What is the NI Service Locator for?

[ZZZZZZ]

I have disabled it (and the NILM too) and saw no change.

But what does NI Service Locator do anyway?

[Ton Plomp]

Google is your friend

Ton

[Eugen Graf]

QUOTE(ZZZZZZ @ Jun 28 2007, 12:41 PM)

I have disabled it (and the NILM too) and saw no change.

But what does NI Service Locator do anyway?

I don't know which one, but one NI service controls shared variables. So if you don't use shared variables you can disable this service.

What is NI Spy?

EUgen

[REM1]

QUOTE(Eugen Graf @ Jun 28 2007, 06:13 AM)

I don't know which one, but one NI service controls shared variables. So if you don't use shared variables you can disable this service.

What is NI Spy?

EUgen

Here are a few directly, or indirectly, associated with shared variables

Lookout Citadel Service - Citadel4...not needed if you've never used Loookout or LabVIEW DSC (prior to 8.0)

National Instruments Domain Service - provides a domain server for NI Security

National Instruments PSP Server Locator - allows PSP machines to find each other...not needed if you aren't using shared variables

National Instruments Time Synchronization - allows machines to use a master time server

National Instruments Variable Engine - controls shared variables...not needed if you aren't using shared variables

[Grampa_of_Oliva_n_Eden]

QUOTE(Eugen Graf @ Jun 28 2007, 07:13 AM)

....

What is NI Spy?

EUgen

A diagnostic tool that allows you to monitor and log traffic.

I use it to look at VISA reads and writes but it can do a lot more than that.

Ben

[Eugen Graf]

QUOTE(Ben @ Jun 28 2007, 09:13 PM)

A diagnostic tool that allows you to monitor and log traffic.

I use it to look at VISA reads and writes but it can do a lot more than that.

Ben

It's really not the best name for a service. I wish all NI services will be hidden in LV Runtime and will no be shown to user.

In really some users say LV is OK, but you have to install a lot of NI stuff and you have a many services running only if you want to use a simple LV program. Sorry, but I can't say anything again this.

Eugen

[crelf]

QUOTE(REM1 @ Jun 29 2007, 05:02 AM)

Here are a few directly, or indirectly, associated with shared variables...

Looks like the beginning of an important http://wiki.lavag.org/' target="_blank">wiki article - anyone want to start it?

[ZZZZZZ]

More questions came up:

LabVIEW wanted access through my firewall.

I had a look at how this thereafter was configured and found:

LabVIEW.exe, Destination: 0.0.0.0, Port 3363, Protocol TCP IN.

Now, what should that IP-address tell med?

I'm familiar with the localhost address 127.0.0.1, but what is the 0.0.0.0 address' purpose?

When I started LabVIEW later on,. it also wanted to listen to some other ports in addition to the default 3363.

I found another post on this topic: http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?boar...ssage.id=216858

My LabVIEW tried to use port 2195 too, but http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers link had nothing on that port.

I have disabled all those resource-consuming (at least during start-up) NI-services like

Lookout Citadel Server

NI-Service Locator. (I googled it and everything tells me this is potential spyware too.

Though since I've not yet seen encrypted traffic from it, it may still be harmless.

But I'm just waiting for the day when NI start using SSL to encrypt any outbound communication like Google does and many other traffic analysis servers.)

NILM License Manager

NI PSP Server Locator (I actually chose NOT to install any PSP support during installation, but still this Service was activated!)

NI Domain Service

NI Time Syncronization

Yes, everything works just fine without them.

Actually I always disable loads of XP services, though try not to compromise any security matters.

[Aristos Queue]

Service Locator also gets involved with online help. If you look up a primitive in the online help, there's a button to show that prim in the palettes. Service Locator brokers the transaction from the html back to LV. Similar for the "open examples" button in the online help.

[Rolf Kalbermatter]

QUOTE(ZZZZZZ @ Jun 29 2007, 02:16 PM)

NI-Service Locator. (I googled it and everything tells me this is potential spyware too.

Though since I've not yet seen encrypted traffic from it, it may still be harmless.

But I'm just waiting for the day when NI start using SSL to encrypt any outbound communication like Google does and many other traffic analysis servers.)

There are only so many TCP-IP ports but each server/service that needs to be IPC accessible needs to have one. Now NI can't go and register 200 well known IP ports for itself as that would not be tolerated by others nor would it be possible at all. So NI, and MS LM etc does the same, deviced a Service Locator. All this service does is listening on a well known port for service registrations with service name and not well known port number and then other applications/services (LabVIEW, online HTML help, Time Synchronization Service, Domain Security Service, Logos data protocol which I think is the base for Data Socket and Shared Variables, etc) can ask this service locater for the not well known port number of another service. On Windows this service locater is a native executable installed as service, on other platforms it used to be a VI based TCP IP server.

Rolf Kalbermatter