UiPath Remote Runtime

About UiPath Remote Runtime

UiPath Remote Runtime is a component which enables the communication between a remote desktops or applications, such as Citrix Virtual Apps, and certain UiPath extensions. These include the UiPath Extension for Citrix, for Windows Remote Desktop and Apps, and for VMware Horizon. It gathers information about targeted UI elements of remote applications and passes this data to the corresponding extension. This allows for native generation of selectors in the UI Explorer.

Note:

Starting with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2109, all custom virtual channels are blocked by default. This prevents the UiPath Remote Runtime from working correctly. To solve this issue the UiPath virtual channel must be added to the allow list policy:

UIPCTX,C:\Program Files (x86)\UiPath\RemoteRuntime\UiPathRemoteRuntime.exe

The Remote Runtime component was granted a Citrix Ready certification, making it a trusted, effective solution for working with Citrix technologies.

Depending on the type of environment you want to build your automation projects on, the UiPath Remote Runtime component can be installed as follows:

• On Citrix Application servers – communicates with the UiPath Extension for Citrix.
• On VMware Horizon virtual machines – communicates with the UiPath Extension for VMware Horizon.
• On Windows Remote Desktop machines – communicates with the UiPath Extension for Windows Remote Desktop and Apps.

The corresponding UiPath extensions must be installed on the client machine.

The UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi installer can be downloaded from:

• Product Downloads in the UiPath Customer Portal.
• Resource Center in the UiPath Automation Cloud. To access Resource Center, log in to your Automation Cloud Organization and click the Help button on the navigation bar.

Once the UiPath Remote Runtime component is installed, it registers a task in the Task Scheduler so that the UiPathRemoteRuntime.exe process is started at every user login, for every user logged in to the remote server.

The UiPath Remote Runtime component is required to establish the connection between an application or desktop server and a corresponding UiPath extension installed on a client machine. This way, selectors are natively generated on the client machine where Studio is installed, without having to rely on OCR and image recognition activities.

Hardware and software requirements

The UiPath Remote Runtime has the same requirements as the UiPath Robot. See the full list of requirements in Hardware and Software Requirements.

Installing the UiPath Remote Runtime

From the Installer

1. Run the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi file to install the UiPath Remote Runtime. It needs to be installed on all the Citrix Application servers, VMware Horizon virtual machines, or the Windows Remote Desktop machines on which you want to create your automation projects.
2. Log off from the current Citrix window, VMware Horizon window, or RDP session on the client machine and log back in. This is required so that your changes take effect.
3. Install either the UiPath Extension for Citrix, UiPath Extension for VMware Horizon, or the UiPath Extension for Windows Remote Desktop and Apps on the client machine, depending on the technology on which you want to create your automation projects.

You can also choose to deploy the extension for Java, Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Microsoft Remote Desktop and Apps, VMware, and Citrix from the installer, as well as the Task Scheduler entry, by selecting the corresponding options, as depicted below:

The Task Scheduler entry for the Remote Runtime can be added or removed at any moment. Simply run the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi installer and choose the corresponding option.

From the Command Prompt

Note: Installing the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi requires administrator rights.

1. Click the Windows Start button and type cmd in the search field.
2. Right click on Command Prompt and run it as administrator.
3. Change the directory to the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi folder (for example: cd C:\Tools\Studio).
4. Use the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi ADDLOCAL=RemoteRuntime,RemoteRuntimeTask command to install the UiPath Remote Runtime component.
5. Log off from the current Citrix window, VMware Horizon window, or RDP session on the client machine and log back in. This is required so that your changes take effect.
6. Install either the UiPath Extension for Citrix, UiPath Extension for VMware Horizon, or the UiPath Extension for Windows Remote Desktop and Apps on the client machine, depending on the technology on which you want to create your automation projects.

