Launching the script

Bots that run on demand or that need some kind of human assistance to complete its tasks are good choices for launching. The third task that you need to accomplish to automatize a process is to deploy the script. This procedure teaches you how to do it by using the IBM RPA Launcher.

Launchers can contain one or more scripts, which are added and bound to them as buttons. You need to use the IBM RPA Launcher application to launch them. It is a local application to launch scripts manually.

Before you begin

This procedure assumes that you completed the "Publishing the script" task.

Before you launch your script, make sure you comply with the following requirements:

Computer requirements

  • Validate if your computer exists in your tenant. In the "Validating the installation" topic, complete the Checking if the computer was created procedure.
  • Establish a stable connection with the internet or intranet.

Product requirements

  • Bot Runtime license
  • Launcher license

User requirements

  • User access to a tenant
  • User with a team assigned, which need to have permission to launch scripts

For more information about how to manage user's teams and permissions, see Procedure for managing user's teams.

Script consideration

Set your script as production version.

Procedure

The following video explains how you create a launcher on the IBM RPA Control Center, and launch it over the IBM RPA Launcher application.



The following steps describe how you can create a launcher and launch it. They show the steps in a generic way, and don't refer to the whole steps shared in the previous video.

Deploying attended bots by using the IBM RPA Launcher is composed of two procedures:

Create the launcher

Complete the following steps to create the launcher:

  1. Log in to IBM RPA Control Center.
  2. In the Define menu, click Launchers.
  3. In the Define launchers screen, click Create launcher.
    • In the Name field, enter a name to the launcher.
    • In the Description field, enter a brief description of what this launcher does.
    • For IBM RPA 21.0.2 and older: From the Computer groups list, select the group of computers that can view and start the launcher.
    • Starting from IBM RPA 21.0.3: From the Teams list, select the teams that can view and start the launcher.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Click Add button to create a button for the launcher.
    • In the Name field, enter a name to the launcher button.
    • In the Description field, enter a brief description about the script.
    • From the Script list, select script the button launch.
  6. Optional: Choose a way to use an icon:
    • To use a custom icon, click Use custom icon > Add file button to select an icon to your script button.
    • To use a preset icon, click Use preset icon button. Click the refresh button to generate a new icon for your script button.
  7. Click Save > Save to finish the process.

You must be able to see your launcher in the Define launchers page with a green check that indicates that the launcher is functional and ready to be launched.

Launch the script

Complete the following steps to launch the script:

  1. Open the IBM RPA Launcher application.
  2. Log in to your account.
  3. Search for your launcher by its name, and click it.
  4. Double-click the script button to start it. You can also press the F6 in the selected script.

Results

Track the script runtime through the status bar in the IBM RPA Launcher. You can see the "Running script name..." message while the script is running, and the "Ready" message when the script runs successfully.