Customize a Standard Installer to Disable Nigel™ AI

Use steps to customize a standard NI Software Installer to include a component that will disable Nigel™ AI as part of that installation.

To complete these steps, you will need NI Package Builder installed on your system.  You will also need to have either installed the NI software you wish to modify or have downloaded the offline installer for your desired package.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to create a custom software installer using NI Package Builder.

Prerequisites:

1. Install NI Package Builder
   • Download and install NI Package Builder (available on the NI Package Builder Download Page)
2. Download the NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable.zip file and unzip it to a location on your hard drive.
   
   • DISCLAIMER: The attached Code is provided As Is. It has not been tested or validated as a product, for use in a deployed application or system, or for use in hazardous environments. You assume all risks for use of the Code and use of the Code is subject to the Sample Code License Terms which can be found at: http://ni.com/samplecodelicense​​​​​​​

Creating the Custom Installer:

Obtain the Offline Installer of choice

1. Download the offline version of the installer of choice from ni.com.  For example, you could select LabVIEW 2025 Q3 and Drivers.
2. Mount the ISO file of this installer selected to a drive by right-clicking on the ISO file and selecting Mount
3. Ensure the ISO remains mounted throughout the custom installer creation process

 Open NI Package Builder

1. Open NI Package Builder 
2. Access the Installers and Repositories pane

Create New Package Installer

1. Select New Installer or Repository
2. Choose New Package Installer to create a package installer that includes NI Package Manager.

Add Packages to the Installer

1. Choose Add Packages to add packages to your package installer
2. Add the AI Addon Disable Package
   1. In the left pane, select Installer Products
   2. Click Add Installer...
   3. Navigate to the “NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable” installer location and select Install.exe.
   4. Click Add to include the selected components

3. Add Installer of Choice components
1. Click Add Packages to add packages to your package installer
2. In the left pane, select Installer Products
3. Click Add Installer
4. Navigate to and open Install.exe from the mounted drive
5. In the tree pane that appears, select the checkbox for the packages you want to include with this custom installer.
6. Click Add to include the selected components

Change Installation Behavior of the NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable component

1. Highlight NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable in the Installers and Repository Pane
2. Change the Installation Behavior property in the Properties pane to Always Install.  This will force this package to always be installed regardless of what other standard packages are select.

Save the Solution File

1. Select File>>Save Solution to save the solution.  This is necessary because build outputs are placed in the subdirectories relative to the solution, by default. 

Build the Installer

1. Once all desired packages are added, click Build the installer or repository and select Build All.
2. Wait for the installer creation process to complete with no errors.

Upon successfully completing the customer installer creation process you will have a custom installer that includes both the NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable component and the normal options for the standard installer chosen.  This installer can be distributed to other machines without requiring the original installer of choice or the NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable installer.

Next Steps

If at some point you want to re-enable Nigel AI on your computer, you should uninstall all of the NI Software on this machine (which should remove the software the disabler included).  Then download a normal copy of the installer of choice from our website and install it.

As an alternative, you can also open NI Package Manager and selecting to remove the NI LabVIEW NLS Addon Disable package.  This will re-enable Nigel AI on this machine.