Managing computers

Learn how to create and edit computers to make them available resources to run bots, in the Computers interface on IBM RPA Control Center.

IBM RPA automatically adds your computer to a tenant after you install the client. However, in some rare occasions, IBM RPA is unable to add the computer, and you must do it manually.

Before you begin

Your user needs permission to manage computers. See the Checking user permissions topic to learn how to check your user permissions.

If bots that you plan to run on a computer need to unlock it without human intervention, create a credential to set to the computer. For more information about how to create credentials, see Creating a credential.

Note:
  • "Reserved runtime for queued bot runs" was previously named "Queued runtimes percentage". The default value for this field was 0%, and is now defined as 100%. If you experience problems while trying to deploy your bots, check if the value of this field is greater than 0.
  • Starting from version 23.0.11, you can now delete unused computers.

Creating a computer

  1. Log in to IBM RPA Control Center.

  2. In the Define menu, click the Computers > Computers tab.

  3. Click Create computer.

  4. In the Name field, enter the computer's hostname.

    Important:If the server uses MSMQ as the system queue provider, the computer's hostname must be a maximum of 15 characters long.

  5. Optional: From the Credential list, select a credential to use to unlock the computer.

  6. Optional: In the Physical address field, enter the computer's MAC Address.

  7. Deprecated in 23.0.3: In the Vnc Password field, enter the password that is used for a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) connection. This step is optional.

  8. In the Reserved runtime for queued bot runs , enter a value between 0 and 100 that represents the percentage of the runtime capacity of the computer reserved for bot runs.

    Important:
    • Before version 23.0.10, this field was labeled Queues runtime percentage.
    • Bot runs include the deployment methods:
      • Scheduled bots
      • Bots that run on demand from the IBM RPA Control Center
      • Bots that run via API calls
      • Process orchestration
    • If the value of this field is equal to zero (0), you can't run bots through any of previously listed methods from this computer.
    • The percentage value must result in an integer that is greater than or equal to 1 to allow queued bot runs. For example, if the computer's runtime capacity is equal to 5, defining a Reserved runtime for queued bot runs as 50% allocates only 2 runtimes to bot runs.

  9. Optional: In the Standing by runtimes field, enter the amount of runtimes to load on stand-by. When this field has a number other than 0, the Bot Agent pre-loads extra runtimes on stand-by mode to avoid loading them later when a script needs to run. Use this strategy if you want to increase performance for digital assistants and concurrent operations, for example.

  10. In the Capacity field, enter the amount of bot runtimes that can run concurrently on the computer. The default value set by the installer is 1. For more information about computer's capacity, see the Modifying computer's capacity topic.

Editing a computer

  1. Log in to IBM RPA Control Center.
  2. In the Define menu, click the Computers > Computers tab.
  3. Choose a computer and click the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ > Edit.
  4. Complete the fields according to the procedure to create a computer.

Deleting a computer

Before you delete a computer, you must remove its references from any IBM RPA resource.

Removing reference to computers in computer groups

  1. Log in to IBM RPA Control Center.
  2. In the Define menu, click the Computers > Computers groups tab.
  3. Click the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ of the computer group that contains the computer that you want to delete, and click Edit.
  4. Remove the computer to be deleted from the Computers list, and save the changes.

Removing reference to computers in orchestration processes

  1. From the IBM RPA Control Center define menu, click the Workflows > Processes tab.
  2. On the process, click the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ > Edit.
  3. Click Next until you get to the Steps page.
  4. Remove the computer to be deleted from all Steps that reference it.
  5. Save the changes.

Removing reference to computers in chat mappings

  1. From the IBM RPA Control Center define menu, click the Chatbots > Chats mappings tab.
  2. Click the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ > Edit on the chat mapping that references the computer.
  3. Click Next, then remove the computer to be deleted from the Computers list.
  4. Save the changes.

Removing reference to computers in schedules

  1. From the IBM RPA Control Center define menu, click Scripts > Schedules.
  2. Click the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ > Edit on the schedule that references the computer.
  3. Remove the computer to be deleted from the Computers list, and save the changes.

Removing reference to computers in script brokers

  1. From the IBM RPA Control Center define menu, click Scripts.
  2. Select the script, then click the Broker tab.
  3. Remove the computer to be deleted from the Computers list, and save the changes.

After you remove all references to the computer, use the following procedure to delete it:

  1. Log in to IBM RPA Control Center.
  2. In the Define menu, click the Computers > Computers tab.
  3. Find the computer, and click the vertical ellipsis button ⋮ > Delete.

What to do next

The certificate is automatically installed with the computer after you install IBM RPA client. This certificate authenticates the connection between the computer and the tenant, making it available to run bots remotely.

You must install the certificate manually if the current certificate is invalid or corrupted, or if the tenant code isn't specified during the installation of versions prior to 23.0.2. You might also need to install a new certificate if you change tenants. For instructions on how to install a certificate manually, see Installing computer certificate.