Hub 3.0 – Administration and configuration

When Hub is installed for an organization, it is delivered with a main administrator role and pre-configured with information provided for items such as email and database settings.

At the point of deployment Blue Prism Cloud may also configure into an existing Active Directory environment using LDAP if requested. It is then the responsibility of the organization to create additional users and customize settings specific to their needs. To perform these tasks the organizations administrator should log into Hub, via the Identity Management Server (IMS), using the supplied credentials.

Hub utilizes Role Based Access Control (RBAC) to ensure that users can only access functionality required to perform their role within their organization.

There are six main areas of functionality that the administrator role gives access to:

Basic administration

When an administrator logs into Hub, a number of additional functions are available from the top navigation menu which are not available to users without administrator capabilities enabled on their account.

The features on the top navigational menu bar include:

The features on the top navigational menu bar include:

  1. Expand or collapse the menu to see the installed plugins.
  2. Collapse or expand the left navigational bar.
  3. The area of the Hub user interface you are currently using.
  4. The currently selected environment. Environments are set up in the database connections screen and any present can be selected here.
  5. The Hub settings – available only to administrators.
  6. The plugin repository – available only to administrators.

  7. Your notifications and announcements. Only notifications that you are authorized to see or that are applicable to you will show. Announcements are informational messages delivered by Blue Prism Cloud on items such as upcoming events, product developments or new releases that are now available. You can review previous announcements or notifications by clicking View Read Announcement or View Archived Notifications options respectively. Previous announcements or notifications are filtered by age.

    Notifications are only used by the Automation Lifecycle Management plugin.

  8. Your profile. The drop-down menu lets you edit your profile or log out from Hub.

    You can change your email address, password, your first and last names but you cannot change your username. An avatar image, which by default is your initials, can be assigned by clicking on Add Avatar. Avatars cannot be greater than 1 MB in size.

System configuration

Once Hub has been successfully installed you are required to configure the email and database settings essential for normal operation and are accessed through the administration settings cog.

Email settings

Email settings allows you to change the configuration of SMTP. Changes should be done in conjunction with your own IT Support team to ensure that the configuration and credentials match what they have set up on your organization’s email server. The following information is required:

  • SMTP host
  • Port
  • Sender email
  • Encryption method
  • Username
  • Password

Whenever you save the SMTP settings, a test email is sent to the user you’re logged in as to ensure the set up is correct. If you don’t receive a test email after saving changes, check the details and update accordingly.

Database settings

The database connection option under the administration settings cog allows you to add a connection string to the Blue Prism RPA database and the Hub database.

You cannot change the original RPA database settings or the Hub database settings as these are coded into the system at installation time and cannot be altered.

To save any changes, press the Save button, or to discard changes, press the “X” in the top right corner. Whenever you save the SMTP settings, a test email will be sent to the user you’re logged in as to ensure everything has been setup correctly. If you don’t receive this test email, then something has been setup incorrectly.

The database connection option under the administration settings cog allows you to add a new connection string to the Blue Prism RPA database. You cannot change the original RPA database settings or the Hub database settings as these are coded into the system at installation time and cannot be altered.

Add a Blue Prism database connection

To add an additional RPA database connection to the database list, click Add New and provide the necessary configuration parameters. Click Save to add the connection.

You will need the dbowner SQL database permissions to do this.

Once a new RPA database has been added or changes have been made to an existing RPA database, for example adding a new digital worker, then the database settings will need to be “refreshed” to bring details of the digital workforce and queues across. If this is not done, you will not be able to see the digital workers or queues in that particular RPA environment.

Plugin management

Plugins are the heart of Hub and are self-contained features that can be individually installed and customized to provide information about your digital workforce. Some plugins also provide the user with development tools to assist in the build of automations.

When an administrator selects the plugin repository, details of the installed plugins are displayed, some of these are available by default during the installation process.

For each plugins a description details the functionality of the plugin and whether there are any dependencies. A version number is also displayed.

Add a plugin

Before you add a plugin, ensure that all installed plugins are up to date. Where a newer version of a plugin is available, this is highlighted and the option to update those plugins is enabled.

Click Add New Plugins to see a list of available plugins that can be installed. Select a plugin and click the Install button.

Multiple plugins can be installed at any one time and if the plugin is dependent on another plugin which isn’t currently installed, that plugin is automatically installed.

When a plugin is installed or updated, the web site will automatically restart so it is essential that the installation of plugins is performed out of hours, during maintenance windows.

Authentication and user management

There are two elements to Authentication and User Management and the organization has to decide on how they wish to operate. An organization has the choice to operate with named user accounts or local accounts. If the organization decides on local accounts, they will not need to utilize the Authentication Settings under the administration settings cog.

If the organization decides to utilize the user accounts configured into an organization’s Active Directory, then Authentication Settings will need to be used to configure LDAP settings. It is important to note that even if an organization is using LDAP to synchronize user accounts, named users can also be used for specific accounts and we recommend that the main Administrator account remains as a local named account.

Before you configure users either through LDAP or local users, it is recommended that user roles are configured first. If this is not performed users will be able to log on once their accounts are created but without a role assigned, they will get a limited display and no access to features or functionality.

User management is split into three areas – roles, users, and registration and is accessed by selecting Users, Roles and Registration Approval from the settings menu. Before you configure users, it is recommended that user roles are configured first. If this is not performed users will be able to log on once their accounts are created but without a role assigned, they will get a limited display and no access to features or functionality.

