Deployment Diagram of Sherpa RPA#

The deployment diagram of Sherpa RPA managed by the Orchestrator looks as follows:

You can download it in good quality here:

The diagram describes the implementation of high-level functionality that provides automation of business processes performed on user workstations and terminal servers through robotization (simulating user actions when working with information systems). After testing, the developers of the robotization scripts transfer the scripts to a centralized management tool – the Orchestrator.

Business users at their workstations launch Attended automation scenarios (requiring interactive interaction between the robot or business process and the user) on demand, initiated by selecting a scenario from the list of installed scenarios on the workstation, pressing a hotkey, or launching scenarios from the local Windows scheduler and startup.

The Orchestrator launches unattended robotization scenarios (executed in terminal server accounts without user involvement) based on events or incoming data from the external environment (via API), by command from the robot or business user, or according to a schedule. Robots of both types exchange logs, tasks from queues, centrally stored credentials, and shared data with the Orchestrator.

During the execution of a scenario, the robot achieves the set tasks by simulating user actions (including mouse and keyboard actions) in the user interfaces of desktop applications, web applications (executed in a browser), as well as by interacting with the operating system and installed applications and web services using various software APIs. The robot's access level to information systems and client contours is limited and defined by the access level of the user account under which the robot performs the actions described in the scenario. For unattended robots, it is recommended to create dedicated accounts with access levels, rights, and roles defined by the business task being solved by this robot.

Sherpa RPA components can be deployed locally in the customer network. Automatic license activation requires HTTPS access to the Sherpa licensing server; use offline activation in an isolated network. Access to other internal and external systems depends on the automation tasks. The deployment of the developer's workstation, attended and unattended robot workstations is carried out manually using the corresponding exe installers, or automatically using an msi installer with the GPO mechanism. The installation of the Sherpa Coordinator Service is performed in the administrator account of the terminal server using the exe installer. By default, the deployment of Sherpa Orchestrator is carried out using a Docker container.

Authentication Mechanisms#

When a Robot authenticates by GUID on supported API routes, it uses the Authorization: Basic <Base64(GUID)> header. In API v1, Robot GUID authentication is available for POST /api/v1/queues/{queue_guid}/task_claims. Web interface users can sign in with a login and password or through configured LDAP or OAuth/OIDC. A session with a limited lifetime is used after sign-in.

Logging#

Monolog is used for logging. Audit events and system errors are saved in a dedicated database table.