NI-DAQmx for Desktop Linux Tools

Overview

This document will explain the different linux tools that are available based on the version of DAQmx being used

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NI-DAQmx for Desktop Linux Tool Support

 

 

These tools may be available based on your installed version of DAQmx.

Tool NameSupported
nidaqmxconfigSupported
nilsdevSupported
nipxiconfigSupported
system-reportSupported

 

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nidaqmxconfig

Description:

nidaqmxconfig is a tool designed to handle many of the configuration and utility tools that worked within the NI MAX application.

 

Install Instructions:

Automatically installed as part of the ni-daqmx rpm.

 

How to use:

Running the tool the first time as nidaqmxconfig provides the help information for the tool as well as the DAQmx version this tool is currently being called from. The following options are provided when calling help:

  • Import
  • Export
  • Self Test
  • Reset
Import

Import has 3 different functionalities: Importing a configuration, Replacing a configuration, Erasing a configuration.
 

  • Importing a Configuration: Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --import <"filename">, this imports and applies the settings in the selected configuration file.
  • Replacing a Configuration: Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --import <"filename"> --replace, this replaces the current configuration on the machince with the one specified.
  • Erasing a Configuration: Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --import <"filename"> --eraseconfig to delete the existing configuration before importing the new configuration. If you try to --import a file that causes configuration conflicts, you must use --eraseconfig to remove the hardware configuration items from the system.
Export
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --export <"filename"> in order to create an ini file that can either be edited to alter configruation options such as device name, or be used on another system to create an identical configuration.
Self Test
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --self-test <"device">. This call performs a self-test on the device and is the same call you can use programmatically in the API.
Reset
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --reset <"device">. This call performs a reset on the device and is the same call you can use programmatically in the API.
Add a Network Device
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --add-net-dev <"address">. This call adds a network DAQmx device to the system. The --reserve option may be specified to reserve the device as part of this call. The --timeout option may be used to change the default timeout for device connection. The --name <"device"> option may be specified to choose a new DAQmx device name for the added device; if unspecified, the device’s hostname is used as the DAQmx device name.
Remove a Network Device
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --del-net-dev <"device">. This call removes a network DAQmx device from the system.
Reserve a Network Device
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --reserve <"device">. This call reserves a network DAQmx device. If the --force option is specified, overrides an existing reservation.
Unreserve a Network Device
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --unreserve <"device">. This call unreserves a network DAQmx device.
Browse for Network Devices
Can be called by nidaqmxconfig --find-net-devs. This call returns the hostnames of network DAQmx devices on the local network. The --verbose option may be used to additionally display device IP addresses and model names.

 

 

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nilsdev

Description:

nilsdev is a simple program that provides the device identifiers for any devices that are currently present in the system.

 

Install Instructions:

Automatically installed as part of the ni-daqmx rpm

 

How to use:

To use, call nilsdev from the terminal. After doing so are presented with the names of all devices within the system.

You can also call nilsdev --verbose and you are presented with:

  • Device Name
  • Device Serial Number
  • PCI Bus Number
  • PCI Device Number
  • Product Number
  • Device Model

 

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nipxiconfig

Description:

nipxiconfig is a tool that is used to provide configuration options to PXI systems.

 

Install Instructions:

Automatically installed as part of the ni-daqmx rpm. It is installed as part of the PXI Platform Services dependency.

 

How to use:

The following commands can be run with the nipxiconfig tool:

