SystemLink — Beginner Tutorial Hands-on Tutorial • Simulated Hardware
SystemLink: Explore Assets, Tags & Dashboards
Install SystemLink Server locally, connect your own PC as a managed system, publish simulated
tag data with a small Python script, and build a live dashboard — all without DAQ hardware.
1. What You Will Build
SystemLink is a web-based platform from NI for managing distributed test and measurement systems. It
centralises software deployment, tag monitoring, alarms, test results, and dashboards. In this tutorial you will:
• Install SystemLink Server on your PC (or use an existing server if one is available).
• Install and configure SystemLink Client so your PC shows up as a managed system.
• Log in to the SystemLink Web Application and explore Systems and Assets.
• Publish two simulated tags ([Link] and [Link]) from a Python script.
• Build a simple dashboard that shows both tags on a line chart.
2. Software Prerequisites
Operating System Windows Server 2019/2022 or Windows 10/11 (64-bit). For this tutorial a
(server) normal Windows PC is fine.
Operating System Windows 10/11 (64-bit) — same PC or a different PC.
(client)
Required Software SystemLink Server, SystemLink Client, a modern browser (Edge, Chrome,
or Firefox), Python 3.9+ if you want to publish tags from a script.
Account A free NI User account ([Link]) to download installers and activate the
evaluation license.
Disk Space SystemLink Server installs to about 10 GB; data grows over time.
Ports TCP 443 (HTTPS) must be free on the server machine.
■ Note. If your organisation already runs a SystemLink server you can skip Part A and use the URL provided by
your IT team.
3. Part A — Install SystemLink Server
1 From [Link], download the SystemLink Server installer (the latest release is recommended).
2 Run the installer as Administrator. Accept the EULA. Choose Install.
3 After installation, the SystemLink Server Configuration wizard launches. Choose Single-box install for
simplicity.
4 Let the wizard generate a self-signed certificate (fine for evaluation). Note the server URL — typically
[Link]
5 When prompted, create an administrator account. Record the username and password.
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SystemLink — Beginner Tutorial Hands-on Tutorial • Simulated Hardware
6 Finish the wizard. The services start automatically (you can see them in [Link] under names
beginning with NI SystemLink).
7 Open a browser and navigate to the server URL. Accept the self-signed certificate warning. You should see
the SystemLink login page.
8 Log in with the administrator account from step 5. You are now in the SystemLink Web Application.
■ Tip. Leave the server installer’s default ports and paths unless you have a specific reason to change them —
mismatched settings are the most common cause of client-connection problems.
4. Part B — Connect This PC as a Managed System
1 From [Link] download SystemLink Client and install it on the same PC.
2 After install, open NI SystemLink Client from the Start menu.
3 Click Connect to Server. Enter the server URL from Part A (e.g. [Link] and the admin
credentials.
4 The client registers the PC as a system in SystemLink. Check the status line — it should read Connected.
5 Back in the browser, go to Systems Management → Systems. Your PC now appears in the list with a
green status icon.
5. Part C — Explore the Web Application
1 Click Systems Management → Assets — assets are individual pieces of equipment (DAQ devices, signal
generators, etc.) seen by the SystemLink client. Even without hardware, you may see software assets such
as the NI-DAQmx runtime.
2 Click Tag Viewer — tags are real-time values (temperature, pressure, pass rate, etc.). It is empty for now
— you will populate it in Part D.
3 Click Dashboards — you can build drag-and-drop dashboards for tags and test results. You will use this in
Part E.
4 Click Test Insights (formerly Test Monitor) — this is where TestStand results land when the SystemLink
result-processor is enabled.
6. Part D — Publish Simulated Tags from Python
We will use the systemlink-sdk Python package (shipped with SystemLink Client) to publish two numeric tags
every second.
1 Open a Command Prompt. Install the SDK if not already installed:
pip install systemlink-sdk
1 Create a new file publish_tags.py in any folder and paste the code below:
import math, time, random
from [Link] import TagManager, TagData, DataType
mgr = TagManager() # uses local SystemLink Client config
temp = [Link](TagData('[Link]', [Link]), create=True)
pres = [Link](TagData('[Link]', [Link]), create=True)
t0 = [Link]()
while True:
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SystemLink — Beginner Tutorial Hands-on Tutorial • Simulated Hardware
t = [Link]() - t0
[Link](25 + 5 * [Link](t/10) + [Link](-0.3, 0.3))
[Link](1.0 + 0.2 * [Link](t/7) + [Link](-0.02, 0.02))
[Link](1)
1 Run the script: python publish_tags.py. Leave it running in a terminal window.
2 Back in the browser, refresh the Tag Viewer. You should see [Link] and [Link] with
values updating every second.
■ Note. If the SDK cannot find SystemLink configuration, run the helper command slconfig from the SystemLink
Client install folder to point the SDK at your server. On many installs this is configured automatically.
7. Part E — Build a Live Dashboard
1 In the web app go to Dashboards and click New dashboard. Name it Simulated Environment.
2 Click Edit, then + Add tile. Choose Line chart.
3 In the tile configuration pane, search for and add both [Link] and [Link] as data
sources.
4 Set Time range to Last 5 minutes and Refresh to 5 seconds.
5 Click Save. Watch the chart plot new points live as the Python script runs.
6 Add a second tile — this time Numeric indicator — bound to [Link] with units °C.
7 Click Save again. You now have a working dashboard fed by a simulated data source.
8. Troubleshooting
Browser refuses to Make sure the SystemLink services are running ([Link] → NI
load the server URL SystemLink *). Add a firewall exception for TCP 443.
Client stays in Verify the server URL in NI SystemLink Client settings. Try
"Disconnected" [Link] if the client is on the same machine as the server.
state
Python: "No Run the SystemLink Client once (it writes a local config file) or set the
SystemLink SYSTEMLINK_HTTP_URI and SYSTEMLINK_API_KEY environment
configuration variables (generate an API key in Security → API Keys in the web app).
found"
Tags appear but do Shorten the dashboard Refresh interval and confirm the script is still
not update on the running — the terminal should show no exceptions.
dashboard
9. Next Steps
• Enable the SystemLink TDM Result Processor in TestStand (see the TestStand tutorial) so your test
results appear in Test Insights.
• Use Alarms to e-mail you when [Link] exceeds 29 °C.
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SystemLink — Beginner Tutorial Hands-on Tutorial • Simulated Hardware
• Replace the Python script with a real data source — for example a FlexLogger project that pushes channel
values as tags in real time.
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