This page describes the Resources tab in the Appian RPA Console. You'll use this tab to setup and monitor resources, which connect to the Console via agents. Agents establish communication between the resource and the Appian RPA Console. Agents are required to be up and running for robotic processes to execute properly and communicate the results back to the console.

Through the Resources tab on the Appian RPA Console, you can access to the list of resources associated with your user profile.

Add a resource

Admins can set up new resources to run robotic processes. Developers won't see this option in the Appian RPA Console.

1. On the Resources tab, click the Add resource icon.
2. In the Resource definition editor, fill in the fields:
   • Name: Editable name for the resource that is shown throughout the Console.
   • Type: Select RPA.
   • Operating system: Choose the resource's operating system: Windows, Linux, or Mac.
   • JRE path (%JAVA_HOME%): Optional field to specify where Java is installed on the resource.
3. Click Save.

To execute a robotic process on a new resource, remember to install the agent.

List of resources

This list displays all resources available for your user, based on your permissions. You can access the details of a resource by clicking on any of its columns.

The resources are listed in alphabetical order in a grid with the following information:

• Status: Blocked keys, Concurrence, Disabled, Locked session, Online, Offline, or Running Robot
• Type: Production, Development, Development without restrictions or Remote development
• Operating system: Windows, Linux or Mac
• Robotic processes
• Actions
• Permissions

You can perform several actions on resources in the list. Actions depend on the resource's connectivity, whether the agent is started, and on whether its status is "Online" or "Offline."

Click the lock icon to access the resource's permissions management. You can add new permissions and select or deselect existing permissions. This action is not available for basic users.

Available actions

Icon	Description
	Switches off a resource with connectivity and "Online" status.
	Switches on a resource with connectivity and "Offline" status.
	Removes the session currently associated with the resource. Useful when we do know that the session doesn't exist anymore, but the console needs more time to be sure of that.

Types of resources

Type	Icon	Description
Production		A production resource has no restriction at all.
Development		A development resource is not permitted to execute robotic processes that take more than 2 hours.
Development without restrictions		In the same console there can be, at most, one resource of this type.
Remote development		A resource specifically configured to remote development, where the resource is the one connecting to the developer.
Windows resource		The agent is executed on a Windows operating system.
Linux resource		The agent is executed on a Linux operating system.
macOS resource		The agent is executed on a macOS operating system.

Assign permissions to a resource

Appian RPA components rely on shared tags for security. Users, robotic processes, and resources must have tags in common to see and interact with each other.

To assign permissions to a resource:

1. Click the lock icon
2. In the window, assign new tags or select or deselect existing tags.
3. Click OK when finished.

Resource details

Some information is related to the computer where the agent is running, and other information is related to the agent itself.

• Last communication:
  • Agent: last time the agent connected with the console.
  • Console: last time the console connected with the agent.
• Identifier: Unique identifier for the resource.
• Version (revision): Version of the agent on the resource and the internal build number.
• Name: Editable name of the resource that will be shown throughout the console instead of the identifier.
• Agent with elevated privileges: When checked, the resource is running with administrator privileges.
• Execute with block: When checked, the resource can execute robots in a blocked session unblocking it previously.
• Screen saver: When checked, robotic processes can work with the screen saver enabled.
• Screen blocked: When checked, the session is currently locked.
• Input blocked: When checked, the keyboard and mouse input are locked for the user in the resource, but not for robotic processes. This is a security measure to avoid problems in machines not dedicated exclusively to robotic processes. This feature can be enabled through the console or the SDK.
• Blocked keys: When checked, an issue related to the keyboard is detected. For example, any key held down.
• Local plugins: When checked, execution of local plugins is enabled. Plugins are fragments of code than can be executed without connection with the console (for instance, to use a VPN to gain access to the console itself).
• Reserved memory: Reserved memory status of the JVM for the agent.
• Generate event if % >: When checked, an event "resource_LIMIT_MEMORY" is generated when the memory percentage is over the maximum specified.
• Screen resolution: Screen dimensions on the image representing your monitor.
• Available disk space: Available disk space status on the computer.
• Generate event if % <: When checked, an event "resource_LOW_FREE_HARD_DISK_SPACE" is generated when the free disk space percentage is under the minimum specified.
• Java version: Java version used by the agent.
• Processors: Number of available processors on the resource.
• Operating System: Name and version of the operating system on the resource.
• User session: Session identifier used by a resource with elevated privileges to unlock the session.
• Current folder: Current folder where the agent is located.
• Temporary folder: Temporary folder for the user who launched the agent.
• IP addresses: IP addresses assigned to the resource (can be several due to the existence of different net interfaces).
• Remarks: Additional information about the resource or the agent.

Actions available from the resource

Depending on whether the resource has connectivity, and on whether its status is "Online" or "Offline", different icons will be available.

