Using the Login Agent

Once Login Agent has been deployed on the required devices, the Login Agent Release Package can be imported into the environment. This package includes a number of components that can be used to illustrate how to interact with a device that has been configured with Login Agent.

To import the package, select File > Import, browse to the Blue Prism Login Agent directory of the Blue Prism installation, and select the Login Agent Release.bprelease file. The data is copied into the database so it only needs to be completed once for each relevant Blue Prism environment.

The default Login and Change Password processes require that a Credential record is created for each device where the process will be run. These credential records need to be created using the default naming format: Windows Login: [MachineName]. For example, if the runtime resource is configured on robot0001 on port 8190, the default credential name should be Windows Login: robot0001.

For more information, see Setting up Windows login credentials.

Example processes

A number of example Blue Prism processes are provided within the release package:

  • Change Password – Resets the password for the currently logged on user and overwrites the password associated with the credential record. Provides support for configuring the complexity of the password that will be generated.
  • Intended for Login Agent runtime resource? No – process terminates immediately
  • Intended for Blue Prism runtime resource? Yes
  • Check Logged In – Checks the current logged in state of the device where the runtime resource is running.
  • Intended for Login Agent runtime resource? Yes
  • Intended for Blue Prism runtime resource? Yes
  • Login – Instructs a Login Agent runtime resource to retrieve a credential (based on a default static naming format) and execute a login. Supports both local account and network account logins.
  • Intended for Login Agent runtime resource? Yes
  • Intended for Blue Prism runtime resource? No
  • Logout – Instructs a Blue Prism runtime resource to close all programs in the user session and log out of Windows. An optional delay can be passed in as the parameter 'Delay' which will hold off from logging out for the time specified. The process will still complete immediately, and the session will logout after the delay has passed.
  • Intended for Login Agent runtime resource? No
  • Intended for Blue Prism runtime resource? Yes
  • Specifying a Delay of 1 second (or greater) can help when troubleshooting.

Example actions

A business object, leveraged by the above processes, is provided that provides a set of example actions that can be used to achieve common authentication actions with the operating system such as Log In, Is Logged In, Log Out, Change Password, Lock Screen, Unlock Screen.

Information regarding the Login Agent VBO and its actions can be found in the API documentation under Help > API Documentation.

When overwriting existing versions of the Login Agent VBO, it is necessary to re-verify any processes that use the provided functionality.