Installation - OpCon RPA

What is it?

This page walks you through installing OpCon RPA on a Windows system and connecting it to OpCon. The procedure has five steps:

1. Add an RPA agent in Solution Manager.
2. Install Netcom Relay (cloud installations only).
3. Copy the ACS Plugin DLL into the OpCon plugins directory.
4. Run the RPA Agent installer.
5. Connect the RPA Agent to OpCon.

One further step is optional and can be done at any time afterwards: set up RDP login, so Robot Tasks run with nobody signed in on the host.

During the procedure, you will switch between two interfaces:

• The OpCon Solution Manager web interface.
• The RPA Tray Client that opens after installation on the Windows host.

No OpCon user required

Starting in 1.1.0, OpCon RPA stores tasks locally on the RPA Agent and no longer requires a dedicated OpCon user or an OpCon API connection. You do not need to create an RPA user in Solution Manager.

Before you begin

Have these three files ready:

File	Where to get it	What it is for
SMANetcomRelay.exe	Provided by your OpCon representative	Cloud installations only — installs Netcom Relay
sma.acs.OpConRPA.dll	OpCon Web Installer (OWI) — Integrations section	The ACS plugin that lets OpCon communicate with the RPA Agent
RPAAgent_x.y.z.msi	OpCon Web Installer (OWI) — Agents section	The RPA Agent installer (x.y.z is the version number)

You also need:

• A Solution Manager user account with privileges to add an RPA agent.
• Local administrator rights on the Windows system where the RPA Agent will run. These are needed to run the installer and to apply the Security Settings — not for day-to-day operation.

On-premises vs. cloud

Netcom Relay is required only when integrating RPA with a cloud instance of OpCon CORE Automate / Solution Manager. On-premises installations skip Step 2.

Service account

The RPA Agent service runs as Local System, and the installer configures that for you — there is nothing to decide and no properties to pass. The accounts that run robot tasks are separate and do not need local administrator rights. See Service Accounts and Permissions.

Step 1 — Add an RPA agent in Solution Manager

To define the RPA agent that OpCon routes jobs to, complete the following steps:

1. In Solution Manager, go to Library > Agents.

2. Select Add to add a new Agent.

3. Give the agent a name.

4. Select RPA from the Type list above General Settings.

5. When prompted, enter the Netcom Relay name. You must do this before you can open the RPA Settings page:

   • Cloud: enter the name you used during Relay installation.
   • On-premises (no Relay): type <Default>.

   

6. Open the RPA Settings section at the bottom of the page. Leave this page open — you will return to it in Step 5.

Step 2 — Install Netcom Relay (cloud only)

If you are installing OpCon RPA for cloud, install Netcom Relay before continuing. For full instructions, see Netcom Relay setup.

tip

Netcom Relay installation requires local administrator rights. When prompted to allow the app to make changes to your device, select Yes.

After Relay is installed, return to this page and continue with Step 3.

Step 3 — Copy the ACS Plugin DLL

To copy the ACS Plugin DLL into the OpCon plugins directory, complete the following steps:

1. In Windows File Explorer, open the OpCon plugins directory:
   • On-premises: C:\ProgramData\OpConxps\SAM\plugins
   • Cloud: open C:\ProgramData\OpConxps\ and drill down to the Plugins directory.
2. Copy sma.acs.OpConRPA.dll into the plugins directory.

Step 4 — Install the RPA Agent

4a. Run the installer

To install the RPA Agent on the host Windows system, complete the following steps:

1. Run RPAAgent_x.y.z.msi (the version number may differ).
2. When prompted to allow this app to make changes to your device, select Yes.
3. Select Next, then complete the installation.
4. When the installation finishes, the RPA Tray Client opens automatically.

The installer registers the RPA Agent Windows service, running as Local System, and starts it. The Tray Client runs under the account you are signed in as.

There is nothing to choose about the service account. The Agent has to prepare desktop sessions — unlock, switch, and lock them with nobody at the keyboard — and Windows restricts those operations to Local System. See Service Accounts and Permissions.

The installer registers a credential provider on every host

InteractiveLogonCPx64.dll is installed to C:\Windows\System32 and registered so the Windows sign-in interface loads it. That is how the Agent unlocks a session with no one at the machine. Include it in the scope of any security review of the host; there is no install option that omits it. See What the installer changes on the host.

4b. Install without the interface

A silent install needs no additional properties:

msiexec /i RPAAgent_x.y.z.msi /qn

Verify the service after installing

Run sc qc RPA.Agent in an elevated command prompt and check SERVICE_START_NAME. It reads LocalSystem. The Agent also records its service account and the privileges present in its token in its log every time it starts.

