Blue Prism Enterprise 7.3 upgrade – process and FAQs

This topic provides the required steps and frequently asked questions for the Blue Prism Enterprise 7.3 upgrade. The process is split into the following stages:

• Stage 1 – Prerequisites
• Stage 2 – Upgrade readiness
• Stage 3 – Development upgrade
• Stage 4 – Production upgrade

Stage 1 – Prerequisites

I have Hub version 4.3, what impact will there be if I take this upgrade?

It is necessary to highlight that BPE 7.3 is not certified for use with Hub 4.3, only Hub 4.6, 5.0 and 5.0.1. If you are using Hub 4.3, the result of taking the 7.3 release of BPE would be a loss of support for the current Hub version that you use. This would be rectified later in the year when we release Hub 5.1 onto BPC, which could then be applied to your platform to restore Hub access.

Are there any prerequisites that I need to action before I can upgrade?

Please see step 1 above.

Are there more DNS records for the standard upgrade, additional to those added for Blue Prism Enterprise 6.10.5?

Yes. Blue Prism Enterprise 7.3 has additional records beyond what was needed for previous upgrades to enable the use of our new Smart Vision capability. Please refer to your initial email from Blue Prism Cloud giving details of any requirements that exist based on your upgrade path. If you have taken previous upgrades, some of these might already be configured.

Who will be responsible for adding the new records needed?

• The customer usually provides IP addresses of their DNS servers that are utilized at the point of platform standup. If a customer does not provide custom DNS servers, we utilize the Azure default DNS servers.
• Where the platform uses customer DNS servers the customer is responsible for adding the new records needed for the upgrade.
• Please refer to your initial email from Blue Prism Cloud giving details of any requirements that exist based on your upgrade path.

Who do I contact if I need to discuss further details on this upgrade?

Please email [email protected] or your Customer Success contact if you have queries around the upgrade process. Alternatively, please raise a support ticket for technical queries using the SS&C | Blue Prism support portal.

Is this upgrade mandatory?

For customers on 7.x this is not a mandatory upgrade. Please let [email protected] know if you are not able or wanting to take the 7.3 upgrade and we will remove you from any future 7.3 communications.

Stage 2 – Upgrade readiness

Stage 3 – Development upgrade

How can I book my development upgrade?

Once the prerequisites are complete complete the Blue Prism Enterprise 7.3 Product Release on Blue Prism Cloud form. SS&C | Blue Prism will confirm the platform is ready to upgrade and agree a development upgrade window with you.

How long does an upgrade take?

Both Development and Production upgrade windows allow for two hours each.

How can I change my upgrade booking?

This can be done via your support ticket.

Do I need to do anything prior to the upgrade window?

See step 3a of Stage 3 – Development upgrade above.

Can I access the platform during the upgrade window?

Customer should not access or use the platform during the upgrade window.

What happens when my upgrade is complete?

You will be informed, via the support ticket, once the upgrade has been successfully implemented.

What happens if there are any issues during my upgrade?

The Blue Prism Cloud engineer will notify you if the upgrade goes over the allotted time window. They will provide updates every 60 minutes and give details of the issues they have encountered.

What testing should I perform following the upgrade?

See step 3c of Stage 3 – Development upgrade.

Why can’t I log in into the Blue Prism software via the management server after my development upgrade?

Customers will not be able to log in to the Blue Prism software for the development connection via the management server. Connection to these, for testing, should be established directly with the development worker via VNC or RDP from the management server. This will be resolved once production has been upgraded.

Are there any changes that impact the AD Integration I currently use with Blue Prism?

That configuration will not change however Authentication Server cannot be AD Integrated at this time.

What happens if I discover issues when testing post upgrade?

Please reply to the support ticket – this will ensure you receive prompt technical assistance for your upgrade issue.

What is the rollback plan if any issues occur during the upgrade?