Additionally, you can use the following options to install extensions:

• UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi ADDLOCAL=RemoteRuntime,RemoteRuntimeTask,JavaBridge,ChromeExtension,EdgeChromium,CitrixClient,FirefoxExtension,WindowsRdpExtension,VMwareExtension – installs the Remote Runtime component, the Task Scheduler entry, the extension for Java, the extension for Chrome, the extension for Microsoft Edge, the extension for Citrix, the extension for Firefox, the extension for Microsoft Remote Desktop and Apps, and the extension for VMware Horizon.

You can also perform a silent installation by using the /quiet parameter:

• UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi ADDLOCAL=RemoteRuntime,RemoteRuntimeTask /quiet - silently installs the Remote Runtime component and the Task Scheduler entry.

You can install the UiPath Remote Runtime at any location using the APPLICATIONFOLDER option:

• UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi APPLICATIONFOLDER="D:\UiPathRemoteRuntime" ADDLOCAL=RemoteRuntime,RemoteRuntimeTask /quiet – silently installs the Remote Runtime component in D:\UiPathRemoteRuntime, and adds the Task Scheduler entry.

You can now create processes to automate on Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, VMware Apps, as well as over RDP connections just as you would on a standard machine. Because of the corresponding extensions, OCR and Image recognition activities are no longer required to properly identify UI elements. Instead, elements are natively recognized and can be used with any activity.

Task Scheduler

By default, the UiPath Remote Runtime component creates an entry in Windows Task Scheduler to automatically start every time the corresponding user logs in. This feature is represented by the Create Launch UiPathRemoteRuntime task option in the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi installer, which you can choose to disable, if necessary.

The Remote Runtime Task Scheduler entry can be added or removed via the installer or the Command Prompt, as explained in the following sections. If the entry is removed, you must launch the UiPathRemoteRuntime.exe process using another method, like a startup script.

The Remote Runtime Task Scheduler entry can also be edited to start only for a specific user, by clicking the Edit button from the Triggers tab. Multiple tasks can be created for multiple users.

UI Automation dependency

The UiPath Remote Runtime has a dependency on the version of the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package, not on the version of UiPath Studio/Robot.

The Remote Runtime installed on a remote machine must have the version of the latest UI Automation package you want to use in your projects, and it is compatible with the previous UI Automation releases (it is backwards compatible).

The UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package and the UiPath Remote Runtime have the same UiPath driver dependency. For each UI Automation package released version, a download link for the UiPath Remote Runtime component with the same version number is provided.

For example, for UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package version 23.10.8, the required UiPath Remote Runtime installer can be downloaded from https://download.uipath.com/versions/23.10.8/UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi.

You can download the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi installer from:

• Product Downloads in the UiPath Customer Portal.
• Resource Center in the UiPath Automation Cloud. To access the Resource Center, you need to log in your Automation Cloud Organization, click the Help button on the toolbar and choose Resources > Downloads.
• Or you can request it through the Contact Technical Support page.

Side-by-side support

The UiPath Remote Runtime component is installed on the Citrix Application server, VMware virtual machine, or Remote Desktop machine in the %ProgramFiles(x86)\UiPath folder. All installed versions are visible in the %ProgramFiles(x86)%\UiPath\RemoteRuntime\packages\uipath folder.

When you build or execute a process, you need to use a UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package which is compatible with the deployed driver version of the UiPath Remote Runtime.

The version of the UiPath driver dependency for the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package is displayed in Studio, in the Project Dependencies section.

The same UiPath version must be present on the remote machine, in the %ProgramFiles(x86)%\UiPath\RemoteRuntime\packages\uipath folder.

Each UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi installer contains the latest UiPath dependency, as well as the latest supported Long Term Support (LTS) UiPath dependencies.