Step 5 — Connect the RPA Agent to OpCon

In this step, you switch between the RPA Tray Client (on the Windows host) and Solution Manager (in your browser, on the page you left open in Step 1).

5a. Copy the RPA HTTPS URI into Solution Manager

1. In the RPA Tray Client, select Settings in the left menu.

   

2. On the RPA Agent tab, copy the value from the Https Url field, under Kestrel.

   

3. In Solution Manager, paste the URI into the RPA Server URI field of the RPA Settings section you opened in Step 1.

   

5b. Generate and apply the API token

1. Back in the RPA Tray Client, select Generate Token, then select Yes in the warning that a new token replaces the existing one. The token is shown once and automatically copied to your clipboard.

   

2. In Solution Manager, paste the token into the API Token field.

   

3. Save your Solution Manager changes.

After you save, OpCon can communicate with the RPA Agent. Setup is complete.

Verify the installation

After the success message:

• Confirm the RPA Tray Client is running in the Windows system tray.
• In Solution Manager, confirm the RPA agent shows as available under Library > Agents.

Step 6 — (Optional) Set up RDP login

Setup is complete without this step. Do it when you want Robot Tasks to run on the host with nobody signed in — OpCon then signs the Windows account in over a Remote Desktop connection before each run, and the task signs it out afterwards.

Set this up when nobody signs in on the host to create the sessions Robot Tasks run in. The Agent can unlock a session that already exists, but it cannot create one — so without an RDP login user, somebody has to be signed in. On a Windows workstation edition an RDP login user is also how you automate more than one account, because those editions support only one interactive session at a time.

You configure it in two places, both after installation:

Where	What you add
The RPA agent's RPA Settings section in Solution Manager	The RPA host's address in Target Host (IP or hostname, optional — required only for RDP logins) and its RDP Port, plus optional display size, color depth, and timeout fields
The Windows Login Credentials section below it	One entry per Windows account a Robot Task runs as, each with a domain, username, and password

Then set RDP Login User (optional) on each Robot Task to the account it should sign in as.

For the full procedure with screenshots, see Configure RDP login. For how it fits with ending the session afterwards, see Unattended Session.

FAQs

Do I need Netcom Relay if I am not using OpCon Cloud? No. Netcom Relay is required only for cloud integrations with OpCon CORE Automate / Solution Manager. On-premises installations skip Step 2.

Where do I place the ACS Plugin DLL on an on-premises installation? For on-premises installations, place sma.acs.OpConRPA.dll in C:\ProgramData\OpConxps\SAM\plugins.

Do I need to create an OpCon user for RPA? No. Starting in 1.1.0, OpCon RPA stores tasks locally on the RPA Agent and no longer requires an OpCon user or an OpCon API connection.

What do I enter for the Netcom Relay name on an on-premises installation? Type <Default>. Solution Manager requires a value before it lets you open the RPA Settings page.

What account does the RPA Agent service run under? Local System, always. The installer does not ask and there is no property to change it. The Agent has to unlock and switch desktop sessions, which Windows restricts to Local System. See Service Accounts and Permissions.

Do I have to grant the service account any rights myself? No, and there is nothing to grant. Local System already holds every local privilege, so the installer changes no Windows rights and no folder permissions.

Is there anything to configure for a silent install? No. msiexec /i RPAAgent_x.y.z.msi /qn is the whole command. See Install without the interface.

Do the users that run robot tasks need local administrator rights? No. Local administrator rights are required only to run the installer and apply the Windows local security policies. See Service Accounts and Permissions.

Related topics

• Service Accounts and Permissions
• Unattended Session
• Security Settings
• Update - OpCon RPA Agent and ACS plugin

Glossary

Term	Definition
ACS Plugin DLL	The OpCon Application Connection Studio plugin file (sma.acs.OpConRPA.dll) used by the OpCon SAM to communicate with the RPA Agent.
RPA Agent	The agent that performs robot task automation on a target Windows machine.
RPA Tray Client	The local Windows interface that runs alongside the RPA Agent, used to configure the HTTPS URI and API token.
Netcom Relay	The OpCon component that routes communication between the OpCon Server and the RPA Agent for cloud installations.
OpCon Web Installer (OWI)	A tool that bundles OpCon installer artifacts, including the ACS Plugin DLL and the RPA Agent Installer.
Solution Manager	The OpCon web interface used to configure agents and schedules.
Local System	The built-in Windows account (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM) that holds every privilege on the local machine. The RPA Agent service runs as Local System so it can prepare desktop sessions. It has no password.