Delete Disconnected Devices Programmatically From NI-MAX

Updated Jul 29, 2026

Reported In

Hardware

  • CompactRIO Controller
  • CompactDAQ Controller
  • NI CompactDAQ Chassis

Software

  • LabVIEW
  • Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)

Driver

  • System Configuration

Issue Details

I have several disconnected and unused NI hardware devices, such as CompactRIO, CompactDAQ, and multifunction DAQ devices, showing in NI-MAX. I want to delete these devices programmatically from a LabVIEW project. How can I remove these inactive devices from the system configuration database?

Solution

You can remove disconnected devices from NI-MAX using one of the following methods:
 

Option 1 – Use the NI System Configuration API

 
Use the NI System Configuration API to programmatically identify and remove disconnected hardware from the NI-MAX database.
  • Use the API to query all system hardware resources.
  • Use the Device & Chassis >> Is Present property from the System Hardware Property Node to determine whether each device is currently present.
  • Identify devices that return False for Is Present.
  • Use Delete Resource.vi to remove those devices from the NI-MAX database.

 

The attached VI Find and Delete Missing Hardware.vi demonstrates this workflow. This VI is based on a modified shipping example and illustrates how to:
  • Enumerate hardware resources
  • Check device presence
  • Delete missing devices

 

Select the appropriate delete mode in Delete Resource.vi based on your application requirements.
 

Option 2 – Reset the NI-MAX Database

 
The recommendation is to use the Reset MAX Database option to remove any disconnected hardware from NI-MAX. This option is an executable accessible through the paths shown here.
 
Once you have located the paths, you can use Terminal/Console.vi in your LabVIEW program to run the executable and reset NI-MAX. For more information, refer to Terminal/Console.vi.
After the reset process completes, the disconnected or unused devices are deleted from the database.
 
Take into consideration that this process also deletes other information, such as DAQmx Tasks, Custom Scales, and DAQmx Global Virtual Channels. However, it is possible to create a backup of this information before performing the reset.

Additional Information

Resetting the NI-MAX database restores it to a default state. This action removes all saved configuration data and should be used with caution in automated workflows.

Attachments

Find and Delete Missing Hardware.zip

Related Links

 

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