Release Notes - RPA 19.0

This is a minor release and this section provides the details about the new and enhanced features and functionalities included in AssistEdge RPA 19.0 release.

 

New Features

This release includes the following new features:

Auto Automation

Auto-Automation is a robust capability that collectively simplifies and connects the automation journey starting from AssistEdge Discover to AssistEdge RPA. Users can create an automation process in AssistEdge Automation Studio with minimal manual effort. The process created from the identified tasks in AssistEdge Discover can now be converted to an automation process in a single click.

 

On the Studio, the citizen developer can see imported processes from Discover and convert them into configured process in the studio canvas. With the Process Definition document (PDD) also provided by AssistEdge Discover, Citizen Developer can further modify/update the auto-configured process easily. This significantly improves the time-to-value by making the entire identification of automation candidate, automation requirements elicitation and communication and configuration process much simpler and faster.

Contextual Assistance for Process Configuration

On-demand contextual help is now available to a process designer in automation studio. The activity pane, in addition to activity search capability, provides relevant references to the knowledge base to assist users in process configuration and studio usage. The references comprise of

  1. Step-by-step activity configuration in a use case.
  2. Getting started with Canvas tools.
  3. Contextual help includes instructions on how to use studio activity.
  4. Help content for all features and functionalities in the studio.

The knowledge base is accessible over both online(over the Internet on a website) and offline(locally hosted web page) mediums and are enabled as part of AssistEdge deployment.

 

Low code application platform (LCAP) 

AssistEdge low code orchestrator provides drag & drop, point & click ability to build feature-rich responsive web apps using LCAP. It also provides pre-built integration with attended and unattended automation, thus mitigating the need for application API. Web applications created using AssistEdge low code orchestrator can be accessed using all types of devices like desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobiles. 

 

Process orchestrator

Using this new feature, our customers can design and deploy process workflows. Process orchestrator encapsulates the entire business process into a visual process flow, including bots, business rules, Intelligent Bots, Machine Learning models, and humans-in-loop, so that our customers can orchestrate their business processes with ease.


Process orchestrator allows customers to track the end-to-end process in real time while leaving heavy lifting to bots. It also helps allocate tasks to different teams.

 

Contextual assistance for process configuration

On-demand contextual help is now available for process designers in automation studio. The users can access the knowledge base that includes content and reference material for:

  1. Step-by-step activity configuration in a use case.
  2. Getting started with Canvas tools.
  3. Contextual help including instructions on how to use studio activity. 
  4. Help content for all features and functionalities in the studio.

 

The knowledge base is enabled during AssistEdge deployment and can be accessed using internet or through intranet on a locally hosted web page. 


Guided tour

Users can now take a virtual tour of AssistEdge Studio. This helps users get acquainted and onboarded quickly.  

 

Welcome screen

Users now get a welcome screen in AssistEdge Studio to enable them to learn and develop automation on their own, orienting them to the product.  

 

Micro-videos for selected canvas tools

In our bid to enhance the citizen developer experience, we have added micro-videos for selected canvas tools. These videos will help the citizen developers with basic configuration steps of the canvas tools.

 

Suggest next best activity

This feature uses AssistEdge in-built predictive intelligence to suggest the next best activity for the Citizen Developers in their processes.

 

MQTT Support for inbound and outbound communication with IoT devices

This activity in studio acts as the publisher and helps to broadcast or raise the event to the subscriber.

 

Application exists activity

A new activity has been added in studio which detects if an application is available during automation. For example, if the application being automated is not launched or started at the time of automation, adding this activity can detect the availability of application at runtime and handle flow of automation accordingly.

 

Application not responding

This new activity detects application status during automation. For example, if the application being automated is in non-responding or error state, adding this activity can detect the state of application at runtime and handle flow of automation accordingly. 

 

Automated migration of processes within different environments

AssistEdge provides an ability to integrate with an external version control system such as Git and migrate automation versions across environments seamlessly. The feature lets users deploy or distribute the automation processes to a higher AE environment. AE offers a ready-to-integrate Jenkins plugin to move the processes. Users can also integrate the AE CLI utility with any CICD pipeline to migrate processes from the UI.

 

Ability to mark an argument as process output in Studio

Capability has been provided for users to mark the arguments which they would like to see as Process Output in Control Tower.

 

Capturing system usability information for enterprise edition

Automation Configuration Statistics allows Automation CoE to view the details of all deployed processes along with the applications automated within the process.

 

AssistEdge analytics

AssistEdge Analytics for RPA quantifies the expected and actual returns on investment in RPA and helps the organization to make better decisions, optimize the solutions, and learn from any of the pitfalls. Users can provide manual inputs and also get insights on estimated savings and automation pipelines from AssistEdge Discover.

 

Process naming and auto-save

AssistEdge studio can now be configured to auto-save the process workflow to prevent data loss in case user is logged off due to time-out.  Users are prompted to submit process name before starting with process configuration so that the processes are auto-saved in the background without interrupting a user. The auto-save is performed only when the process is edited and can be identified via the asterisk (*) symbol visible in the process name tab. At any point in time, you can manually save the process by clicking the SAVE button in the Menu bar.

