Introduction

The akaBot Center is a server-based application that lets you control and manage your Agents. It runs on a server and connects to all the Agents within the network and executes your repetitive workflow based on different requirements. It has a browser-based interface that enables the management of hundreds of Agents with just a few clicks.

The akaBot Center lets you manage the creation, monitoring, and deployment of resources in your environment, acting in the same way as an integration point with third-party applications.

This document aims to guide you on how to use the functionalities in the AkaBot Center. 

Using akaBot Center

1. Center Overview

1.1. The User Interface

1.2. akaBot Center – Navigation

In the Feature menu, you can see all the functionality that akaBot provided. 

1.3. Getting Started with akaBot Center

Before stating exploring all the main function of akaBot Center, please follow the instruction to install and Activate akaBot Center here. 

During the usage of akaBot Center, there are many instances where you need to input data to perform certain actions, such as Create/Edit or Filter for specific data. Below are different type of input data and method along with what they mean:

2. akaBot Operation Functions

2.1. Home

akaBot's home page is a dashboard that enables you to see all the statistical charts of a single Organizational Unit containing useful information for all the following components:

• Number of Agent (Available, Busy, Disconnected, Nonresponse)
• Number of Task (Successful, Running, Stopped, Faulted)
• Schedule (Calculated by Hour, Day, Week and Month basis)
• Package (Active, Inactive)
• Task Statistics (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly view available)
• Upcoming Tasks
• Recent Tasks

You can filter the data based on the Agent Group and Agent Name

You can also view the Task Statistics by selecting the corresponding tab: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly.

2.2. Automation

a. Task

A task is an execution instance of a process on one or multiple Agents. After creating a workflow (deploying a package to an agent group), the next step is to execute it with the assigned Agents. This can be done manually from the Tasks page or in a preplanned manner, from the Schedules page.

The Tasks page displays by default all the tasks that are running, and the ones placed in a pending state, regardless of whether they were started manually or through a schedule. On this page, you can also manually Create or Edit a task, Start or Stop a task, and display the logs generated by it with just a click of the button. More details can be shown in the Task Details window, to help you with troubleshooting faulted tasks. To access the Task page, you click the Task tab in the left menu. After clicking, the system shows the Task page listing all existed tasks as below:

• View a task

There are a few ways to view the details of the task:
From the Task page: This allows you to view all the created tasks. Click the View button on the left.

From the Workflow Details page: This allows you to view all the created tasks of a specific Workflow. Click the Workflow tab > Select the Workflow > Select the Task tab and select the task item.

From the Agent Details page: This allows you to view all the created tasks of a specific Agent. Click the Agent tab > Select the Agent > Select the Task tab at the bottom and select the task item.

From the Schedule Detail page: This allows you to view all the created tasks of a specific Schedule. Click the Schedule tab > Select the Schedule > Select the Task tab at the bottom and select the task item.

Once clicking, you will be redirected to the Detail page. Details can be viewed below:

Besides the General information which can also be found on the Listing page, the Task Details page also included special Parameters and Log Details of each task.

• Search a task

akaBot Center allows you to search a task list by Free search box, Agent Name, State of Tasks

• Create/Edit a task

There are three ways tasks can be created:

- When you create a Schedule on the Schedule page or executed an Agent locally, tasks will be created automatically.

- You can also manually create a task on the Tasks page.

- Clone an existing task.

To manually create a task:
Click Create New button on the top right of the page. The System will display the form for you to create the task.

Alternatively, you can click the Action button and select Clone option to create an identical task. This feature allows you to rapidly perform a task from the tasks list without having to go through the whole configuration process.

This process assumes you previously initiated a task that has already attained a final state. First, select Clone after clicking the corresponding Action button at the beginning of each task.

Once you click the option, the CLONE A TASK window appears, with the task's default parameters.

Feel free to make the necessary modifications and then Save your work by clicking the Save button. The CLONE A TASK window closes, and the execution begins.

Notes: After creating or cloning, the task is automatically deployed to the Agent and runs immediately. On the Tasks page, the status of each task is presented in real-time.

• Delete a task

To delete a task, you click the Delete button of one task in the list.

Alternatively, you can select the checkbox before each Task and the Delete button will show up next to the Filter button. Tick the Checkbox next to Action will allow users to select all displayed Tasks for bulk delete.

The System will show a message to get your confirmation. Hit Confirm to remove the task.

.

b. Workflow

A Workflow represents the association between a Package and an Agent Group. Each time a package is linked to an Agent Group, it is automatically distributed to all the Agent machines that belong to that Agent Group.

