Deployment Automation Tools

[MarkBowles]

Hi, All,

I work for a lab that currently has four approximately identical instruments, each controlled by a cRIO running LabVIEW including a custom FPGA. Each instrument has its own separate HMI (user interface), running on a Windows PC.  The HMI is also written in LabVIEW. Version skew aside, they all run the same software.

The good news (for the business) is that we're about to ramp up another 20 of them!

Currently, when we make changes to the software, we rebuild it on a separate development machine, and then go through a multi-manual-step process of deploying the software to the cRIO (providing a username/password to reboot it), and then also use FTP and other manual methods to deploy the HMI to the PCs, stopping and restarting the HMI.  This takes about an hour of mind-numbing clickin' and draggin' to do with 4 systems -- so, it will take several hours with 24!

Can someone point me to tools that will automate the LabVIEW remote software deployment process?  Ideally, I'd like to just "push one button" and upgrade all 24 instruments at the same time.

Thanks,

-- Mark

[RavensFan]

It sounds like you are talking about RAD which is Replication And Deployment Utility.

http://www.ni.com/example/30986/en/

Read up on it a bit before trying it out.  It is powerful and has some options to it that aren't easy to know for a first time user such as blacklisting and whitelisting files and settings.

[GerdW]

Hi Mark,

call your local NI sales rep and ask about SystemLink…

[JoshuaP · Accepted solution]

SystemLink is capable of remotely mass deploying software to both your Windows and NI Real-Time systems.

You can find some additional information on SystemLink at http://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/electronic-test-instrumentation/application-software-for-electronic-tes... and ni.com/systemlink