Get Started

The following instructions assume that you have downloaded and installed Kofax RPA on one of your computers. See "Quick Start Guide" in the Kofax RPA Installation Guide to start using Kofax RPA.

  1. Download the Kofax_RPA_DesktopAutomation_11.0.0_x32.msi installation file from the Kofax download portal. Make sure your devices meet the requirements listed in "Desktop Automation requirements and prerequisites" in the Kofax RPA Installation Guide.

  2. Install and configure Desktop Automation Service on a remote computer that run the applications you wish to automate. If you only need to automate terminal applications, skip this step.

  3. Open Design Studio.

  4. Create a Desktop Automation robot.

    1. Click File > New Desktop Automation Robot.

    2. Specify the name of the robot and select a project. Click Finish.

      The new robot appears on a new tab in the editor window. As opposed to web automation robots that are identified by a blue icon, Desktop Automation robots are identified by a green icon:

      At this point, you cannot edit the Desktop Automation workflow as you need to first call the new robot from a web automation robot.

  5. Open an existing web automation robot or create a new one by clicking File > New Robot.

  6. Insert an action step.

    1. Click Select an Action on the Action tab and choose Call Desktop Automation Workflow.

    2. In the Workflow drop-down list, select the Desktop Automation robot created in Step 4.

    3. Configure input values, output mappings, and required devices. See Automation Device mapping and Reference to Automation Device. If you want only to automate terminal applications, skip the configuration for required devices.

  7. To allow execution for the web automation robot, click Prepare Execution on the toolbar.

    Important To allow execution for a web automation robot or take the execution privilege from one web automation robot to another, open the tab with the robot and click Prepare Execution on the toolbar. To ensure correct execution, it is not possible to execute multiple robots at the same time. Also, it is not possible to execute in Design and Debug modes at the same time.

    When a robot has an execution privilege, a red dot appears on the robot icon and the robot tab is highlighted. When a Desktop Automation robot has an execution privilege, the tab with the web automation robot calling it is also highlighted for convenience.

  8. When the execution is allowed, open the Desktop Automation workflow for editing. To do so, execute the workflow to the Call Desktop Automation Workflow step and then click Step Into DA Robot on the toolbar.

    The tab with your Desktop Automation robot is opened and the editor is now active.

  9. You can start designing your automation workflow. You can also run the workflow to see it in action.
  10. Once you finish designing your Desktop Automation robot, you can deploy it and run to automate the devices.

    • To step out of the Desktop Automation robot and switch to working on the web automation robot, execute the entire Desktop Automation workflow and then click Step Out on the toolbar. In the web automation robot, the Call Desktop Automation Workflow step is now shown as executed.

    • To close the robot without saving the result, click Leave Robot on the toolbar. In the web automation robot, the Call Desktop Automation Workflow step is now shown as not executed.

Convert old Desktop Automation action step

In Kofax RPA versions 10.7 and earlier, a standalone Desktop Automation Editor was used to edit the Desktop Automation workflow contained in a Desktop Automation action step. In Kofax RPA 11, you can execute Desktop Automation action steps created in version 10.7 or earlier, but to edit the workflow, you need to convert the action step to a Desktop Automation robot. To do so, open the Desktop Automation step and click Export to Workflow on the Action tab. Name the new robot and click Finish.

The Desktop Automation step is exported into a Desktop Automation robot and can now be used as shown earlier in this section.