RPA server GUI upgrade

If you are upgrading from Nintex RPA 22.9 or later, the latest version of System Manager is able to retrieve the parameters you used previously and automatically populate the same fields.

Perform the following actions before starting the upgrade:

Console-related items

• Log in to the console and verify the following:

  • Task Queue: Ensure there are no pending tasks.

  • Running Tasks: Ensure there are no tasks running currently.

  • Triggers: Ensure that all triggers are set to Inactive status.

  • Approved Robots: Ensure none of the approved robots have the Running status.

• Create a restore point for the server VM.

• Check whether DAC is installed in the RPA server and client VMs. Post-upgrade, DAC should be installed back in the same location.

• Ensure that you have installed the latest version of Nintex System Manager (Nintex RPA) (NintexSystemManagerSetup.exe).

• Check server requirements according to Nintex RPA server.

• Ensure that the latest version of the RPA installation bundle zip file (e.g., nintex-rpa-server-<latest version>-full.zip) is ready and available for use during the upgrade process.

• Verify that no conflicting versions of .NET are present in the PATH environment variable. *See Known issues below.

Database-related items

• Backup the database; if it is self-managed, make sure it satisfies the minimum requirements.

• Ensure the user account that will run the upgrade process is able to log in to the MSSQL Server and take note of the following:

  • The user account has the Server role sysadmin for the MSSQL Server and Database role db_owner, for the RPA, RPA Authentication, and master databases.

  • The FQDN and instance name used by the database.

  • The port used in the SQL Configuration Manager is configured correctly.

Authentication-related items

• (For TLS/SSL installation) Different certificate file options, such as Personal Information Exchange file (e.g., kryonaws_full_chain.pfx or PKCS#12), CERT, KEY, and PEM files, are supported. Make sure you have the necessary files for your environment and ensure that each server in a multi-server installation has a certificate installed prior to the upgrade process.
• Log in to Keycloak using the authadmin credentials at <fqdn>/authadmin and verify the following:
  • If you are using Active Directory, take note of the value for Domain in System Manager at Configurations > Customize User Management > Active Directory [select Use Active Directory] > Domain. Compare this Domain value with the one specified in Keycloak at User Federation > [ID] > Required Settings > Console Display Name. If they are not the same, update the one in Keycloak to be the same as System Manager.
  • Check the Client Secret (Keycloak's Client > Edit > Credentials tab). The value specified for Secret must be the same as the one used in the Environment Variable field. If the values do not match, use the value in Secret to update the Environment Variable value. The following are examples of these values:

    Keycloak Secret	Environment Variable
    kryon-secrets-admin	NINTEX_SECRETS_IDP_KRYON_SECRETS_ADMIN_SECRET
    kryon-secrets-reader	NINTEX_SECRETS_IDP_KRYON_SECRETS_READER_SECRET
    kryon-server	NINTEX_SECRETS_IDP_KRYON_SERVER_SECRET (for RPA v22.9, check the configuration value for keycloakClientSecret in C:\nintex\config\prod\general\keycloak-token-client.json file)
    authadmin-cli	NINTEX_SECRETS_IDP_AUTH_ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET

The primary means of installing the RPA server is through System Manager, which provides a user-friendly graphical interface. This is the recommended method for most users.

To install System Manager, follow these steps:

1. Locate and run the System Manager executable file: NintexSystemManagerSetup.exe.

2. Click Install.

   

3. (Optional) Select the Run NintexSystemManager checkbox to launch the application immediately after installation.

   

4. Click Finish.

After installing System Manager, you can run it. It will guide you through the RPA installation process. The System Manager GUI guides you through the following steps:

When System Manager starts, do the following:

1. Drag the RPA installation bundle ZIP (.zip) file into the designated box or select the ZIP file by clicking Select file.

   

2. Click Start to begin the upgrade process.

> Next step: Setup

Following are recommended actions after you have performed the upgrade:

• Restart the Server VM.

• Install the latest version of the clients. You do not need to uninstall them first.

• Reinstall the Dynamic Advanced Commands on either the server or client machine(s), depending on where it was installed prior to the upgrade.

  If the DAC is installed in the server, allow some time (up to an hour) for it to synchronize updates with client machine(s).

• Log in to the Admin Tool to manage the Nintex RPA platform.

• Log in to the Console Plus to create and manage robots, tasks, and triggers.

• Check that the relevant wizards appear in RPA Admin and Studio.

• Check that wizard permissions have been applied correctly in Robot, Studio and Console.

• Check that Triggers are working.

• Log in to Console and check Email server settings. For more information, see Setting Up the Email Server.

Authentication-related items

• Check that users are synchronized between Keycloak and Nintex Admin Tool user.

• Check that users have the appropriate user roles as specified in Keycloak's user Role Mapping.

• Check that users have a tenantID attribute in User Federation. To do this, go to Console > Users. For each user, go to [ID] > Attributes and make sure there is an entry with Key = tenantID and Value = 1. Add one if this not available. If you are unable to add it, go to User Federation > [ID] > Settings > Edit Mode and change the value to Writable.

• To validate Single Sign-On for Client Server Authentication, log in to the client machine using an Active Directory user account that has been imported into Aerobase (and synchronized in the Admin tool). Start a client application (Studio or Robot), and if the setup is successful, it will log in automatically without requiring manual credentials.

• (Optional) If you need to make changes such as enabling or disabling TLS, you can do so using the repair feature. There's no need to uninstall the previous version. Simply drag the zip file into the System Manager and click Repair. Follow the installation steps with the new settings or any desired changes.

.Net Core path conflict

• Issue: When installing the RPA Server, the process may fail at the RPA Services step due to the Nintex Server - Authentication Service being stuck in a Paused state. This is usually caused by a conflict with the .NET Core installation path.

• Explanation: The failure occurs because the installation process installs .NET Core 6 in C:\Program Files\dotnet. However, if the PATH environment variable has an entry for C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet before the correct path, the system cannot find the installed .NET Core version. This conflict may occur on virtual machines (VMs) that come with .NET already installed in the wrong location and architecture (x86/x64).

• Workaround: To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

  1. Check that .NET Core 6 is installed in C:\Program Files\dotnet.

  2. Remove C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet from the PATH environment variable. To do this:

     1. Open System settings.

     2. Click Advanced system settings.

     3. Click Environment Variables in the Advanced tab.

     4. Select Path from the System variables.

     5. Click Edit.

     6. Delete the entry C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet.

  3. Restart the machine.

  4. Run the installation or upgrade again.