Sometimes it can be beneficial to create a copy of an environment, such as before installing packages or to experiment with software before including it in your project. For these cases, NDI can link a copy of a development environment you create. After an environment is copied, the two instances of the environment are separate and are updated individually in NDI.
To copy an environment, follow these steps.
- Locate the environment to be copied in your development system. You can find this file easily by selecting the environment in NDI and clicking the link below the environment name. The folder for the environment has the same name as the environment in NDI.

- Copy the environment folder from the current location to the desired location on your development system.
- From the Welcome screen of NDI, click Dev Environments to open the Add Environment screen. If you have previously installed an environment, the Dev Environments screen will display instead. To advance, select Add Environment in the upper left.
- On the Add Environment screen, select Link to Existing.

- Enter the location of the copied environment folder. Click Link.

- NDI will link with the copied environment, adding it to the Dev Environments screen.
- On the Dev Environments screen, select the copied environment. From the Manage menu, select Rename/Move.

- Enter the desired name of the environment in the Name field.

- Click Rename. NDI will rename the environment.