Interacting with SAP on VM

[ChrisS]

Hi All,  I am having an issue with my process interacting with SAP on a VM.  When logged onto the VM on a desktop/laptop the process will run perfectly fine if you can see the VM screen, however when the remote desktop access is closed or minimized completely (no VM screen), the bot will error out with a SAP GUI error (I believe it cant interact with SAP).  The issue cant be a login problem as the resource is still available in control room and partly operates through the login section of SAP. the VM software is also VMware Can anyone assist with this?  Thanks

[Denis__Dennehy]

Are you by any chance using RDP??  If you are using RDP - stop using it, our remote access tools guide is very clear on that.  If you are not using RDP - it still sounds as though your virtualization solution is not persistent (because if it was connecting/disconnecting to the resources would have no impact).

[ChrisS]

Hi Denis, Yes we are using RDP, thank you for pointing out the guide. Would you suggest any other technologies to look into such as Teamviewer?

[John__Carter]

Hi Chris - the big problem with RDP is that it is invasive. You're not watching the VM like a TV, you're actually logging in, and when you close the RDP window it's not like switching off the TV. So anything that isn't invasive and where the VM session persists after you stop watching will be better. Security and auditability is also a major consideration and RDP is no good for that either - you don't want anyone being able to access a Prod machine.

[PetterLindblad]

Hi   I'm wondering if our problem is related to the same case as mentioned in the previous posts. However, we have a problem that even though BluePrism recognizes all SAP windows while running a process from control room manually and having screen open, it does not recognize the window where it should input the username and password when the process is started through Scheduler.   To be more specific, we are trying to do the following:   Assign process log in to SAP in Scheduler so that the Schedule is created in virtual computer RPATEST and process will be ran on virtual computer RPA2. The process starts at scheduled time and launches SAP. Then it is able to type in the production environment code to the search field in the upper right corner. After this, BP is pressing ENTER and the window for entering the username password should appear. However, It seems that either the screen does not appear or BP does not recognize the window.   Would you know what would be the more probable outcome and what could be done so that SAP could also be used with Scheduled processes? If this is related to remote desktop, does this mean that we should disable the remote desktop for RPA2 virtual computer?   Thank you for your help! Petter

[PetterLindblad]

Hi again   I was doing some more research and noticed that the actual error message for BluePrism to terminate the session is ""Specified SAP Gui component not found"". Has anyone had the same error? How have you solved this when Application Modeller finds all the elements in SAP Spy Mode when spying the elements?   Best regards Petter

[ŁukaszKiciak]

Hi Peter, if process is able to write in left top corner system name in unattended run, then is not a RDP issue. From my experience, while SAP is opened, from time to time, login window fields have different path than standard i.e. conn[1] instead of conn[0]. Following scenario would suit to your error ""Specified SAP Gui component not found"". Try to kill sap, wait 1 sec and try again, 3 attempts should manage that ;) Rgrds L

[PetterLindblad]

Hi   Thank you for your comment. It did not work as desired but I tried to fix the issue with creating shortcuts directly to the environments I need. I also updated to BluePrism version 6 but it did not help. Using the shortcuts was the only solution in my case.   Best regards Petter