There are different solutions when it comes to Configuration Management. In regards to RPA - and UiPath in particular - there are different options and methods available to securely store assets and credentials as well as solution configuration. When using the REFramework an Excel config file is utilised, which poses a few challenges for more scalable and long term solutions - within organisations or specific units, but especially when aiming to scale within an enterprise. There are other methods available that we are going to address and present in this session. Moreover, we are going to introduce UiPath Data Service and additional possibilities to integrate not only the Config Management but also Apps and other ideas. Agenda Introduction to Configuration Management and Methods; Portal-based Config Management; UiPath Data Service; Apps & Data Service - Integrations within UiPath; Discussion, Q&A.

1. UiPath Studio X
Citizen Development
Good Practises – In Practice
(with a practical use case)

2. 2

3. 3
JACQUI MULLER
UiPath MVP & Johannesburg Chapter Leader
Application Architect at Dimension Data
Decision Support Systems Lecturer at North West University
Python Lecturer at Brainster
Author of TheJPanda and JD Bots blogs
LinkedIn The JPanda JD Bots

4. 4
ROMAN TOBLER
Co-CEO and Owner of Routinuum
Zurich RPA Community Chapter Leader
Author of Excelblog.ch (mainly in German)
LinkedIn Routinuum Excelblog.ch

5. 5
• Introduction to Configuration Management and Methods;
• Portal-based Config Management;
• Introduction & Deep Dive into UiPath Data Service;
• Apps & Data Service – Integrations within UiPath;
• Discussion, Q&A.
• Next Meetups Johannesburg Community: 25 August & end of September
• Next Meetups Zurich Community: 6 July & 7 September
Agenda

6. 6
Configuration Management
Introduction to Config Management and Methods:
Obstacles and Challenges for mid-/long-term Solutions

7. 7
• Hardcoding in the Project / Processes
• Excel Datatable
• JSON files
• SQL Database
• (Orchestrator) Assets
Methods of Config

8. 8
Assigning Variables and Arguments (or setting Default values)
Hard-coding

9. 9
Excel Datatable (REF – Config)

10. 10
Expanding / «Tweaking» Excel

11. 11
JSON or SQL Config
• JSON as with Excel: Same challenges due to «file characteristics»
• Less intuitive to use (for users) – if any involvement is required at all
• Additional Packages are required (in your template):
• JSON: UiPath.WebAPI.Activities Package (Official – by UiPath)
• Databases: UiPath.Database.Activities Package (Official – by UiPath)
• Activities to be used thereafter (some examples)

12. 12
Portal-Based Configuration Management
Introduction to using a portal-based configuration management approach

13. 13
The Approach

14. 14
An Example of Using Portal-Based Config
https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-johannesburg-presents-uipath-configuration-management/
The Interface

15. 15
An Example of Using Portal-Based Config
https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-johannesburg-presents-uipath-configuration-management/
The Middleware
Library – Implemented in Process
Properties:
- Current Directory
- Environment
- Output Config Dictionary

16. 16
UiPath Data Service
An introduction into Data Service

17. 17
• Data Service is located in UiPath Cloud (needs to be enabled on the
Tenant)
• There are 4 components in Data Service:
• Entities
• Fields
• Records
• Relationships
Data Service – Introduction

18. 18
• A persistent data storage service and no-code data modeling solution easily
integrated in your RPA projects or Apps.
• Relational data types (allowing links between Entities)
• UiPath Cloud-hosted (no infrastructure required)
• Easy to handle Types such as: Text, Number, Yes/No, Date-Time and even
Files and individual «Choice Sets»
• Can be accessed via API
• https://cloud.uipath.com/[CloudName]/[Tenant]/dataservice_/api/DataSe
rvice
Data Service Benefits

19. 19
• Ask where your Cloud-Setup is being hosted (Data Center)
• Individual Access Management to available (Automation Cloud) User or
Groups at Entity-Level
Data Service Benefits – Security

20. 20
• Adding a new Entity, Fields and Records
• Create a Studio WF and access/manage the newly-created Entity
• Install Data Service Activities Package
• Query Record(s), show Results
• Update single/multiple Record(s)
Data Service Introduction & Examples

21. Let’s Discuss
Potential Use Cases?

22. 22
UiPath Apps & Data Services
Introduction to using UiPath Apps and Data Services as
an approach to configuration management
github.com/JacquiM/UiPath-Configuration-Management/

23. 23
• Easy-to-use
• Quick to setup
• Integrates with UiPath Data Services
• Can kick off processes
Introduction to UiPath Apps

24. Let’s Explore Further
Live Demonstration

25. 25
Next Meetups & Discussion
Meetups, Connect with our Chapters/Communities;
Q&A, Discussion and Remarks

26. 26
Next Meetups - Johannesburg
• Virtual Meeting, Thursday, 25 August 2022
• AI/ML: A Demonstration in UiPath
• In-Person Meeting, end of September (in Johannesburg)
• A day in the life of a citizen developer

