Install and connect the Desktop client

Prerequisites

Desktop licenses

A Desktop license will need to be applied to the Blue Prism database before a user is able to sign in and use the Desktop client.

Unlike Blue Prism Enterprise licenses, whose use is determined by the number of concurrent sessions, Desktop licenses are associated with the number of registered Desktop runtime resources.

When a user logs into the Desktop client for the first time, their machine is registered as a Desktop runtime resource and a Desktop license is associated with that machine. If another user logs onto that machine, they will share the same Desktop license.

To remove a license from a machine and make it available for another machine, the Desktop system administrator will need to retire the Desktop runtime resource, see Resource management for details. Subsequent login attempts on that machine will fail until the resource is unretired.

Minimum hardware requirements

See Blue Prism software and hardware requirements for details of the minimum requirements for the computer running the Blue Prism Desktop client.

Install the Desktop client

To install the Desktop client, download and run the Desktop installer, available from the Blue Prism Portal, and progress through the installer as shown below:

Step	Installer screen	Details
1		Welcome If required, select another language for the installer from the drop-down list. The default language is English (United States). Click Next.
2		License agreement Read the End User License Agreement and if you agree to the terms, select the check box. Click Next.
3		Destination folder Specify the required installation folder. The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Blue Prism\Blue Prism Desktop, but you can choose your own using the Change button. Click Next.
4		Advanced install Select the additional components you would like to install. All available options are selected by default. Outlook automation – Required on devices where the Blue Prism MS Outlook Email VBO will be executed. Google Sheets automation – Required on devices where the Blue Prism Google Sheets VBO will be executed. Citrix automation – Required on devices that will be used to automate applications natively via a Citrix Virtual Desktop Environment (VDE). This option is only available for selection if Citrix Workspace has been installed. Citrix agent – Required if users want to install only the files necessary to automate applications on a Citrix VDE, without fully installing Blue Prism. Chrome browser extension – Required to enable Blue Prism to interact with Chrome-based applications and web pages. Edge browser extension – Required to enable Blue Prism to interact with Edge-based applications and web pages. Firefox browser extension – Required to enable Blue Prism to interact with Firefox-based applications and web pages. Click Install to install Desktop. A progress bar displays during the installation of the application.
5		Installation complete If the installation has completed successfully, click Finish to exit the installer. If the installation fails, click View Log to see details of the error that was encountered.

Configure a Desktop client connection

It is strongly recommended that Desktopclient connections are configured by a Blue Prism system administrator. Details of how users can import and connect to existing Desktop connections can be found in Configuring environment connections for Blue Prism Desktop.

When installing the Desktop client, users can choose to connect to the Desktop environment using at least one or both of the following options:

• Configure a shared connection – Connect to a shared configuration file, which can only be modified by a system administrator.
• Configure a local connection – Connect to a local configuration file, which can be modified by the Desktop user, if required.

Before you can create a new Desktop connection, you will need to Install the Desktop client.

Configure a shared connection

If your organization wants Desktop client users to connect to a Desktop environment using a shared connection file, the location of the shared file will need to be entered when installing the Desktop client. The creation and configuration of the shared connection file should be carried out by a system administrator. Desktop client users cannot edit or delete shared connections. See Configuring environment connections for Blue Prism Desktop for details.

Desktop.User.config backup file

When a Desktop user has successfully connected to a Desktop environment using a shared connection file, a .desktop.shared.config.bak file is automatically generated and stored locally in C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Blue Prism Limited\Desktop. This connection file is then used to establish a connection with the Desktop environment, removing the need to connect to the shared file each time the user accesses Desktop.

The Desktop.User.config file, which is located in C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Blue Prism Limited\Desktop on each computer, points to the location of the Blue Prism API, the Digital Worker API, and Authentication Sever. This file can be edited directly if necessary, or configured via the Desktop user interface (recommended), as described below.

Configure a connection

1. Open the Blue Prism Desktop application.

   The Welcome to Blue Prism Desktop screen displays.

   

2. Click Configure connection.

   The Saved connections screen displays.

   

3. Click Add connection.

   The Create new connection screen displays.

   

4. Enter the connection details, as prompted. All the fields are mandatory.

   Field name	Information required
   Connection name	Enter a name for this connection. Connection names must be unique, and are case sensitive. If you try to create a new connection with the same name as an existing one, a warning message displays and you cannot save the connection.
   URL for Authentication Server	Enter the Authentication Server URL, but do not include https:// in the URL. To ensure a secure connection is used, all Authentication Server URLs must include https://. This has therefore been hard-coded into the field and does not need to be entered.
   URL for Digital Worker API	Enter the URL of the Digital Worker API to which you want to connect.
   URL for Blue Prism API	Enter the URL of the Blue Prism API to which you want to connect.

   

5. Click Create to add the new connection.

   The connection is created and displays on the Saved connections screen.

   

The configuration is updated in the Desktop.User.config file, which is located in C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Blue Prism Limited\Desktop. The configuration file can then be imported by clicking Import connection on the Saved connections screen on each Desktop user’s computer. See Configure Blue Prism Desktop connections for details.

Although the functionality is available to do so, it is not expected that Desktop users will create, edit, or delete their own connections. It is expected that this information will be provided to them by system administrators. However, because the connection configuration information is stored in their user settings, they will need to import the configuration file themselves. When rolling out Desktop to end users, it is recommended that system administrators create and distribute a centrally-controlled Desktop.User.config file to be imported by Desktop users.

Example Desktop.User.config file

The following example shows a typical Desktop.User.config file:

{
  "Environments": {
    "Production Environment": {
      "ConfigurationName": "Production Environment",
      "ApiUrl": "https://xxapi-edadev2.site.co.uk:12121",
      "DigitalWorkerApiUrl": "https://ttapi-dw-edadev2.site.co.uk:54441",
      "AuthenticationServerDomain": "ims-prod.aadeuops.co.uk",
      "ClientName": "bpd"
    },
    "ABC connect": {
      "ConfigurationName": "ABC connect",
      "ApiUrl": "https://xxapi-edadev2.site.co.uk:12634",
      "DigitalWorkerApiUrl": "https://uuapi-dw-edadev2.site.co.uk:54455",
      "AuthenticationServerDomain": "ims-aaadev2.site.co.uk",
      "ClientName": "bpd"
    }
  },
  "Selected": "edadev2"
}