Manage machines
Machines are the physical or virtual devices that are used to automate your desktop processes. When you connect your machine to Power Automate, you can instantly start your desktop automation using any of the wide array of available triggers, such as when you receive an e-mail or on a pre-defined scheduled.
Connecting your machine directly to Power Automate and the cloud allows you to harness the full power of your robotic process automation (RPA). The easiest way to connect your machine to the cloud is with our direct connectivity. All you need to do is ensure that you are signed into the latest version of Power Automate for desktop, and your machine will be registered with Power Automate automatically. Once registered, you can create a connection right away in your cloud flows.
Important
- Direct connectivity is only available for versions of Power Automate 2.8.73.21119 or newer. If you are using an older version, update to the latest.
- To register your machine and use the machine management features, your Power Platform environment must have a version of the MicrosoftFlowExtensionsCore solution that is greater than or equal to 1.2.4.1.
Register a new machine
Your machine will be automatically registered on the currently selected environment in the application. If you do not have permission to register your machine in that environment or want to use another environment, you will need to update the environment.
Install the latest version of Power Automate on your device. If you already have the latest version, skip to step 3.
Make sure you have checked Install the machine-runtime app to connect to the Power Automate cloud portal
When the installation completes, launch the Power Automate machine-runtime app
Sign into Power Automate machine runtime. Your machine should be automatically registered in the currently selected environment
If the machine hasn't been registered yet, a message will prompt you to select a Machine running environment. Power Automate will use this environment to run all the triggered desktop flows.
When the connection is established successfully, the machine settings section will display the following fields regarding the machine:
- Machine name: A unique name to identify the machine.
- Machine description: An optional description of the machine.
- Machine running environment: The running environment of the machine.
Note
- Users will need either an Environment Maker or Desktop Flow Machine Owner role to register machines. Before registering a machine, make sure that you have the required permissions, and there is an available environment to register the new machine.
- In case of a virtual machine, make sure not to clone the virtual machine after installing the Power Automate machine runtime.
- Machines are not affected by a change in the Power Automate for desktop organization.
Important
To successfully register a machine, make sure that the services specified in IP address configuration are accessible.
Update running environment for your machine
Your machine can only run desktop flows from the cloud in one environment at a time.
You can update the running environment which your machine can run desktop flows at any time from within Power Automate.
In the machine-runtime app, select Machine settings.
Under Machine running environment, select an environment in the dropdown list.
Click Save.
Note
Keep in mind that changing the running environment of a machine removes all its current connections.
Trigger a desktop flow to run on your machine
Edit your cloud flow or create a new cloud flow.
Select + New step.
Select the Run a flow built with Power Automate for desktop action.
If you’ve already created a connection with desktop flows, click the three dots in the top right and under My connections select +Add new connection.
Next to Connect, select Direct to machine.
Select the name of your machine.
Enter the username and password you would use to sign into your machine.
Click Create.
Select the desktop flow you want to run and the desired run mode.
Save your cloud flow.
You can now trigger your desktop flow to run on your machine from the cloud.
Power Automate enables you to trigger desktop flows from cloud flows using events, schedules, and buttons.
Note
To apply this functionality, you have to own a premium per-user plan with attended RPA.
Important
When you create a desktop flow connection, you allow Power Automate to create a Windows session on your machine to run your desktop flows. Make sure you trust co-owners of your flows before you use your connection in a flow.
View list of machines
Once a machine is registered to an environment, you can view its details at any time in Power Automate. You can also view all other machines that you have access to.
Sign into Power Automate.
Select Monitor > Machines.
Within the list, for each machine you can view:
- The name of the machine.
- The description of the machine.
- The version of the machine
- The group that the machine is a part of, if applicable.
- The status of the machine.
- The number of flows running on the machine.
- The number of flows queued on the machine, if applicable.
- The type of access you have to the machine.
- The owner of the machine.
Note
The version of the machine is updated with the first registration and after each desktop flow run.
Share a machine
You can share a machine with other users in your organization, giving those users specific permissions to access your machine.
Sign into Power Automate.
Select Monitor, then select Machines.
Select your machine from the list.
Select Manage access.
Select the Add people field, then enter the name of the person in your organization with whom you’d like to share the machine.
Select the name of the person to choose with which permissions they can access the machine.
Click Save.
There are two levels of permissions that you can use when managing access to your machine:
Co-owner. This access level gives full permissions to that machine. Co-owners can run desktop flows on the machine, share it with others, edit its details, and delete it.
User. This access level only gives permission to run desktop flows on the machine. No edit, share, or delete permissions are possible with this access.
| Actions | Co-owner | User |
|---|---|---|
| Run a desktop flow on the machine | X | X |
| Share the machine | X | |
| Add machine to group | X | |
| Edit details | X | |
| Delete machine | X |
Delete a machine
You cannot delete a machine from the machine runtime app.
Follow these steps to delete a machine.
Sign into Power Automate.
Select Monitor, and then select Machines.
Select the machine you want to delete from the list.
Select Delete machine from the command bar.
Switch from gateways to direct connectivity
You can easily switch to using direct connectivity by changing the desktop flow connection and use one with the direct to machine option.
You can edit the flow and choose the new desktop flow connection for each of the desktop flow actions in your flow or create a new connection:
If you haven't done it yet, update Power Automate to version 2.8.73.21119 or newer.
If you’ve already created a connection with desktop flows, click the three dots in the top right and under My connections select +Add new connection.
Next to Connect, select Direct to machine.
Select the name of your machine.
Enter the username and password you would use to sign into your machines.
Click Create.
You can also change the connections that are used by cloud flow in its details page when you click on run.
Update permissions based on security role
By default, all users with an Environment Maker role can register their machines in an environment. You can restrict actions on machines and machine groups by modifying the Flow Machine and Flow Machine Group permissions for a particular security role.
Environment admins can also restrict machine registration to a specific set of users by using the three security roles that come with machine management.
| Actions | Desktop Flows Machine Owner | Desktop Flows Machine User | Desktop Flows Machine User Can Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register a machine | X | ||
| Run a desktop flow | X | X | X |
| Share a machine | X | X | |
| Share a machine group | X | X | |
| Add machine to group | X | ||
| Edit machine details | X | ||
| Edit machine group details | X | ||
| Delete machine | X | ||
| Delete machine group | X |
Machine and machine group limitations
| Name | Limit |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of machines in a group | 50 |
| Maximum amount of time a desktop flow can run | 24 hours |
| Maximum amount of time a desktop flow can be queued | 3 hours |
Other known limitations
- Machines and machine groups are not available in China regions (Mooncake). You can still run desktop flows from the cloud using an on-premises data gateway.
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