Hi UiPath Community,
I wanted to share an infrastructure-level explanation of Machine Templates vs Standard Machines in UiPath Orchestrator, as this is often confusing for beginners and infrastructure engineers.
Standard Machine:
A Standard Machine represents a specific physical or virtual machine.
Characteristics:
• Machine is tied to a single device
• Uses Machine Key for authentication
• Best suited for fixed, dedicated robot machines
• Requires manual setup for each machine
Example:
If you have 5 VM robots, you must create 5 Standard Machines.
Machine Template:
A Machine Template represents a logical machine configuration, not a physical machine.
Characteristics:
• Uses Machine Template Key
• Supports multiple robot connections
• Recommended for modern deployments
• Easier to scale and manage
Example:
You can create one Machine Template and allow multiple robot machines to connect using the same template.
Infrastructure Advantage of Machine Templates:
• Better scalability
• Easier robot provisioning
• Simplified management
• Recommended for Automation Cloud and enterprise environments
Authentication Flow:
Robot Service → Machine Template Key → Orchestrator → Identity Server → Authentication → Connected
Infrastructure Recommendation:
Machine Templates should be preferred over Standard Machines for modern UiPath deployments.
Standard Machines are mainly used in legacy or specific infrastructure scenarios.
I hope this helps clarify the difference from an infrastructure perspective.
Happy automating!