The Linux kernel manages memory, hardware, processes, and system calls on a machine. Linux distributions add a select group of utilities, such as package managers, file explorers, applications, libraries, a command line interpreter, and a desktop environment that all operate on top of the kernel. To install NI software, you use the package manager of the distribution to get NI software packages onto the system. Driver software installations also include configuration utilities, API libraries, and kernel modules. The native package manager installs these three types of packages, but adding kernel modules to the kernel requires an additional step. NI driver software uses Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) to add NI driver kernel modules to the kernel.

The mechanism that a kernel module uses to plug into the Linux kernel breaks easily between different versions of the kernel. To ensure that NI software can support the rapidly progressing kernel versions, NI created the Kernel Abstraction Layer (NI-KAL). NI-KAL smooths out the differences between versions of the Linux kernel and allows the same NI software stack to work on any of the kernels that NI supports.