Installing compiled programs takes a long time when started from network drive

[BertMcMahan]

This may be a normal thing, but I'd like to hear from others. We have a number of programs we use in-house who have installers located on the network share. These installers are typically 1.5 Gb or so, and include LV Runtime, DAQmx drivers with configuration support (i.e., MAX), and NI VISA.

When I run these installers from the network, it can take something like an hour to get the install done, even on an SSD. While I haven't done actual timed tests, it seems to run much faster if the install directory is copied to the local drive before running it. Additionally, the installation time is basically zero if I build an installer that only installs the actual LabVIEW program with none of the backup material.

Is this a common experience? If so, is there a way to make an installer that caches itself (entirely) to a local drive before running?

[Kevin.MN]

Hi,

It looks like installing from a network can cause slowdowns, see this thread:  Why does my application installer take hours to build? 

Additionally, removing additional installers (LabVIEW Runtime, etc.) can greatly increase installation speed, as there is simply less to install. If the target machine already has these additions, they do not need to be reinstalled. 

Finally, I don't believe there is an option to have the installer self-copy -- at least not a built-in solution. I'm sure something like a batch file could be used to copy/paste the source files before triggering the install.

[Gregory]

Hi Bert,

In my experience, it can take a while to open the installer dialog, but once it is open it goes pretty quick. I used to create 2 installers for every application, one with the "full install" that had all of the NI drivers, and one called "app update" that just my executable in it. If you take this approach you only have to create the "full install" one time, or when you add new dependencies to your project. Now I'm using NI Packages which are basically just like the "app update" installers, but I can automatically push updates on different applications, which is very nice.

[BertMcMahan]

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@Gregory wrote:

Hi Bert,

In my experience, it can take a while to open the installer dialog, but once it is open it goes pretty quick. I used to create 2 installers for every application, one with the "full install" that had all of the NI drivers, and one called "app update" that just my executable in it. If you take this approach you only have to create the "full install" one time, or when you add new dependencies to your project. Now I'm using NI Packages which are basically just like the "app update" installers, but I can automatically push updates on different applications, which is very nice.

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I do this frequently and have seen the same thing you have- updates (with no runtime engine or drivers) run super fast. I've also noticed that the full installer runs quite quickly if it doesn't actually have to install the runtime engine or drivers and is just a program update.