Introduction to NIPM Feeds

[allen_h]

This document is part of the NI Package Management Portal.

Introduction to NI Package Manager (NIPM) Feeds

To distribute NIPM packages, you can deliver individual package files (.nipkg) to recipients, or you can create a feed to which recipients register.

What is a Feed?

A feed is a collection of files that includes a manifest containing information on the feed’s included packages. A feed should include any packages you want to distribute and typically any packages that are required dependencies. NI recommends using a feed when you need to distribute multiple packages that have dependencies on one another. With feeds, you can create a single location where you host and maintain all packages intended for end-user access.

Example Feed and the contents of its “Packages” feed file

Hosting and Managing a Feed

You can host a feed on any of the following:

• Local folder (e.g. C:\MyFeed)
• Network folder (e.g. \\mycompanynetwork\Feeds\MyFeed)
• Web server (e.g. http://mycompanyintranet.systemlinkserver.com/repo/feeds/myfeed

Managing a feed includes the following tasks:

• Create a new feed
• Add package(s) to an existing feed
• Remove package(s) from an existing feed

If you want to host a feed on a local/network folder, then you can use the NI Package Manager API to create and manage the feed(s) If you want to host a feed on a web server, provide granular user permissions/roles for managing feeds, and/or push mass-deployments, then you can buy and use SystemLink to create, host, and manage the feed(s).

Registering a Feed

For a target computer to see and install package in a feed, the target computer must register the feed. You can register feeds on a target computer using NI Package Manager or SystemLink.

For more information, refer to the following links:

• Choose a Method for Distributing Packages
• Tutorial: Distributing Packages using NI Package Manager
• Tutorial: Distributing Packages using SystemLink