Prior to setting up your reconfigurable I/O (RIO) hardware, check out an overview of the RIO platform and the Learn LabVIEW series.
After reviewing this material, you will be able to; assemble a CompactRIO system, set up communication with the CompactRIO system, ensure that proper software is installed on both the development machine and the CompactRIO system. Note: This tutorial was built using LabVIEW 2012, but it applies to other versions of LabVIEW though some screens may be slightly different.