What Are the Different NI Web Servers and How Are They Used?

Issue Details

NI has a couple of different Web Servers that work with different products and cover different use cases. They have very similar names, which may be used interchangeably, but each provides a different function. Use this guide to determine which Web Server you are using, and how to configure it.

Solution

Application Web Server

Description: The NI Application Web Server loads Web Service applications which are deployed using LabVIEW. Stopping this service may cause deployed Web Service applications to become unavailable.

Startup type: Automatic

Command line: "C:\Program Files\National Instruments\Shared\NI WebServer\ApplicationWebServer.exe" -user

This is the standard Web Service that comes with most LabVIEW versions (up to 2019) and can be created from a project or an installer. This server can be configured using 2 different ways.
 

Web Server Page

•  You can arrive to this dialog by going to Tools>>Options...>>Web Server tab.
•  You can config debug server and Remote Panel Server using this tool. 

Web-Based Configuration

• You can click the Configure Web Application Server button in the web server options page, shown above, to open the Web-based Configuration & Monitoring utility in a web browser. It is recommended to use Internet Explorer.

• Another way to open this utility is to right-click the Web Service project item in the project tree within LabVIEW and select Application Web Server»Manage Web Server.
• Click the Web Server Configuration button on the left-hand sidebar to configure the  Application Web Server and System Web Server.
• Click the Web Services Management button on the left-hand sidebar. Any published Web Services appear in the Deployed Web Services list. You might need to click the Refresh button to update the list.

System Web Server

Description: The NI System Web Server provides NI Web Services and Web-based configuration and Monitoring utility. Stopping this service may cause some NI software to not function properly.

Startup type: Automatic

Command line: "C:\Program Files\National Instruments\Shared\NI WebServer\SystemWebServer.exe" -system

System Web Server is for internal web services, you should not need to mess with this service. This is the older Appweb-based NI Web Server that hosts a Silverlight based web interface.
It can be installed on Windows and Linux Real-Time targets.

NI Web Server

Description: The NI Web Server hosts web applications and web UIs. Stopping this service may disable functionality in some NI software.

Startup type: Automatic

Command line: "C:\Program Files\National Instruments\Shared\Web Server\httpd.exe" -k runservice

The NI Web Server is the newer Apache-based Web Server that can be used for hosting SystemLink web interfaces and is shipped with NXG. This will be the default for LabVIEW starting in 2020. This Web Service is meant to replace the aging Application Web Server and System Web Server.

This Web Server can configured using the NI Web Server Configuration.