The Workflows page enables you to deploy an uploaded package to Agent Groups, manage previously created associations and keep all your workflows up to date. This helps you distribute packages on the Agent machines and execute works faster from the Tasks page. To access the Workflows page, you click the Workflow tab at the left menu. After clicking, the system shows the Workflow page listing all existed Workflow as below:

• View a Workflow

To view a workflow, you can click the eye button.

Besides all the general information displayed on the Workflow Listing page, the Workflow Details page also included Parameters and Machine Environment information generated when creating/editing the Workflow.

Furthermore, you can see the update history as well as a list of Tasks executed by said Workflow. Details regarding Tasks shall be explained in the Tasks section.

Here, you can search the Task list by  Time, Name, State, Agent of the tasks. 

Users can also delete executed instances of this Workflow by selecting the Checkbox at the beginning of each Task. The Delete button will show up.

• Search a Workflow

• Create a workflow

To create a workflow, you click the “Create New” button at the top of the page.

After clicking, the system shows a form allowing you to create the workflow.

Once filled in all the General information, you can add further Parameters and Machine Environment variables to the Workflow. You can add multiple variables, but you can only add one by one.

• Edit a workflow

To edit a workflow, you click the Three dots button, then click Edit.

After clicking, the system shows a form allowing you to edit the info of the workflow.

Once edit package version, you can edit further Parameters and Machine Environment variables to the Workflow. You can add multiple variables, but you can only add one by one (same as above).

• Delete a workflow

To delete, you click the Three dots button, then click Delete.

Alternatively, you can select the checkbox before each Workflow and the Delete button will show up next to the Filter button. Tick the Checkbox next to Action will allow the user to select all displayed Agent for bulk delete.

After clicking, a system will show a confirmation message for you to confirm.

c. Schedule

Scheduling allows us to perform tasks in a preplanned way. You can execute tasks by commanding Agents to perform different schedules and times according to your needs. The Schedule page enables us to create new schedules. It also displays all previously created schedules, which can be further edited, enabled, or disabled. To access the Schedule page, click the Schedule tab in the left menu. After clicking, the system opens the Schedule Listing page that included all schedules we have created previously.

• View a schedule

Besides the General information above, the Details page also shows the Parameters and Holiday settings of said Schedule.

- Parameters:  From here, you can also see a list of Agents and Tasks associated with this Schedule. Details about Agents and Tasks shall be explained in their respective sections.

- Holiday settings: From here, you can see the holiday settings options for Agent: Run continuously/ Bypass holiday/ Postpone until the next work day.

• Search Schedule

To search for the Schedule you need, you have some options as below:

• Create/Edit a Schedule

To create a schedule, you click Create New button.

When you want to edit the Schedule information, click the Edit button in the Action column.

Alternatively, you can access the Details page of said schedule and select the Edit button.

When you click Create new/ Edit, a form will be shown up:

After filling the form, click the Save button to save it, and the schedule is created. You can also cancel the creation of the schedule by clicking the Cancel button.

• Disable/Enable a Schedule

To disable a schedule, click corresponding Action button and then select Disable.

After clicking, the system will ask for your confirmation to switch status:

When the schedule is disabled, the status of said schedule changes to Disable.

Similarly, to enable a schedule, click the corresponding Action button and then select Enable.

• Delete a Schedule

To delete, you need to click The Action button of the corresponding Schedule and select the Delete button.

Alternatively, you can hit the checkbox before each Schedule and the Delete option will appear next to the
Filter option at the top. Click the Checkbox next to Action will allow you to select all displayed Schedule
for delete.

After clicking, the system will allow you to delete and need your confirmation before deleting.

Hit Delete to complete the operation.

• Holiday settings

Holiday setting allows us to set Holiday for agents.

After setting holidays, when you create a new schedule, in Holiday settings tab of this form, you can choose a running option in Holiday for agents as below: 

d. Package

Package page displays all the projects published from akaBot Studio, as well as the ones that were manually uploaded. A project becomes a package when it is published to akaBot Center.

To access the Package page, you click the Package tab in the left menu. After clicking, the system opens the Package Listing page that includes all Packages we have published to the Center.

• View a Package

To view the detail of a Package, the user can click the Eye button. On the detail page, you will see a list containing all versions of the selected package which were uploaded/published to the Center.

• Search Package

This option allows you to search the package by entering the package name.
 

• Upload a Package

Typically, when you publish a workflow to the Center, a package will be uploaded to the Center automatically. However, you can also Manually upload a package to Center using the Create New button located at the top right of the Listing page.

The system will display the window for you to upload the Packages.