 

Enable chrome application using single driver

User can select whether each configured chrome application will be launched with single instance of chrome driver or each application will be launched by the respective chrome driver. 

 

Decision workbench in control tower

Decision workbench has been transformed into a web version. Also, the additional capability of one-level escalation and auditing has been added.

 

Role-based access control for reporting components and PII data

RBAC for Reporting has been simplified and included in the UI of the Admin Module.

 

JS library for web and thick client communication

We have introduced AssistEdge Web to Automation bridge(Ae-w2a-bridge) JS library that allows users to use this library in their web applications and make automation calls to AssistEdge (Web Engage and EPA) running on their local systems.

 

Other New Features

AssistEdge 19.0 is powered by a significantly different, lightweight and refreshed architecture:

  • All server-side components of the platform are deployable on both Windows and RedHat Linux environments. 
  • The platform runs on a NodeJS HTTP/REST API backend fueling the product functionality and retaining the same ease of customizations and platform extensions. 
  • Administration, Control Tower, License, etc. web modules are ported to the latest angular framework.
  • Open Distro for Elasticsearch now powers the transaction store and brings along several out-of-box data security and access control features.
  • New addition of embedded workflow and low-code application development capabilities.
  • All platform runtimes and components like Erlang/RabbitMQ, NodeJS, etc. are upgraded to the latest, stable GA versions.


Support for better transaction data archival by segregation of step-level automation data. This can be set up for an appropriate early archival scheme thereby reducing the load on the transaction store.

 

Support for better DevOps processes during the implementation phase through Jenkins plugin for automation of process movement from one environment to another.
 

 

Enhancements

This release includes the following enhancements:

 

Extending support for MS Edge Chromium browser in Process Recorder 

Extended support for MS Edge browser in Process Recorder.

 

Re-Organization of RPA Dashboard  

The out-of-the-box reporting dashboards have been re-organized to improve performance and provide a better experience.

 

User Credentials Retrieval from CyberArk and Credential Manager Login   

AssistEdge now provides extended CyberArk support to retrieve Robot and

User Credentials.

 

Trigger Management in Control Tower 

Users can now schedule the triggers using the CRON scheduler.

 

Enhanced User Interface for Admin Module 

The admin module has been revamped to change the user interface completely for a better user experience.

 

Migration 

Enhanced Migration Digital Assistant to guide through step-by-step migration of platform data and Robots. The migration workbench now allows options like migrating bulk transaction data post Robot migration helping reduce overall migration timelines, etc.

 

Enterprise Personal Assistant - Enhancement to Existing Attended Automation Capability 

AssistEdge Enterprise Personal Assistant is the role-based attended automation solution that is triggered by individual employees and managed centrally by CoE/Core team. Users can also provide manual inputs during the automation. 

 

Users can easily trigger automation from their desktop directly or through shortcuts. Additionally, they can view the history, process input, and step details of the transaction executed. 

 

Simplified Installation and Overall Platform Setup   

  • Single URL entry point for all components which are accessible on HTTP protocol.
  • Removal of mandatory service accounts for configuring Elasticsearch security.
  • Removal of local RabbitMQ users to connect Robot/Robot Agent, Proctor, and other platform components (support for optional methods to enable legacy behavior is also provided).
  • Removal of sticky sessions, simplifying load balancer configurations.
  • Support for SSL termination at Load Balancers.

FOSS and Third-Party Components

AssistEdge RPA uses certain Free Open Source Software which is the property of their respective owners and is licensed with their licenses. For usage of any third party software, users need to procure the licenses for the software applications if they want to use, automate, and abide by their terms of use. Refer to the AE-RPA-FOSS Bundled Components.pdf document bundled with the product package.

The FOSS and Third Party Components details are also available on the EdgeVerve website - https://www.edgeverve.com/componentlist/assistedge/robotic-process-automation/.

 

Performance and Security Recommendations

Performance and Endurance Recommendations

Refer Hardware Recommendation while provisioning the infrastructure for deployments. This document has recommendations for different supported scenarios for Automation deployment.

Security Recommendations

Ensure that the AssistEdge Automation Secure Deployment Guideline document is adhered to while deploying the product. This ensures that the most relevant best practices for setting up the product are taken care of during installation and setup.

 

Known Issues and Limitations

Feature usage and limitations/ boundary conditions are available as part of Product Usage/Installation/other product documents. Below is the list of known open issues and limitations at the time of the RPA 18.3 release.

  • When applications are launched using multi-browser capability (Firefox & Chrome) then AE Attended RPA launch time may increase. Adjust the sign-in timeout value accordingly to prevent timeout on application sign-in.
  • It is possible to create and deploy Multiple Sign in and Reset processes of the same application if one is done first in Studio and then through Process Recorder. It is recommended to use either of the options for Sign in and Reset automation and then edit the same in Studio as required.
  • Session expiry is only available at the individual module level while Single logout is working fine across Admin, Control-Tower, Kibana modules.

