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.

Fallback Packages Folders

Fallback packages folders can be configured by adding the NUGET_FALLBACK_PACKAGES environment variable on the robot machine. This contains the absolute paths to fallback folders separated by semicolon ;. If the environment variable does not exist, the robot tries to read the Nuget packages fallback folders from the Nuget.config file.

More information can be found in the fallback folders documentation.

Important: Processes deployed in fallback folders are not supported, only dependencies.

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:

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

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

• PowerShell console or scripts - no escaping is needed.

• 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

If the same local path is used by multiple user mode robots on the same machine, you must add the NUGET_SCRATCH machine environment variable on the robot machine. The value has to be a path to a folder other than the actual NuGet installation one. The folder set for the environment variable is used as a temporary folder for NuGet.

For example:

If the packagesInstallationFolder parameter in the uipath.config file is C:\UiPath\Packages, to allow multiple user mode robots to use the same local path for packages, create a new folder (e.g. NuGetScratch) and add the NUGET_SCRATCH machine environment variable with the C:\NuGetScratch value.

Note:

• The NuGetScratch folder should only be used by the NUGET_SCRATCH variable as a temporary folder.
• The user accounts under which robots run must have read and write access to both folders on the machine.

Network path

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

Example:

<packageSettings>
  <add key="packagesInstallationFolder" value="\\NetworkServer\SharedFolder\UiPath\Packages\" />
</packageSettings>