Once the upgrade has been applied, you will be informed if it was successfully implemented. If this was unsuccessful, as determined by Blue Prism Cloud Operations (for example, an issue with deploying), a rollback will be carried out and you will be informed. If issues occur after implementation (for example, issues with automations uncovered when you are testing, such as problems connecting to digital workers, loading data, or instructing digital workers), Blue Prism Cloud operations will aim to fix forward to resolve the issue; if no resolution is found and the issue is judged to be of a considerably high/urgent impact, discussions regarding a rollback can be raised accordingly.

I have a test environment, when will this be upgraded?

A test environment will be upgraded during the development upgrade window.

When will a digital worker with temporary switch configuration in place be upgraded, i.e. a production worker flipped to a development worker?

The development upgrade window executes against development workers only, as per the naming convention, i.e., ‘DVW’. The development pipeline will not pick any workers that have a temporary switch configuration i.e. a production worker is flipped to a development worker within the platform. The manual configuration of flipping back the worker for development purposes will be handled/serviced by a support ticket, rather then be part of the upgrade.

Stage 4 – Production upgrade

How can I book my Production upgrade?

Once sign-off is received for the 7.3 change in development SS&C | Blue Prism will confirm the production platform is ready to upgrade and agree a production upgrade window with you.

For additional upgrade related questions, see Stage 3 – Development upgrade.

Products and versions – general

What are the special features of this upgrade?

Please watch the Blue Prism Enterprise 7.3 Product Release on Blue Prism Cloud webinar for more information.

You will also find useful information in the Release Notes.

What information is there about the version I'm upgrading to?

Please see the release notes, known issues and upgrade notices for the required version(s).

How long will the 7.3 upgrade be available for and is 2023.1 still available?

We are no longer offering a 2023.1 upgrade as Blue Prism Enterprise 7.3 onto BPC is the new recommended upgrade path for customers.

See the SS&C | Blue Prism roadmap for details of future releases.

Are there any Blue Prism Cloud courses?

Please visit Blue Prism University for the current Blue Prism Cloud courses. A list of role-based courses can be requested from Blue Prism Educational Services.

Can we use Rest API following this upgrade?

Yes. For more information on the functionality available in the Blue Prism API deployed version 7.3, see the associated help documentation.

How do I utilise the updated MV3 browser extensions to insert and invoke JavaScript on web pages using Chrome or Edge?

Please see the MV3 browser extension guidance.

For MV2, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have announced they are phasing out the Manifest V2 (MV2) browser extensions.

Does running a Citrix automation that interacts with two different Citrix environments count as more than one session in terms of Blue Prism licenses?

Any number of Citrix environments can be interacted with as part of a single automation, which will be considered as one session if these interactions are contained within a single process design.

Products and versions – Smart Vision

Where can I find more information on Smart Vision?

Help on Smart Vision can be found here.

If a website changes its appearance, can Smart Vision account for these changes?

Provided that the anchors which make the elements unique for Smart Vision purposes remain available, digital workers should be able to identify elements on the website.

If the anchor elements around an identified element moves, i.e. the anchor elements were to the left and is now to the right or top of the element, will that influence Smart Vision?

Directional anchors can be specified by multiple points, i.e. to the upper left or left of the element - provided the anchor is configured to be accommodating of the positional change, elements should continue to be identifiable.

Is it still a requirement to activate an application when interacting with a Smart Vision element?

It will still be best practice to activate an application before using Smart Vision spy mode to identify/interact with an element. This will ensure the full user interface is visible on screen to perform identification operations.

Is the Smart Vision service a cloud hosted service or does it sit on-premises?

Smart Vision is a BPC hosted service, so will exist in the cloud, but the service is hosted outside of all existing BPC customer tenants.

Are there any specific software/hardware requirements for Smart Vision?

Smart Vision should not change the recommended hardware and software requirements for a standard digital worker, though the machine will need a connection to the internet to send and receive information from the Smart Vision service.

Are there any additional courses I can view for Smart Vision?

This course is a good source of information for Smart Vision

SOC Report

Head to Blue Prism Security to view the SOC Report.