  • Help
  • Version Info
  • Read Configuration Source File
  • Read Configuration from STDIN
  • Format Output for Machine
  • Format Output for Human
  • Quiet
  • Verbose
  • Delete Chassis
  • Identify Chassis
  • List Identifiable Chassis
  • List System
  • Renumber Chassis
Help
Can be called by either nipxiconfig -h or nipxiconfig --help this call displays similar information to what you are reading here.
Version Info
Can be called by nipxiconfig --version. This call will display the version of nipxiconfig that is installed on the system as well as copyright and license information.
Read Configuration Source File
Can be called by nipxiconfig --input-source file <"filename">. This call reads the configured script commands that are found in the designated file.
Read Configuration from STDIN
Can be called by nipxiconfig --input-source stdin. This call reads the configured script commands that are found in stdin.
Format Output for Machine
Can be called by nipxiconfig --output-type machine. This call configures the program outputs to be optimized for machine readablity.
Format Output for Human
Can be called by nipxiconfig --output-type human. This call configures the program outputs to be optimized for human readablity.
Quiet
Can be called by either nipxiconfig -q or nipxiconfig --quiet. This call reduces the amount of information and detail that is displayed by the program output.
Verbose
Can be called by nipxiconfig --verbose. This call increases the amount of information and detail that is displayed by the program output.
Delete Chassis
Can be called by nipxiconfig --delete-chassis <"ChassisID">. This call takes the corresponding chassis and removes it from the system.
Identify Chassis
Can be called by either nipxiconfig -i <"ChassisID"> <"Vendor> <"Model"> or nipxiconfig --identify-chassis <"ChassisID"> <"Vendor> <"Model">. This call allows you to set a chassis as the specified model and vendor.
List Identifiable Chassis
Can be called by nipxiconfig --list-identifiable-chassis. This call lists out the supported models when identifying a chassis.
List System
Can be called by either nipxiconfig -l or nipxiconfig --list-system or nipxiconfig --list-identifications. This call displays all chassis, controllers, and MXI links. Calling verbose with this command shows the chassis, controller, and MXI link information.
Renumber Chassis
Can be called by either nipxiconfig -r <"CurrentChassis#"> <"NewChassis#"> or nipxiconfig --renumber-chassis <"CurrentChassis#"> <"NewChassis#">. This call renumbers the specified chassis to be the new specified chassis number.
Unidentify Chassis
Can be called by either nipxiconfig -u <"Chassis#"> or nipxiconfig --unidentify-chassis <"Chassis#">. This call unidentifies the specified chassis number.

 

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system-report

Description:

The system-report tool has two basic functionalities that it achieves:

  1. To be an interface and report aggregator
  2. To provide reports on subsystems

The user directly interacts with the interface and report aggregator, with the utilites providing reports on the subsystems.

This tool currently includes utilities for analyzing the following:

  • Attached hardware (CPU, PCI, USB, memory, interrupts, and loaded kernal modules
  • Installed software (deb, rpm packages, configured yum, zypper, apt, and opkg repositories)
  • System logging facilities (systemd journal, dmesg, and syslog messages)
  • Linux-specific kernel and networking facilities (kernel command line, kernel version, kernel config, lsb_release, network interfaces, and ip information
  • General purpose Unix facilities (active mounts, running processes, and uname)

 

Install Instructions:

Automatically installed as part of the ni-daqmx rpm.

 

How to use:

This section covers how to use the different functionality the tool provides.

Running the Tool
To run the tool type: system-report -o "output-file-path-here". Afterwards a .tar.gz file is created in the designated location. If no file path is provided remove -o and a system report is created in the default file path instead.
Reading the Report
After the tool has run the you are presented with a .tar.gz containing the system information. This information is broken down into the following 5 folders: - hardware - installed - linux - systemlogs - unix

 

Getting MAX Report Functionality out of system-report

 

MAX Summary
The high level information provided in the MAX Summary section of of the MAX report is not directly translated to system-report. Instead, system-report provides hardware and software listings in order to get the same amount of information.
My System
Each of the different sections of My System can be found in different parts of the generated report. For System Settings, this information can now be found in /unix/uname For System Resources, the CPU information can be found at /hardware/proc_cpuinfo, while memory info can be found at /hardware/proc_meminfo.
Hardware
For NI hardware devices connected to the computer, this information can be found at either /hardware/lspci_device_tree or /hardware/lspci_modules
Software
For all software installed onto the system, this information can be found at /installed/rpm_installed Installation Summary Log Installations on Linux are captured by the system logs on the machine these can be found in the /systemlogs/ folder.
REG Report
While the concept of a registry key is different on Linux, edits to the OS information can be fount at /linux/kernel_config
NI Services
A list of all NI Services can be found by going to /unix/ps and then using grep ni to display only NI services

 

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