URGENT NOTIFICATION RELATED TO USE OF CHROME AND EDGE BROWSERS AS PART OF BLUE PRISM PRA AUTOMATIONS

[CharlotteK]

This information was last updated on 6th of December 2022

Google (Chrome) and Microsoft (Edge) have announced that they are changing the way third-party browser extensions are supported. In June 2023, any browser extension that uses their Manifest V2 (MV2) standard will no longer operate unless action is taken.   

In response to this announcement, SS&C Blue Prism has created a new browser extension that supports Manifest V3 (MV3) for it's RPA product.  

It is recommended that customers who currently use either of these browsers as part of their automations adopt a MV3 compatible solution for use with SS&C Blue Prism by June 2023 and test their automations as part of that adoption/upgrade process.

In addition, customers should be aware that with MV3, Google (and Microsoft) have removed the capability to perform JavaScript invocation or injection. Customers who utilize that capability must either modify their automations to overcome the vendor-imposed restrictions or adopt the Blue Prism Browser Automation Agent solution, which offers continued support for this functionality. 

To help our community of users identify if they are impacted by this announcement - our product team has provided a utility that will determine if you are affected by this issue. We recommend that you run this utility, which can be found here https://digitalexchange.blueprism.com/dx/entry/3439/solution/manifest-v3-impact-assessment-utility

If the utility identifies you are affected (i.e., Using Chrome or Edge / utilizing the JavaScript insert/invoke function) please make sure your organization completes the survey sent to them by their account or customer success manager.

Note: this survey is intended for end-users of  SS&C Blue Prism RPA only. If you haven't received this survey and feel that you should have, please contact your SS&C Blue Prism representative. Information for SS&C Blue Prism partners is available on the Connect Partner Portal.

Our upcoming releases (7.1 and 6.10.5) will contain Browser Extension support for Manifest V3. 

[Note: these versions will also support those customers who could not apply the January 2022 Microsoft security patch update. Visit FAQs. http://portal.blueprism.com/customer-support/support-center#/path/-Featured-Articles/1784860762/-Solution-Windows-updates-from-11th-January-2022-causing-authentication-issues-in-Blue-Prism.htm] 

Our communication regarding this event will evolve in the coming weeks and months. In the meanwhile, please find the latest information in our Knowledge Base FAQs. Support Center | Blue Prism Portal

[06/12/22 Addendum]: Please follow the below links for official communications and timelines from:
- Google
- Microsoft

#BluePrismNews
#InsideRPA
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Charlotte Kennett
Director, Global Customer Marketing & Community
Blue Prism
Europe/London
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[robert.nicklin]

Hello Dennis,

Apologies for the confusion - I can confirm that the Blue Prism 6.10.5 release and release of Manifest V3 compatible browser extensions for existing Blue Prism releases are two separate things, each with their own release dates. We've just pushed an update to the Product portfolio roadmap and release plan page of the customer support portal - we're now quoting things under strict quarters in the release plan section (no more June to September!) and giving additional detail, where available, in the specific product sections further down the page.

Blue Prism 6.10.5 has been updated to read August 2022 for delivery at this time as we're looking at a few things internally that may cause us to release early August rather than July - if this situation changes we'll update the details associated to 6.10.5 back to July accordingly.

The release of MV3 compatible browser extensions for other existing releases of Blue Prism (6.4 onwards) is still planned for Q3 2022 on this page - I would say this is likely to be September based on currently available information.

Hope this clarifies any confusion - let me know if there are any other questions!

Regards,
Rob

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Robert Nicklin
Product Manager
Blue Prism
Warrington, England
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[ThomasIvison]

Sorry Can I just double check, so has 6.10.5 been released or has this been moved to August?

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Thomas Ivison
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[chris.strong]

Hello @ThomasIvison

As I type this, Blue Prism 6.10.5 is not yet released and is expected in the next week or so.  The published Product portfolio roadmap and release plan currently states August 2022.

Chris Strong

Blue Prism Product Manager

​

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Chris Strong
Product Manager
Blue Prism
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[MariusBlomli]

Hi!

Our team are stuck with one last insert/invoke trick that we're not able to find a workaround for. We need to extract data from local storage on a web application into our BP process.

Currently we use a hack where we insert a JS fragment into the web app to read local storage and write the required items from local storage into the DOM of the page. Then we read the value with a plain old read stage. Not beautiful, but it worked - until now.

So we are wondering: Are there plans for Blue Prism functionality that will allow us to read local storage data items more cleanly? Or alternatively - any suggestions for other hacks that might work?

If not, we would like to suggest this as a feature to consider.

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Marius Blomli
Developer
Sparebank 1 SMN
Europe/Oslo
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[JasperArrow]

Customers who currently use either of these browsers as part of their automations must upgrade to a version of Blue Prism software that offers MV3 support by the end of 2022 and test their automations as part of that upgrade process. 

 In addition, customers should be aware that with MV3, Google (and Microsoft) have removed the capability to perform JavaScript invocation or injection.
Customers who utilize that capability must modify their automations to overcome the vendor-imposed restrictions. 

Seahorse Swim School

[DennisDepping]

Hi @chris.strong,

there is news when exactly we can expect the release of BP 6.10.5. Testing all processes that use a browser extension in the new version is a huge effort, to complete this without stress an early release would be very helpful.

Greetings
Dennis

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Dennis Depping
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[chris.strong]

Hello @Dennis Depping

In addition to the already released Version 7 Manifest V3 solution, we also want to make the first Version 6 solution available to you as soon as possible too.

The Product portfolio roadmap and release plan is the place we maintain to publish guidance and this comes with the usual disclaimers that software dates can change etc. 

The published date remains August, personally, I'm expecting us to be releasing next week.  I appreciate that this is not a precise date that you ask for but until it's sat in the shelf ready to make available, we can not be 100% certain. 

Tip: Have you ran the Manifest v3 Impact Assessment Utility we developed to help you see which processes are likely to be impacted?  In particular, it will flag the processes where we're identified custom JavaScript being used which we know could be problematic with the new Manifest V3 standard.

​

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Chris Strong
Product Manager
Blue Prism
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[AvaJack]

In response to this announcement, Blue Prism has created a new browser extension that supports Manifest V3 (MV3).  

 Customers who currently use either of these browsers as part of their automations must upgrade to a version of Blue Prism software that offers MV3 support by the end of 2022 and test their automations as part of that upgrade process. 

 In addition customers should be aware that with MV3, Google (and Microsoft) have removed the capability to perform JavaScript invocation or injection.
Customers who utilize that capability must modify their automations to overcome the vendor-imposed restrictions. 

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Serendipity Wellness Studio
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[robert.nicklin]

Hello all,

Some of you may have spotted that the delivery date for Blue Prism 6.10.5 has recently been updated to Monday 15th August.

We are waiting on the Microsoft Edge browser extension for the new release to be reviewed and published in the web store, at which time we will be able to make the release available on the Customer Support Portal.

Regards,
Rob

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Robert Nicklin
Product Manager
Blue Prism
Warrington, England
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[robert.nicklin]

Hello Marius,

This is an interesting use of insert/invoke JavaScript which is unlike other examples I've heard thus far. I have sent through a connection request so we can discuss this further.

Regards,
Rob

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Robert Nicklin
Product Manager
Blue Prism
Warrington, England
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