Click Choose File and select the packages (with the .nupkg extension) and hit Open.

Once you select the Package to upload from your local machine, hit Save to finish the upload, Cancel to terminate the operation.

• Delete a Package

On the Packages Repository page, click on the Name of the package. The Package information and a list of all versions will be displayed.

Select Delete action corresponding with the version of the package you want to delete. A confirming popup will display. Hit Delete to complete the operation.

The selected package version is removed. If Delete related items? is selected, any Tasks, Log, Schedules and Workflow linked to this package shall also be removed.

2.3. Resources

a. Agent

An Agent is an execution host that runs processes that are built in akaBot Studio.

The Agents page allows you to add Agents, edit them, and examine their status as well as the change runtime settings and the Agent Group to which they are assigned.

Note: When the status of an Agent is busy (executing a process), you cannot edit the Username, Machine, or Type. To access the Agent page, click “Agent” tab in the left menu. After clicking, the system shows the Agent page listing all existed Agents as below.

• View an Agent

You can view the details of the Agent by clicking the eye button.

Besides details regarding the Agent, all the tasks, logs, and connection verification status of the Agent can also be found here.

• View an Agent’s tasks

At the bottom of the Details page, you can see a list of all the tasks that are executed by this specific Agent.

Details regarding Tasks shall be explained in the Task sections.

• View an Agent’s log

To view the Agent’s logs from the Agent Details page, click the Log tab next to the Task tab to switch the view.

You can also Export Log for further investigation by clicking the Export Log option next to the Filter button. You can export all Logs or specific filtered Log Items.

• Verify the Agent Connection

To make sure the Center and Agent are correctly connected with a valid username and password, you can click on the Verify button.

If the user clicks this button when the Agent is connected, an ID/Password authentication check will be performed to determine if the ID/Password is correct and can be logged in.

There are three possible verification task states:

• PENDING: the verification task was created and waiting for verification from the agent
• SUCCESSFUL: the agent was verified and the username password was correct
• FAULTED: the agent was verified and the username password was incorrect

Verification tasks and verify button will be updated in real-time. When there is a pending verification task on the verification tab, verify button will be disabled.
When the user clicks on verify button, the verification tab will be opened automatically and there is also a "Verifying..." notification shown in the top right corner.

To view all the Verification requests created, go to the Agent tab > View agent detail > Select Verification tab.

• Create/Update an Agent

The first step of connecting an Agent to the Center is to create an Agent in the Center.

Notes: You are unable to edit an Agent with status = BUSY (executing a task). To create a new Agent, you should click the “Create New” button on the top right corner of the screen

To edit an Agent, you should click the Edit button of one Agent in the list. Alternatively, you can click the Edit button on the Detail Page of the Agent.

After clicking, the system shows a popup allowing you to fill properties to create/edit a new Agent. You need to fill in all the necessary info in the form below.

Agent tab

Agent Settings Tab

After filling the form, you click the Save button to record the Agent to the system.
Follow the instruction to connect the Agent to the Center using the Agent Key to complete the connection.

• Search for Agent

To search for the Agents you need, insert Agent name to search box of select Agent group, Status to find:

• Delete an Agent

To delete, you need to click the Delete button.

Alternatively, you can select the checkbox before each Agent and the Delete button will show up next to the Create Newr button. Tick the Checkbox next to Action will allow users to select all displayed Agent for bulk delete.

b. Agent Group

An Agent Group is a grouping of agents that is used to deploy processes. The Agent Group page displays all previously created groups and enables you to manage Agents within them. The Agent Group page allows you to search and filter agent groups by name and description. 

To view the details of the Agent Group, click eye button.

• Create/Edit an Agent Group

To create a new agent group, you should click “Create New” button on the top right corner of the screen.

When you want to edit the Agent Group information, click the Edit button: 

When you click on Create New/Edit button, the system will show a form for you to fill in. Details are in the table below.

Once all information is filled, hit Save.

• Remove Agent Group

To delete an agent group, you should click the Delete button of the agent group you want to remove from the Agent Group list.

Alternatively, you can hit the checkbox before each Agent and the Delete option will appear next to the Filter option at the top. Click the Checkbox next to Action will allow you to select all Agents for deletion.

c. Agent Pool

Agent Pool allows you to create a "pool" of Agents related to a workflow. Anytime when the workflow need to be executed, the available Agent in the pool at that time will automatically execute the workflow so that we can make the best use of Agents.

• Create an Agent Pool

You need to complete some other tasks before creating an Agent Pool: Create an Agent Group -> Create a Workflow -> Create an Agent Pool. 

