are supported, e.g. \\server\Packages. Mapped network paths such as Z:\Packages is not supported. The reasoning consists in how the mappings are being resolved per user. In this situation, the owner of the installed files is the computer account and thus, it will not have access to the per-user network mappings.

User Mode

Local path

• When local paths are used, the path must contain the username.
• If the same local path is used by multiple user mode robots on the same machine, installing or running an automation can fail if two or more robots try to use the files in the folder at the same time. If two or more robots try to install the same process at the same time, the installation can fail.

Network path

• When network paths are used, the path must include the machine name and username.

  Note:

  If the same process has to be executed by multiple robots simultaneously, make sure that the workflow does not write or modify any files in the workflow installation folder. The working directory of the automation is the installation folder, thus you should avoid using relative paths in the workflow except for reading files packaged in the automation.

  To avoid this, use absolute paths that resolve to each specific user. For example %userprofile%\Desktop or %temp%.