Authentication settings

Authentication Settings allows the configuration of an LDAP connection to an organization’s Active Directory environment.

If your organization has decided to commence with named user accounts this bit can be skipped. If an organization changes this decision at a later point, they can come back and add an LDAP connection to their Active Directory at any time.

Add a connection

  1. From the settings cog, select Authentication Settings > New Connection to display the LDAP Settings dialog.

  2. Configure the connection using the following fields:
    • Connection Name – A name that you want the connection to be known as.
    • Domain – The name of domain you are connecting to, for example “bpc”.
    • LDAP Server – The hostname of the LDAP server, for example blueprismcloud-srv1.local.
    • Port Number – The Port Number it operates on, by default this is Port 389.
    • Base DN – The starting point within the Active Directory where the system begins to look for users, for example dc=blueprismcloud, dc=local.
    • Time Out – The timeout period in seconds that the system will wait to get a response from the Active Directory server.
    • Query Bind Username – An Active Directory administrator that has access to the organization’s LDAP system.
    • Query Bind Password – The password for the Active Directory administrator.

    • Attributes – Username, Last Name, First Name and E-mail are pulled from the Active Directory environment.

    To test that everything is setup correctly a Test Username can be entered, then by selecting the Lookup User the information will be retrieved and populated in the corresponding Attributes fields

  3. Once all complete and tested, click Save.

Import Active Directory users

Once a connection has been saved you are prompted to import users from the Active Directory. You can choose to do this now or resynchronize at a later stage.

If you said yes to synchronizing now, you will get a list of the users to be imported. You can choose to import a specific user or not and you can assign them Hub Roles that have been previously setup and any Interact responsibilities. This is performed on a user by user basis allowing you to be selective on individual users.

Hub administrators role have access to all the plugins and features of Hub, including the ability to create new Database and LDAP connections and other security features. Ensure this role is only assigned to those users that need access to this functionality.

If you choose not to synchronize now, you are returned to the Authentication Settings form.

If at a later point, additional users are added to the Active Directory, then these will need to be synchronized. From the Authentication Settings form, using the three dots (Meatball menu) and select the Re-Sync option corresponding to the LDAP connection that you wish to use, you will be allowed to add any new users to the Hub user base.

Roles

Role management is performed by an administrator using the Users, Roles and Registration Approval option under the administration settings cog. The default display will show you the current users registered in Hub, their roles, and access rights.

Select the Roles tab to display the the current users registered in Hub, their roles, and access rights. If this is the first access only the automatically created administrator role will be listed. This is a locked role and cannot be changed or deleted.

Add a role

  1. On the Manage Users, Roles and Registrations screen, select the Roles tab.
  2. Click Add New to display the Create Role dialog.

  3. In the Basic tab, enter a name for the role and a suitable description to describe what the user has access to.

  4. Click Next.

  5. In the Users tab, select the users that will be assigned this role.

  6. Click Next.

  7. In the Plugins or Forms tab, select the plugins that you want the user role to have access to.

  8. Click Save to create the role.

Users

Create accounts for your users.

Add a user

  1. On the Manage Users, Roles and Registrations screen, select the Users tab.

  2. Click Add New to display the Create user dialog.

  3. Enter the user's details:
    • Username
    • First name
    • Last name
    • Email address
    • Theme
  4. To create a default password for the user, select the Create password for user check box and add a password. If this option is not selected, the user will be prompted to enter a password on log on using a link that is emailed to them when the account is created.
  5. Configure the roles and privileges for the user:
    • Hub – Select this check box for standard hub users.
    • Hub Administrator – Select this check box to give the user role administrator permissions.
    • Hub roles – Select the Hub roles required for the user. If the role has not yet been created, you can edit the user at a later date to assign new roles. If the user was created without a Hub Role being assigned in the Setup Status column of the User form an exclamation mark will illustrate that the user setup has not been completed. Though the user will be able to log in to Hub, they will not be able to perform any tasks as they will not have access to any plugins.
    • Interact – Allocating Forms to a user. See interact user guide...zzq
    • Approver – Select this check box to give the user role approval rights for Interact.
    • Interact roles – Select the Interact roles required for the user. If the role has not yet been created, you can edit the user at a later date to assign new roles.
  6. Click Save to create the user.

Registration

Users can request an Interact user account from the registration page: https://{hostname}/#/user-registration

Submitted registration requests are shown in the Interact Registration tab where administrators can approve or deny requests. If accepted the user will receive an email providing a one time use link to complete registration by entering a password and the user will then be able to access Interact.

The user will need to be added to a Role before they will be able to access any Forms.

Customization settings

Customization settings, accessed from the administrator setting cog, allow you to change the appearance of Hub.

Administrators can change the following settings:

  • Brand Text Name
  • Strap-line
  • Login Background Font Color
  • Brand Logo
  • Spinner logo
  • Favicon
  • Inline Image
  • Login Background Image
  • Brand Language:
    • English
    • French
    • German
    • Japanese
    • Russian
    • Spanish (Latin American)
    • Simplified Chinese
    • Portuguese (Brazilian)

    User can also set their own language preference through their profile settings or through the Identity Management System (IMS) server.

Once the changes have been made, click Apply to save the changes.