The table below enlists the dependencies between the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package and UiPath Remote Runtime:

UI Automation package version	UiPath Remote Runtime build number	UiPath driver dependency	UI Automation compatible versions for UiPath Remote Runtime
23.10.13	23.10.97.53968	23.10.97.53968	23.10.13 23.4.11 22.10.10 22.4.12 21.10.10 20.10.15
23.4.11	23.10.86.3201	23.4.81.50665	23.10.11 23.4.11 22.10.10 22.4.12 21.10.10 20.10.15
22.10.10	23.4.67.63183	22.10.67.59238	23.4.10 22.10.10 22.4.12 21.10.10 20.10.15
22.4.12	23.4.67.63183	22.4.67.58669	23.4.10 22.10.10 22.4.12 21.10.10 20.10.15
21.10.10	23.4.67.63183	23.4.67.63183	23.4.10 22.10.10 22.4.12 21.10.10 20.10.15
20.10.15	23.4.67.63183	20.10.8676.29744	23.4.10 22.10.10 22.4.12 21.10.10 20.10.15
19.11.5	22.4.43.27553	19.10.7601.15369	22.4.7 21.10.7 20.10.12 19.11.5 18.4.8
18.4.8	22.4.43.27553	10.0.7772.19184	22.4.7 21.10.7 20.10.12 19.11.5 18.4.8

You can verify the Remote Runtime build number from the UiPathRemoteRuntime.msi file Properties, in the Details tab, in the Comments field.

If you use a version of the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package that has a UiPath dependency which is not part of the set of installed UiPath dependencies on the remote machine, selectors are not generated and the following exception is thrown: The UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package is incompatible with the UiPath Remote Runtime running on the server.

Adding Remote Runtime dependencies

Interactive selection on the target application does not build correct selectors unless the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities matches the UiPath Remote Runtime dependency on the Citrix Application server, VMware virtual machine, or the Remote Desktop machine.

For example, if you want to build an automation project using the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package version 23.10.8, you need to copy the corresponding UiPath dependency from the client machine (where Studio/Robot is installed) on the Citrix Application server, VMware virtual machine, or the Remote Desktop machine.

This is done as follows:

1. On the client machine (where Studio is installed), navigate to the %UserProfile%\.nuget\packages\uipath folder. All installed UiPath dependencies are located here.
2. Copy the folder with the version which corresponds to the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package you want to use. You can view the list of dependencies shipped with the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities package on the About UIAutomation Activities page or by checking the package dependencies as described in Side-by-side support.
   
   

   

   
   
3. On the Citrix Application server, VMware virtual machine, or the Remote Desktop machine, navigate to the %ProgramFiles(x86)%\UiPath\RemoteRuntime\packages\uipath folder and paste the previously copied UiPath dependency version here.
   • For example, for UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities version 23.10.8, the corresponding UiPath dependency is 23.10.71.64399. This is the name of the folder you need to copy from the Studio/Robot machine to the remote machine.
   
   

   

   
   

Selectors are now properly generated with your current version of the UiPath.UIAutomation.Activities. Changes take effect as soon as the dependency is copied.

The Remote Runtime Dependencies described above are required both for the design time and execution time.

Remote Runtime architecture

When you start a process, the Robot sends out the necessary commands to the extension for Citrix or Windows Remote Desktop via an RPC channel. This information package also contains details about the version of the UI Automation package used to build the process.

The corresponding extension then forwards the information package via an ICA virtual channel to the UiPath Remote Runtime component, which is on the Citrix Application servers or Remote Desktop machine.

Depending on the version of the UI Automation package with which the process was built, the UiPath Remote Runtime component instructs the Robot Executor which driver to use.

Multiple ICA channels

Communication between the Remote Runtime Component and the corresponding extension is done via an internally-developed ICA channel. Multiple ICA channels can be used, but the Citrix Receiver, for instance, already uses several channels for the clipboard, audio, and more.

Data transfer and bandwidth considerations

Once the Remote Runtime component is installed, you can create your automation projects without having to create any firewall rules.

Data transfer between the Remote Runtime and extension requires little bandwidth usage. For example, each action the Robot performs (such as a Click activity) transfers around 3 KB of data.

Multiple remote connections

If you jump through multiple remote connections (RDP, Citrix, or VMware) to reach a destination remote computer, where the automation is developed, you must install Remote Runtime on each intermediary remote computer, not just on the target one. For more details, check the Configure a multi-hop connection page.