Recommendations for Orchestrator Deployment#

Using the Orchestrator on a Terminal Server

In Attended Work scenarios, when using a Robot with interactive login to a User account, if there is a simulation of User actions in the desktop or browser graphical interface within the scenario, these actions will only work if there is an active connection to the desktop of that virtual machine (some User is viewing the screen). As soon as the User disconnects from the desktop (RDP), Windows destroys the graphical context. This means that the account continues to operate. The Robot also continues to run, but there are no buttons or windows on the screen anymore, meaning they are no longer programmatically accessible.
Therefore, to automate work with applications by simulating user actions without Users connected to accounts, an RDP connection must be constantly established to this account.

The Sherpa Coordinator component serves to ensure Unattended Work scenarios. Upon the orchestrator's command, the Coordinator establishes RDP connections to the necessary accounts and maintains them while the scenario is running, so that the Windows graphical context continues to exist, and all Robot functions operate at full capacity. After the Work scenario ends, the Robot automatically logs out of the user account.

Using the Orchestrator without Terminal Servers

It is possible to organize the work of the Orchestrator without terminal servers. In this case, one of the virtual machines should be allocated for the Coordinator's operation. The installed Coordinator on this dedicated virtual machine will establish RDP connections to other virtual machines, where specific Unattended robots will already be running.

Thus, there is no limitation that the Coordinator can only connect via RDP to its own accounts on the same server. It can connect to any accounts on any servers, including virtual machines within network connectivity.

Known Limitations

The Orchestrator allows for any number of Coordinators and any number of sessions within a single Coordinator. The limitation on using a large number of Coordinators and sessions may only arise from hardware resource limitations and operating system constraints regarding how many simultaneous RDP sessions to Unattended robot accounts can be launched and maintained at the same time from a single terminal server or virtual machine.