Dynamically changing SystemLink Server

[warren_scott]

I've got a TestStand based test system, and trying to get it successfully connected to my SystemLink Servers.

Because of different end deliverable/monitoring/analysis/geographical/etc requirements, we are looking at multiple systemlink servers (think one for new product engineering development, one for normal production, one for customer service/repair/recalibration).  The issue is that one test station can be used for all different purposes throughout the day depending on what product comes to the station (and what the operator chooses).  So far I've seen I can go to the SystemLink client configuration windows application and manually make changes, but that's not really a viable workflow for the production floor.  What hooks should I be using in my TS process model to make sure I redirect to SystemLink server A when doing product design validation, and SystemLink server B when doing normal production  (I've already got code in place that knows what type of process we are running, just need the second half). 

[ZKami]

Hi Warren_Scott,

Given the complexity of your question, it may be worthwhile to call our support team to help you troubleshoot. 

If I understand correctly, your current difficulty is getting TestStand to communicate with the correct SystemLink Server depending on the process. Am I understanding that right? Have you also posted on the TestStand forums? 

[JoshuaP]

We currently don't support dynamically changing the SL server from TS.  The master for the server is stored in a configuration file (C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\salt\conf\minion.d\master.conf) that can be updated programmatically, but you would also need to restart the NI Salt Minion (net stop/start nisaltminion) after changing it.

After the NI Salt Minion restarts and it successfully connects to the server it will then update its connection credentials (C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\Skyline\SkylineConfigurations\skyline_master.json) for connecting to the server assuming it was approved.

At that point, I think you would also need to restart any processes like TestStand or LV that had previously connected to a server for them to pick up the change.

[JoshuaP]

Do you think it would make sense to add a property to the test results to tag the purpose?  That way you could continue using the same server, but tag the results in a way to separate service/repair/recalibration from production data.  

[warren_scott]

Being able to tag the data would be useful, but would not be sufficient in our case because we need some serious data security/protection behind that tag -- under no circumstances can Billy or Sally access data associated with tag value "XXXX". 

It looks like I can get permissions set up on individual servers to allow Billy or Sally access to SystemLink server X but not SystemLink server Y, but I'm not seeing things in place to disable any data tagged with arbitrary values.