The NI Linux RT team at NI has pushed the 2017 version of the tools to NI's github presence: https://github.com/ni/nilrt/tree/nilrt/17.0
What exactly is "nilrt"?
As stated in the README on each of the branches, it is a set of tools, scripts, and sources to help build, using the same sources used for the release as indicated by the branch, opensource packages for installation to your target. This is helpful if you want to use a tool or tools that are not already built and on NI's hosted opkg feed.
Another use-case would be if you wanted to build an image that can be used on an NI target that has some significant configuration change, however note that building such an image will not include NI software (only opensource software) and has not been tested by NI. Much like using a custom-built kernel, you risk adverse effects to system stability, reliability, determinism, or functionality. You can force your target into Safe Mode (refer to your target's documentation for details) to format and restore through MAX if the target becomes unreliable or inaccessible remotely.