27. 27
Next Meetups - Zurich
• In-Person-Meeting, Wednesday, 6 July 2022 (in Zürich)
• After-Work BBQ & Drinks at Lake Zurich
• Infos via Community Page & Slack-Channel
• Wednesday, 7. September 2022
• Robot Maintenance and Success Factors of Bot-Human-Interactions

28. 28
RPA Community / Slack
• Link to our Johannesburg Community on UiPath.com:
https://community.uipath.com/johannesburg/
• Link to our Zurich Community on UiPath.com:
https://community.uipath.com/zurich/
• Link to our Slack-Channel
[see Meetup Chat]
• Reach out to us via LinkedIn
[see introduction above / Meetup Chat]

29. Discussion, Questions
& Remarks

30. Config Management & Data Service Deep Dive – Wrap-Up Appendix
Helpful links and comments
Access to resources and Meetup content via GitHub:
https://github.com/JacquiM/UiPath-Configuration-Management/
UiPath Apps-Data Service Integration Playlist by Andy Menon:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRkGXPS5Bo2vVeQwZNcFFflBFuYOI_Zwj
UiPath / RPA Communities Links for future content and meetups
Johannesburg UiPath Chapter:
https://community.uipath.com/johannesburg/
Zurich UiPath Chapter:
https://community.uipath.com/zurich/
Methods for Configuration Management and Config Files
Yves
yeah, config saved in documents of a RPA sharepoint site is also a way
Gil Silva
At DWF, we are using Storage Buckets to keep the classic Config file for each process.
It's a good solution to avoid using an 'external' databases and at the same time facilitates any
potential change, without the need to republish a process.
Andrew Harmse
Using Excel from any source had issues from time to time for us where it would either corrupt, or
remain open. Completely possible, but still has some issues.
Assets can also get very cluttered. If you don't have a clear folder structure or naming convention,
configs can easily get 'lost' in the clutter
Related Comment by Neacail
Agree Andrew, but If you do use assets then setting them up as a per robot set up so that dev
and prod machines don’t clash…but i rate it should be avoided
Reply by Andrew Harmse
Agreed Naecail. We try and avoid per robot asset values because it becomes a pain if your
servers change. If you spin up new servers over peak periods or decommission servers and
bring them up with new names, all per robot assets have to be changed. Definitely useful for
dev/prod values and it has its place

31. Andy Menon
We have moved our Config files out of our framework. Back in 2019 we enhanced the framework to
have multiple Config options.
I have a couple of Gold Star components in the Market place:
• One version can store config entries in an external config file
• The second version uses Data Service, Entries are centrally administered in Data Service
https://marketplace.uipath.com/listings/advanced-automation-template-with-dataservice
Even our Attended Automations are REF based. Our users are fully trained to work with the Config
file that is stored externally on their machine and passed in as Argument to Main
https://marketplace.uipath.com/listings/advanced-enterprise-rpa-process-template
m.san
"classic" REF config file as default but the project accept a file path as argument that will overide the
default config file path. These files can be placed in SMD shared directories, etc.. providing flexibility
and environment settings orientation
Data Service Access, Cloud-Hosting and Security
Jacqui Muller
There are two Azure data centers available in South Africa. I will get feedback from UiPath regarding
how the Cloud offerings are deployed and if the SA data centers are utilised.
Andrew Harmse
https://docs.uipath.com/overview-guide/docs/data-residency-cloud
→ No dataservices in SA [South Africa]
Neacail
I had to set up a cloud tenant this morning and SA wasn’t on the list. I don’t believe UiPath Cloud
hosts in SA, I think the closest is Europe? Is this correct? If so what would the POPIA factors that we
would need to consider?
Related Comment by Andrew Harmse
From a Popi perspective, we shouldn't have too much issues choosing Europe. These are in
Netherlands and Ireland as far as I know. [Additional comment by Roman Tobler: An
additional option is Frankfurt am Main, Germany]
Related Comment by Jacqui
Good question. Since POPIA is derived from GDPR, the same factors should apply.
Personally Identifiable Information should be stored securely. If you have multiple business
users accessing the data, you may want to consider storing personal info in [a password
encrypted] file uploaded to data services.

32. Related Comment by Andrew Harmse
This link might help. It doesn't really indicate which regions are acceptable, but more about
what it needs to adhere to in regards of POPi. Hope this helps.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/data-sovereignty-provisions-popi-can-i-lawfully-store-theo-
watson/
Data Service / Apps Licensing Model
https://docs.uipath.com/data-service/docs/license-allocation
Yves
mh problem with data service is: Maximum API calls per day =10000. that limit is quickly reached
About the Meetup
A comparison of Options for Config Management and storing Config Items, from Excel files to
databases and UiPath Data Services - and their Integration in Robot Projects and (UiPath) Apps.
Hosted via UiPath and the UiPath Community Chapters «Johannesburg» and «Zurich»
https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-johannesburg-presents-configuration-
management-and-data-service-deep-dive/
https://community.uipath.com/events/details/uipath-zurich-presents-configuration-management-
and-data-service-deep-dive/
by Jacqui Muller and Roman Tobler
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-muller-957316131/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-tobler/