More Resources

AssistEdge Community is a forum for AssistEdge users, if you want to ask any product related questions or help other members out, please join our community, the registration is free and easy. Refer to the AssistEdge Community page at https://forum.assistedgerpa.com/.

AssistEdge Academy  - Single destination for all AssistEdge Automation related learning needs. It offers an Ecosystem for learning and growth.

  • SELF LEARNING e-courses on RPA & AssistEdge products, APIs, adaptors, how-to-use & much more.
  • RESOLVE DOUBTS – Self-help content and training materials that can be used to learn about the product and solve problems quickly and independently.
  • ASSESS EXPERTISE - Skill assessment enabled through Certification programs.

Visit AssistEdge Academy at https://assistedgeacademy.onwingspan.com/.

  

Technical Support Resources

Technical support is available to customers who have purchased AssistEdge products with a valid license. The support details are listed below.

 

The different support packages offered by AssistEdge are mentioned in the table below.

 

Support  Packages

Support Channel

Minor, Release, Patches, and Hot Fixes

Major Version Upgrades

Support

Silver

Ticketing system only

Included

Not Included

9x5 weekday business hrs.

Gold

Ticketing system only

Included

Included

24x5 weekdays & on-call support for P1 tickets

Platinum

Ticketing system, email, call

Included

Included

24x7 ticketing, email, on-call support for P1 tickets
  1. The contact details for support are:

SP1 Release Notes

Enhancements

Reliability

Multiple enhancements added to the 19.0 base release for enhanced reliability and better exception handling. Key being addition of a 2-way communication between Robots and Robot Agents for lifecycle commands execution. This enhancement provides capabilities of acknowledging messages, auto-retries in case of failures and better traceability and exception handling.

Data archival for better performance

Out-of-the-box, automated archival of detailed RPA automation trace log generated by Robots is another key enhancement with SP1 release. The RPA transaction logs were split into transaction lifecycle and automation step details starting 19.0 release. With 19.0 SP1, a new capability is added to archive transaction step data after seven days. This would reduce size of live data in transaction store and lead to overall improved performance.

 

NOTE: 
  1. The number of days for data archival is configurable based on business requirements. By default, transaction step data archival is disabled.
  2. User is required to update Vanguard configuration to enable this functionality based on the data archival policies as per customer requirements.

 

Log4j vulnerability fix

Log4j version is upgraded to version 2.17.1 across both AssistEdge client tools and server-side components. This is done to take care of a zero-day exploit affecting the popular Apache Log4j utility (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046, CVE-2021-45105 & follow-on CVE-2021-44832). The vulnerability results in remote code execution (RCE) and is actively being exploited.

 

Affected Versions: The reported issues only affect log4j versions between 2.0 and 2.17.0

 

References:

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2021-44228

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-45046

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-45105

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-44832


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Other enhancements

Backward compatibility support for Import/Export

Added enhancement to enable compatibility of 17.5.2 processes imported in Automation studio. This will require user to explicitly add key "ProcessImportVersion" under primarysettings in Automation Studio configuration file.

Low-code Enhancements

While designing low-code forms and using Automation orchestrator plugin it was earlier not possible to directly bind robot automation responses to Grid control. Added enhancements to parse automation response coming from the robot and map to Low-code grid forms.

List of Fixed Issues

Automation

  • Fixed issue where decommissioned comment was not appearing for the decommissioned process and deletion of decommissioned process was failing (only when activity usage data is captured for process).
  • Fixed issue while importing process to target environment (when profile does not exist in target environment). This is now handled by auto-creating new profile in target environment.
  • ProcessInput length is increased to 4000000 chars to allow subsequent process execution from decision workbench (applicable only when Process input length exceed a given threshold).
  • Optimized Process fetch API to handle download of heavy size processes without time-out errors.
  • Fixed issue for PDF processes where DTMP files were not getting downloaded in local app data (applicable when package contains multiple template files).
  • Fixed issue with email search from Outlook activity, when emails are marked to users who have left the organization/ or are inactive.
  • Fixed display of Search time, Post Search time values in EPA reports

 

Migration

  • Fixed issue where Proctor machine and Agent created via Proctor were not correctly mapped and displayed on Migration Workbench UI.
  • Fixed support for specific issues with 17.2 and 17.3 migration of Robot Agents and Robots and migration of 17.5 version to 19.x series

 

Web Portals

  • Fixed issue with listing of Robot Agents on Robot Create screen.
  • Fixed data validations on both api and ui for process name.
  • Fixed UX issues on Process View, Robot Setup, License Upload and Create Trigger screens.
  • Fixed redirection for /messaging-sso and /ts-api endpoints when URLs are browsed directly without valid AE login.

 

Others

  • Fixed issue with revoking low-code access for disabled/deleted users.
  • Fixed issue with Automation Orchestrator plugin while making asynchronous automation calls to Robot
  • Fixed issue with CICD Build Tool failure during export/import of automation process.
  • Fixed Authentication issue for client-tools in a multi-domain setup. Authentication for domain which were provided post installation were failing.