Redirecting robots through a proxy server

For a Robot to establish direct communication with Orchestrator, it needs to be on the same network or use an open one. Otherwise, you need to set up a proxy server to facilitate the communication.

Set up a proxy by either using a proxy script or supplying the proxy server address with a list of addresses to bypass. Only one method can be used. If both are configured, the proxy script takes precedence.

The following configuration options are available:

• Configuring the web browser

• Configuring the Windows proxy settings

• Configuring the proxy setting through command line parameters

• Editing the uipath.config file

Important: When updating from versions previous to v2021.4, proxy configurations are migrated from the proxy.config file to the uipath.config in order to match the new format.

Proxy for Use Mode robots

User Mode robots inherit the proxy settings configured for your web browser.

For proxy settings that require basic non-Windows authentication, store the necessary credentials in the Credential Manager of the machine.

Important:

To apply proxy settings on User Mode robots, you need to restart the User Host Service. You can do this by signing out of the Windows user session and then signing back in.

Proxy for Service Mode robots

To correctly use proxy settings for Service Mode robots with the Interactive Sign In and Live Streaming features, you need to modify both the uipath.config file and the corresponding Windows Settings of the user account running the Robot.

The update process for proxy configurations

You can configure the auto-update process for robots operating behind a proxy, depending on the on the Robot installation type:

For unattended installations, the Update Agent is absent. Configurations for proxy are manually handled by modifying the UiPath.config file. Both Robot deployment and Update Service run using a Windows Service, independent of a user.

For attended installations, configurations for proxy are also manually handled by modifying the UiPath.config file. However, the user starts both the Robot deployment and the Update Agent. The Update Service runs using a Windows Service.

For quick installations, configurations for the proxy are inherited from the existing user settings. The user initiates all services: Robot deployment, Update Agent, and Update Service.

Windows Credentials Proxy Authentication

The proxy server might require credentials to allow traffic. You can configure the proxy to authenticate using the credentials of the logged-in Windows user.

To enable this feature, add the system environment variable UIPATH_PROXY_USE_DEFAULT_CREDENTIALS on the machine running the Robot and set its value to true. This tells the Robot to use the Windows Credentials of the current user for proxy authentication.

Basic Authentication

Starting with version 2021.10, the Robot Service supports proxy servers using Basic Authentication protocols.

User Mode robots - With Basic Authentication, the Assistant identifies if a proxy configuration is implemented on the machine and prompts the user for their credentials.

Service Mode robots - The Robot Executor does not support Basic Authentication methods for proxy configurations. While you can use Basic Authentication for connecting to Orchestrator and downloading packages, you cannot use it within the actual workflow execution. To enable Basic Authentication for Service Mode robots, update the UiPath.config file with the following proxy parameters:

<webProxySettings>
<add key="ProxyAddress" value="http://my.proxy.net:8008" />
<add key="UserName" value="myUser" />
<add key="Password" value="myPassword" />
<add key="Domain" value="myDomain" />
</webProxySettings>

Configuring the web browser

1. Open the Internet Properties window.
2. On the Connections tab, select LAN settings. The Local Area Network (LAN) Settings window opens. Depending on your setup, you can set a proxy configuration script or a proxy server.
   
   1. To use a proxy script, select Use automatic configuration script, and provide the address to the script.
   2. To manually set up the proxy server, select Use a proxy server for your LAN, then provide the address of the proxy server and the port.
3. To save your settings, select OK.
4. In your web browser, test the connection by accessing the Orchestrator URL.

Configuring the Windows proxy settings

1. Open the Proxy settings window.
2. To use a proxy script, under Automatic proxy setup, switch on the Use setup script. Provide the address to the script.
3. To manually set up the proxy server, under Manual proxy setup, switch on the Use a proxy server. Provide the address of the proxy server and the port.
   Important:

   Adding the http:// prefix to the proxy server address prevents Robot from making HTTPS calls. To ensure the proxy works as expected, remove the http:// prefix entirely or add the proxy address with both http:// and https:// prefixes.

   For example:

   • Incorrect - http=proxyaddress
   • Correct - http=proxyaddress;https=proxyaddress
   • Correct - http://proxyaddress;https://proxyaddress
4. To save your settings, select Save.

Editing the uipath.config file

1. Navigate to the installation folder, %ProgramFiles%\UiPath\Studio.
2. Search for the uipath.config file and open it using a text editor, such as Notepad++.
3. Add the <webProxySettings> tag and set the values based on your proxy environment.
   1. To use a proxy script, provide the following key-value pair:

      <webProxySettings>
          <add key="ScriptAddress" value="http://localhost/proxy.pac" />
      </webProxySettings>

   2. To provide a proxy address, provide the following key-value pairs:

      <webProxySettings>
          <add key="ProxyAddress" value="http://1.1.1.1:1234/" />
          <add key="BypassLocalAddresses" value="True" />
          <add key="BypassList" value="server\.domain\.local$;www.google.com;192\.168\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}" />
      </webProxySettings>

4. Save the uipath.config file.
5. Restart the Robot Service.

Configuring the proxy settings during Robot installation

To add the proxy settings while installing Service Mode robots, use the dedicated command line parameters in your installation command.

For example, the following command installs the Robot in Service Mode and uses a script to configure proxy:

UiPathStudio.msi ADDLOCAL=DesktopFeature,Robot,RegisterService PROXY_SCRIPT_ADDRESS=http://localhost/proxy.pac

The following command installs the Robot in Service Mode and sets up the Basic Authentication for proxy settings:

UiPathStudio.msi ADDLOCAL=DesktopFeature,Robot,RegisterService PROXY_ADDRESS=http://my.proxy.net:8008 PROXY_USERNAME="myUser" PROXY_PASSWORD="myUser" PROXY_DOMAIN="myUser"

Checking the proxy server connection

1. Connect the Robot to Orchestrator
2. Deploy some packages to an environment which contains the previously configured Robot.
3. Navigate to the %userprofile%\.nuget\ folder and check if the corresponding process and activities packages have been downloaded.
4. Run the corresponding job to check if it runs successfully.