Resolving Unattended Bot Failures in Automation Anywhere: Expert Troubleshooting Guide

Details: Category: Automation; By Mindful Chase; 20.Jul; Hits: 3

Automation Anywhere (AA) is a leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platform, widely adopted in enterprise environments for automating business processes. However, advanced users often encounter a nuanced issue: bots failing intermittently during execution in unattended environments. These failures are challenging because they often pass QA and test runs but break in production with vague error messages like 'Object not found' or 'Control not available'. This article dives deep into root causes, architectural blind spots, and permanent solutions to stabilize bot reliability at scale.

Mindful Chase

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Understanding Automation Anywhere Execution Architecture

Control Room and Bot Runner Interaction

The Control Room orchestrates bot deployment to Bot Runners. It manages licensing, user sessions, credentials, and environment context. If any configuration is inconsistent—such as resolution, permissions, or DLL dependencies—the bot may behave unpredictably on certain machines.

Unattended Mode Challenges

In unattended mode, bots execute without an active user session. This changes screen resolution, user profiles, and registry context, all of which affect UI element recognition and object cloning actions.

Common Root Causes of Execution Failures

1. Desktop Resolution and Scaling

Bots trained on a machine with 1920x1080 resolution might fail on a 1366x768 Bot Runner due to shifted UI elements or hidden buttons.

// Common error
BotRunnerException: Control not found
at A2019.UIAutomation.Click()

2. Credential Vault Misconfiguration

If bots access enterprise systems via stored credentials, missing or expired values in Credential Vault can silently cause authentication failures.

3. Object Cloning vs. Computer Vision

Object Cloning is sensitive to DOM and control tree changes. If a target app updates (e.g., new version of SAP or Salesforce), cloned objects may break. Computer Vision is more resilient but resource-intensive.

Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Strategy

Step 1: Review Execution Logs

Go to Control Room > Activity > Audit Logs. Look for patterns in error frequency and runner-specific failures. Note which bots fail and under what users or schedules.

Step 2: Enable Screenshot Capture

In Bot Settings, enable Capture screenshot on error. Review screenshots to see UI state, pop-ups, or missing elements that caused failure.

Step 3: Use Bot Insights

Bot Insights provides telemetry and trends. Look for execution time anomalies, spike in failures after recent code check-ins or system patching.

Fixing the Issue: Step-by-Step

1. Standardize Screen Resolution

Set all Bot Runners to the same resolution used during development (e.g., 1920x1080).
Disable display scaling (DPI) on Windows (set to 100%).

2. Use Anchors with Object Cloning

Instead of direct element targeting, use anchor-based recognition to make bots more resilient to layout changes.

3. Implement Credential Vault Fallbacks

Always validate Credential Vault entries via a test script at bot start and alert if invalid/missing.

// Pseudocode
if (!CredentialVault.exists("SAP_USER")) {
  LogError("Missing credential: SAP_USER");
  ExitBot();
}

4. Avoid Full Reliance on Delays

Replace hardcoded delays with conditional waits (Wait for object, Wait until exists, etc.).

5. Use Error Handling Blocks

Wrap unstable sections in Try-Catch blocks to log details and possibly recover without full bot failure.

Try {
  Click("LoginBtn");
} Catch (Exception e) {
  LogError("Login failed: " + e.message);
  TakeScreenshot();
}

Best Practices for Reliable Bot Deployments

Bot Runner Image Management: Use standardized golden images for all runners.
Element Path Auditing: Re-evaluate all object cloning elements after app updates.
Credential Expiry Monitoring: Periodically test and rotate credentials in Vault.
Bot Versioning: Maintain versioned releases of bots with rollback capability.
Use Packages Wisely: Avoid legacy or deprecated packages in critical workflows.

Conclusion

Automation Anywhere bots are powerful, but their reliability depends on consistent environments, robust error handling, and proactive diagnostics. Many production issues stem from environmental drift or changes in underlying applications. By standardizing runners, improving object detection logic, and hardening bots against runtime surprises, enterprise teams can drastically improve bot uptime and confidence in automation investments.

FAQs

1. Why does my bot work in attended mode but fail unattended?

Unattended sessions may load with different screen resolution, DPI settings, or restricted profiles that affect UI interactions.

2. Can Automation Anywhere bots run in headless environments?

Not reliably. Bots rely on GUI interaction, so a visible desktop session (even virtual) is typically required for full functionality.

3. How do I test credential vault entries proactively?

Create a small bot to validate credential keys by logging into target systems and run it on a schedule to detect issues early.

4. What's the difference between Object Cloning and Computer Vision?

Object Cloning uses control hierarchy and DOM, while Computer Vision uses image recognition. The latter is more robust but slower.

5. How to monitor bot reliability at scale?

Leverage Bot Insights dashboards and integrate logs with enterprise SIEM tools for centralized monitoring and alerting.

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