Step 1: Create an Agent group: Open Resources tab -> Click Agent Group tab -> Click Create new -> Fill form and Save

Step 2: Create a Workflow: Open Automation tab -> Click Workflow tab -> Create new workflow -> Fill the form with exact Agent Group you've created -> Save

Step 3: Create an Agent pool: Open Resources tab -> Click Agent Pool tab -> Click Create New (As the picture below):

Then a form will show up for you to fill:

Next to general tab, there is Callback Setup. This feature allows you to send the output to a third party when the Agents in this pool complete a task. 

There are 3 sending options: 

No callback as default: Do not send the ouput

Restful API (POST Method): Send the output through the API you insert.

Webhook: Send the output to the Webhook address

2.4. Assets

Assets usually represent shared variables or credentials that can be used in different automation projects. They allow you to store specific information so that the Robots can easily have access to it.

Additionally, an extra level of security is provided, as all credentials stored here are encrypted with the AES 256 algorithm. They can be invoked by RPA developers when designing a process, but their values can be hidden from them. The Assets page enables you to create new assets. It also displays all previously created assets, which can
be edited or deleted.

To access the Asset page, you click Assets tab in the left menu. After clicking, the system opens an Asset Listing where all the Assets are located.

• View an Asset

To view an Asset, you click Eye button:

The system shows the details of workflow as below:

• Search Asset

This option allows you to search Asset by name, or select Asset type, kind of Asset:

• Create/edit an Asset

In order to create an Asset, on the Assets page, click Create new.

When you want to edit an existing Asset, click the Edit button as below: 

Alternatively, you can access the Details page of said Asset and select the Edit button.

The system will display the form for you to create/ Edit an Asset:

• Delete an Asset

To delete a task, you click the Delete button of the corresponding Asset.

Alternatively, you can select the checkbox before each Asset and the Delete button will show up next to the Filter button. Tick the Checkbox next to Action will allow users to select all displayed Assets for bulk delete.

2.5. Queue

A Queue in simple terms is a container that holds a set of items that you want to be processed by akaBot Agents. Queue items can store different types of data, such as customer details. This information can be processed in other systems - SAP or Salesforce, for instance.

Queues enable you to create large automation projects underlined by complex logic. New queues created in akaBot Center are empty by default. To populate queues with items, to change their status and process them, you have to use Studio activities. As soon as queue items are processed, they become transactions. To access the Queue page, you click Queue tab in the left menu. After clicking, the system opens Queue Listing Page where all the Queues are located.

• View a Queue

To view a Queue, you click Eye button.

The system shows the details of the queue as below:

• Transaction

Once a Queue item was in proceed, it becomes a transaction. You can check the details of the processing
queue items in the details of the queue.

• Create/Edit a Queue

In order to create a Queue, on the Queue Listing page, click Create new

To edit an existing Queue, select the Edit button corresponding to the Queue you want to edit:

The system will display the form for you to create/edit a Queue

After filling the form, click the Save button to save it, and the Queue is created. You can also cancel the creation of the queue by clicking the Cancel button.

• Delete Queue

To delete a queue, you click the Delete button of the corresponding Queue.

Alternatively, you can select the checkbox before each Queue and the Delete button will show up next to the Filter button. Tick the Checkbox next to Action will allow users to select all displayed Queue for bulk delete.

2.6. Monitoring 

a. Productivity

This page allows you to make the best use of your Agents by tracking and monitoring Agent's activities on a Calendar. 

• View Agents' activities.

To view Agent's activities, please click Monitoring tab from the main menu. After clicking, you immediately see the view by week of all Agents' activities.

• Filter Agents' Activities

You can view the exact activities of Agents you want by selecting Agents' name and machine name at the corner of the calendar.

• Create a schedule

From here, you can see the free times of Agents. So you can quickly create a new schedule for an Agent by clicking on free time area on the calendar. Then, a form will show up for you to enter the necessary information. After clicking "Save" button, the new schedule will show up on the calendar.

b. Report

Report provides activity statistic information about the Agents & Workflows which are currently being connected to Center. Here, you can get information such as the number of successful tasks, a number of tasks that are running, stopped, or faulted. You can also check the total number of task that was run by the selected Agent or Workflows

You can get your reports by Agent and Workflow. To access the Report page, click on the Report tab in the left menu.

• Report for Agent

Users can view Agent Report by going to Report tab > Select Agent tab.

To get the report, you can use the filter at the top of the page.

The Report will be downloaded to your local machine and shall be open:

• Report for Workflow

Similar to Agent Report above. Please scroll up to read. 

