VPN Between PC in Calgary and cRIO-9063 in Paris

[Anthony_L]

How can I get a VPN going so that I end-up with 2-IP Addresses:

(1) IPAddr for PC in Calgary
(2) IPAddr for PC in Paris

And get the two to talk to each other so that I can update and QC new embedded RT and FPGA software revision in cRIO-9063.

Thanks for any advice.

Anthony L.

[billko]

How is this a LabVIEW issue?

[Anthony_L]

You are right. 

Trying to delete this post but no luck. 

[rolfk]

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@billko wrote:

How is this a LabVIEW issue?

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While it is not a LabVIEW issue, it is something that could come up with a LabVIEW application.

However, the description of the problem is very very "high level". It sounds like you have no idea about what VPN actually is and how it works.

It is a pretty complicated topic and depends on many things you have available or not. Are you sure your PCs are actually always connected to the internet? Are you sure you want it connected to the internet like that? Are you able to setup the systems to have all ports blocked except what your VPN connection will need? Do you know how to even startup a command line shell on a Linux system?

There are literally 100ds of possible approaches to this but none will be cheap AND easy to setup AND reliable AND secure!

[Anthony_L]

Hello Rolf:

You are right that I have no clue on how to proceed with VPN. Also, correct in that the question is really high level.

So here is the Fundamental Issue:

I shipped a cRIO system to a client years ago which has been working since. But now I upgraded a signal averaging routine that necessitated compiling a new startup.rtexe.

-- Then I just tried to copy over and replace the older startup.exe via FTP.

-- The issue is the while the HOST RT VI runs OK, the FPGA SubVI does not run at all!

So now I figured that I needed to get connected to that cRIO thing so that I can compile and deploy using LabVIEW project. Because it seems to me that the Deploy command may be doing more than just copying over the new startup.rtexe app to upgrade the software.

E.g: Where does the FPGA bitfile go?

Other option, if VPN solution does not get done, will be to ask the client to ship back the cRIO controller so that I can connect directly at my office and deploy the upgraded application via the Project window; from the RT-Target node.

I hope this explanation helps.

Anthony

[rolfk]

First, I do not think you want to setup a VPN connection for a single update. A VPN connection would be desirable if you need continuous or at least regular connection between the two systems.

What you most likely want to do instead is some sort of Remote Desktop connection. This could be the build in RDP in Windows, but you could also use other solutions such as TeamViewer or possibly VNC.

I've used in the past TeamViewer quite successfully as it is fairly easy to setup. Your client just has to install the according TeamViewer software and give you the login ID shown in his TeamViewer so you can enter it on your side and then you have direct access to their desktop. This works through almost any firewall quite reliably. TeamViewer can be used in an evaluation mode in which the connection will be cut after some time, but it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get a license either.

Windows RDP can be equally easy to use but you need to setup the security settings on the client and depending if that computer is part of a Windows domain or not, their IT department for sure will get involved too.

VNC can also be used but it is more complicated to setup and depending on existing firewalls it can be quite a challenge to get them all reconfigured properly.

[rolfk]

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@Anthony_L wrote:

E.g: Where does the FPGA bitfile go?

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That depends how you configured the Open FPGA node. You can select to reference a specific file on disk on the controller, or you can simply reference the bitfile on your development system. In the second case the bitfile is actually embedded in the Open FPGA node (it's basically an Express XNode VI) and compiled into the rtexe file. When referencing the bitfile you select if a specific bitfile should be used, a FPGA VI in your project or the build Specification for a bitfile. They are all three pretty much the same, but the LabVIEW application builder will rebuild the bitfile if it recognizes that the VI has material changes to the last bitfile when selecting the VI or Build Specification as source.

[GerdW]

Hi Anthony,

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@Anthony_L wrote:

So now I figured that I needed to get connected to that cRIO thing so that I can compile and deploy using LabVIEW project. Because it seems to me that the Deploy command may be doing more than just copying over the new startup.rtexe app to upgrade the software.

---

Another option is to use the RAD tool by NI (here or here)…

[Anthony_L]

Rolf:

On a side note, I really liked your blog article on "Spinoza". Makes PERFECT SENSE!

OK, I use TeamViewer or AnyDesk all the time. In this case though there is still a challenge in that the REMOTE PC at client site does not have LabVIEW w/RT and FPGA modules installed.  All that stuff is on my PC End here. So I really need a direct connection to the cRIO controller itself which cannot run TeamVIEWER or AnyDesk.

However, I appreciate the second advise.

Let me address that

Anthony

[Anthony_L]

Rolf:

Yes! This is what I was looking for. Somehow, I never visited this config node since everything worked when I deployed the software before.

I have thus pointed the OPEN VI reference to the Build Spec node.

I will proceed to copy the new startup.rtexe to the controller via FTP and see if this time the FPGA VI works!  If it does, then this was the solution. It is night-time over there so I will proceed in next 12 hrs.

Stay Tuned!

Anthony Lukindo