LabVIEW 2012 FPGA Linux compile worker and Windows 7x64 communication problem

[carskie]

We have a machine running RHEL 5.6x64 with the Linux Compile Worker running. The worker is indicating a successful connection to our Windows 7x64 LabVIEW machine running the FPGA tools per the documentation. Firewalls are suitably holed or disabled to allow for :3580 or all traffic. The Windows side (and FPGA dev machine) will not allow a connection to the linux system hosting the worker when asked to build remotely. The IP/hostname is accepted when choosing a remote server, but the user/password credentials are always refused. Tried user account, root account, admin no password, etc. credentials but no luck. Help?

Thank you

[REDS]

Hello,

Welcome to the NI Discussion Forums! Just to check a couple of things. When you followed the white paper tutorial , did you remember to check the box to "Allow users to connect remotely to this compile server" checkbox on the Development computer? This does seem like a firewall issue. I know you said that you allowed port 3580 for the NI Service Locator to be allowed, but I really recommend for you to completely disable it to definitely rule that issue out. The NI Service Locator (port 3580) actually uses a dynamic port for the compile server to communicate. Only in case that you are not allowed to turn off your firewall, you can dinamically assign a dynamic TCP port for communication, bypassing the NI Service Locator. Let me know how this goes.

[carskie]

Thanks Daniel.

We've tried again with the firewalls disabled on both the Win7x64 Dev machine and the Linux worker machine.

Perhaps we're misunderstanding the steps on configuring remote compilation.

The white paper only discusses the Win7 dev machine setting for "Allow users to connect remotely to this compile server" checkbox. Is the only dev machine change required for 2012?  We've verified this is enabled. The linux worker status is "Connected to server."

The user has been inside the dev machine project compile settings, trying to set remote compile options there. This is not documented.

Are we adding unnecessary steps, or is the documentation missing a step?

Best,

John

[REDS]

Hello John,

You are correct, it is not documented on the white paper what the procedure to compile on the Dev machine is. Here is a more complete tutorial for that. On the dev computer in LabVIEW, please to go Tools » Options » FPGA Module and make sure that under "Compile server name" you have your Compile Worker's name (you can also try its IP address) and add a ":3580", so you specify the port, e.g. "linux-worker:3580" (without the quotations).

Let me know if this helps. 

[carskie]

Thanks, Daniel.

Both the hostname and ip with the :3580 port were tried in the compile server settings, but FPGA still won't permit the connection from the Dev machine. The connection to the linux machine fails when using the test connection button or when compiling, with the following errors (regardless of what user and password given):

"Error attempting to connect to compile server..."

"NI-Farm: Farm server not responding..."

Are there log files on either side of this connection that might assist with troubleshooting?

Best,

John

[REDS]

Hello John,

For those types of system errors I think we can only see them on the Windows Event Viewer (Control Panel » Administrative Tools). I think it was under Windows Logs » Application were you see all kinds of errors/warnings/information messages. Can you please attach a screenshot of the Compile Farm error you're getting?

Also, I found this KB that sort of indicates a similar issue. What are the Xilinx tools you have installed? Make sure you're using the correct version of the tools that match your LabVIEW version.

Please also verify that the Application Web Service and the NI System Web Server services are running in the Windows Services.

[carskie]

Thanks, I'll scour the event logs and check the services.

The linux fpga compile worker Jobs pane indicates "Registered Capabilities ( 'Xilinx 13.4 'Xilinx 13.4 (64-bit)' )

According to the table this is the right version for LabVIEW 2012 FPGA.

John

[REDS]

Hello John,

Sure thing. What about the Development computer? Are the Xilinx Compilation tools 13.4 installed there as well? I am not 100% sure you need the compilation tools on the Dev computer, since the compile worker is on the remote computer, but it's just in case.

[carskie]

Daniel,

Local compilation on the Dev computer is working fine - but I'll double check the version.

Thanks,

John

[carskie]

Daniel,

It looks like this is solved, here's how we made this work.

Once the linux worker is running and shows a "Connected to Server" status to the dev machine - do the following:

0. make sure both dev machine and worker have the same FPGA tools (13.4 for LV2012 & Linux worker).

1. make sure each machine can "see" the other - we did this via ping and tracert on each system, adjust firewall as needed until this works in a reliable fashion. 

2. open the task manager on the dev machine and look for a local CompileWorker process running, if it is, terminate it.

3. for the dev machine, do not try to select a Compile Server in the FPGA options compilation settings, leave as local.

4. compile - the job first looks for a local compile worker, failing that it uses the remote linux worker that is connected.

5. prepare for spontaneous developer happy dance due to considerably faster FPGA compile times.

(~40 minutes to ~22 minutes using a CentOS5.6x64 virtualbox VM on a Core i5 Win7x64 system, i.e. not ideal)

Note: items 2-4 were the core of the issue for us. Perhaps this is documentation revision worthy.

Thanks,

John