Icon	Description
	If the resource is offline and its license has not expired, you can download the agent to install it on your computer.
	Launch the remote-control screen for a resource with connectivity. If the resource was disabled, it may look like it is "Offline" but even so you can access it remotely.
	Disables the local plugins of the agent. It only works if the agent, in the moment of its creation, plugins was added in it and these are enabled.
	Enables the local plugins of the agent. It only works if the agent, in the moment of its creation, plugins was added in it and these are disabled.
	Lock the input from the keyboard and the mouse on a resource with connectivity. Only available if the agent is executed on the resource using an administrator profile.
	Unlock the input from the keyboard and the mouse on a resource with connectivity. This action works only if the agent is executed on the resource using an administrator profile.
	Send an agent for remote debugging. A new executable is downloaded on the resource, named jidoka-remote.exe, specifically designed for debugging robots remotely when you cannot debug them directly on the port involved.
	Execute the agent for remote debugging.
	Stop the agent from remotely debugging (only on the resource under remote debugging).
	Executes the agent for remote debugging (JJDWP). This debugging is less common and requires its own execution setup. By clicking on this icon, a pop-up window will ask you for the IP, port and timeout for the connection.
	Stops the agent from remotely debugging (JJDWP). Unlike the non-JJDWB version, this debugging must be stopped from the resource that launched it, and not from the resource being debugged.
	Restart the agent, so that it can initiate itself and prevent, among other things, low memory problems in the computer where it is running, that is, the resource.
	Completely remove the resource from the console. This action cannot be undone and is only available for "ADMIN" profiles.

Container configuration

In the context of Appian RPA and its resources, a container is a set of software elements guaranteeing the right execution of a robotic process, assuring the environment is always the same. For this reason, the configuration of a resource helps keep the executions from being influenced by changes in the environment.

From section Container configuration, it is possible to configure two different types of containers for a resource: Docker and VirtualBox. Depending on the chosen container, we must fill some fields or others.

Once the configuration is done, the console is able to integrate with the container to start and to stop it.

Docker

For a Appian RPA Docker image sample, contact your Appian RPA administrator.

Additionally, it is possible to use Kubernetes as a Docker containers manager.

For Docker, you have to fill the following fields:

• Host: The machine where the Docker service is installed.
• Port: The port to connect to the host. The console uses an SSH connection.
• Host user / password: The credentials to connect to the host machine.
• Image name: Name of the Docker image to start.
• Container name: Name of the container with the Docker image to start.
• VNC external port: Optionally, if the image we prepared for a resource is Linux with VNC already configured, here you must indicate the port to access the machine using this protocol.
• VNC password: Password for VNC.
• Host data folder: The Docker image is started specifying that the agent is location on this path. This way, the agent, the cache, the workspace and logs will be persisted along the container executions.
• Additional configuration: In case we want to specify something else about Docker.

Putting all together, the console generates a Docker command to send to the machine to start or stop it.

VirtualBox

For VirtualBox, you have to fill the following fields:

• Host: The machine where the VirtualBox service is installed.
• Port: The port to connect to the host. The console uses an SSH connection.
• Host user / password: The credentials to connect to the host machine.
• VM name: Name of the virtual machine to handle which is configured in the VirtualBox service.
• Additional configuration: In case we want to specify something else about VirtualBox.

Putting it all together, the console generates a VirtualBox command to send to the machine to start or to stop it.

Remote control viewer

This option is only available for Administrator and Developer users.

You can remotely visualize and operate the desktop on which the robot is running.

To start monitoring, click on the Monitor icon (), which will show you a set of icons that allow you to perform certain actions on the desktop where the robot is executing.

Icon	Description
	Stop monitoring
	Refresh screen
	Take a screenshot
	Full screen
	Request the log file. It allows you to download the local error log.
	Open the scripts editor Groovy. It allows you to execute Groovy code on the client.
	Control remotely. It will show the position of the mouse pointer on screen, allowing you to click and drag elements on the desktop as usual. By enabling it, you will also see a text box where you can send text to the resource as well as the coordinates of the mouse pointer.
	Restart services

It is important that you click on the Monitor icon again after you have finished monitoring the resource. This way the agent will consume fewer resources while there is no need for monitoring.

Restart a resource

When you restart services, a request is sent to the agent for it to try to restart the open connections with the console. This functionality should only be used under maintenance tasks of the agent, as it is more advisable to relaunch the agent from the console and manually restart the agent, in this order, when you detect any issue with its operation. You can also restart the resource automatically.

Automatic resource restart

The agent's requirements for RAM memory are low. However, depending on the version of the operating system, RAM available, the number of robots in execution, and maximum memory assigned to the agent, memory usage may increase too much. To avoid this situation, you can make a resource to restart automatically when a specified percentage of the total memory is exceeded.

For example, suppose you want to specify on a 2GB memory resource, that the agent should restart whenever the memory used by the agent exceeds 1.6 GB, that is, 80% of the total.

On the resource details, enter that percentage of memory not to be exceeded. This will trigger an event to restart the agent whenever it is exceeded. Events are explained in detail on the Monitoring page.