2.7. Administration

a. User Management

A user is an entity with access-dependent capabilities whose perspective and control of akaBot Center are contingent on the roles they have been designated. Users can be created in the Center.

This page displays all available users and allows admin to add or delete, as well as update users’ information.

After selecting the User management tab, the system displays the following page:

• View a User

To view a user’s details, click on the eye button.

• Create/Edit a User

To create a new user, click the Create new at the top of the User page.

When you click on Create New/Edit button, the system will show a form for you to fill in. Details in the table below.

After filling the form, click the Save button to save it, and the User is created. You can also cancel the creation of the queue by clicking the Cancel button.

• Delete a User

To delete a User, you click the Delete button of the corresponding User.

A confirming pop-up will display. Hit Delete to complete the operation.

b. Role Management

akaBot incorporates a role and permission-based access-control framework. Roles are sets of permission, which means that the permissions required to access and control specific Center resources are assigned to roles. In other words, Users were not given permission to certain resources but will get the permit through a role. Depending on their roles, users have access to the resources listed below:

This Role Management page displays all available roles and allows admin to add or delete, as well as update roles’ information. After selecting the Role Management tab, the system displays the following page:

• Default Roles

In akaBot Center, there are 3 default roles:

- ROLE_ADMIN

- ROLE_USER

- ROLE_ROBOT

ROLE_ADMIN
By default, the role has all the rights to all resources and this cannot be changed.

ROLE_USER
By default, the role has the following rights, but they can be edited.

ROLE_ROBOT
By default, the role has the following rights, but they can be edited:

• Create/edit a Role

To create a new Role for your Center, click the Create New button at the top of the page:

To edit an existing Role, click the Edit button corresponding to the Role in the Action column.

When you click on Create New/Edit button, the system will show a form for you to fill in. Details in the table below

• Delete a role

To delete a role, you click the Delete button of the corresponding role.

A confirming pop-up will display. Hit Delete to complete the operation.

c. Organization Unit

Organization Units (OU) provide the separation of Orchestrator components into tenants for designated users. The user's perspective of akaBot Center is determined by the organization unit in which they are placed, as well as the role(s) appointed to them. The following categories of entities make up an organization unit: 

• Agent group
• Agents
• Workflows
• Tasks
• Schedules
• Packages Repository
• Assets
• Queue
• Logs
• Report
  ! Statistics are produced for each organizational unit and shown on the Dashboard.

Notes:
A user with no assigned Organization Unit does not have access to any type of resources.
The same agent cannot be provisioned on two different Organization Units. Resources cannot be moved from one organization unit to another.
A drop-down list displays all of the units assigned to a user located at the header of the page, available at all times. User can also use this to switch between OU.

To access the OU page, click on the Administration tab in the left menu, then click Organization Unit tab. All previously created OU shall be in display there as below:

As an Admin, you may view the details of specific OU, create, update, or remove or filter the OU, as well as manage the users that are allocated to them.

• View an OU

In order to view all the details of an OU, you can click the eye button.

Once clicking, you will be redirected to the Details page.

• Create/edit an OU

To create a new organization unit, you click "Create New” button. If you want to edit an OU, select the edit option from Action next to the corresponding OU Name.

After clicking, the system shows a pop-up form for you to fill the information:

If you want to unassign a user from an organization unit, open the Edit windows and hit the bin icon in the action field. Once all the information is filled/edited, hit Save. Your OU is created.

• Remove an OU

A confirmation pop-up will appear. Select Delete to finish the operation.

d. Webhook

Webhooks allow you to integrate your akaBot Platform with your whole application ecosystem more effectively. You may subscribe to Center events and forward them to any external DCM, BPM, or CRM solution to notify various users, such as when a new queue item is ready for processing, a trigger fails, or a process is changed.

Notes: Your application must be web-hooked and compatible with akaBot.

After selecting the Webhook tab, the system displays the following page.

Create/edit a Webhook

To create a webhook

e. License

Agent/Studio license is accessible on Organization Unit based on the License page in the Center. This allows you to accelerate deployment and manage activation from a single place. With the press of a button, you may activate, renew, or cancel licenses. You may also track license usage throughout the year.

After selecting the License Management tab, the system displays the following page:

• Add license

https://docs.akabot.com/bin/view/akaBot%20Center/Center%20Installation/Activation/

•  Renew license

https://docs.akabot.com/bin/view/akaBot%20Center/Center%20Installation/%5B4%5D%20License%20Renewal/

f. Token

Token page allows you simply create a new token to access the API without sending account and password to the third party.

• View token

From the dash board, you click Administration tab, then choose Token tab. Once clicking, the list of created tokens will be shown.