Keysight IO Libraries Suite 2025 Update 1

This version continues support for features described in the previous versions but with the following changes.

New Features:

• Introducing a new and modern user interface for the following applications to enhance usability and overall experience. Original user interfaces are still available.:
  • Connection Expert
  • IO Monitor
  • Interactive IO
• Added support for the new GPIB card model 82350D
• Added support for Windows Server 2025 (64-bit, Standard)

Enhancements:

• Combined the Prerequisites and Main installers into a single package. IO Libraries Suite now installs using one unified installer.

Defect fixes:

• Improved installer reliability:
  • Fixed issues where HPP stopped working after IOLS was uninstalled.
  • Resolved upgrade-related problems for smoother transitions between versions.
• Fixed an issue where VISA.NET asynchronous API completion was not detected when an I/O timeout occurred using .NET 6 or later.
• Fixed an issue where Connection Expert (CE) could hang when clicking WebUI, due to a delay in fingerprint verification.
• Resolved a crash issue where the new discovery service daemon process (io-ds.exe) could crash when agent processes were terminated.
• The IOLS 2025 Update 1 installer now removes an outdated Ivi.Visa.dll file from the Keysight.Visa folder. This prevents failures when VISA.NET applications using IVI components attempt to load Keysight.Visa.

Known Issues:

Crashes associated with computers that have Username and Hostname that contain non-ASCII characters

• Computers with non-ASCII characters in the username can cause the main installer to crash abruptly very early on with exit code 10. Please change the username so that it does not contain any special characters, UTF-8 or other Unicode encoded characters.
• Computers with non-ASCII characters in the hostname can cause the IOLS services to not initialize correctly causing Connection Expert to not load and continuesly loop at the "Connecting to Discovery Service" state. Please change the hostname so that it does not contain any special characters, UTF-8 or other Unicode encoded characters.

• Ivi.Visa.Interop.dll is missing in the 32-bit VISA COM applications. The workaround to fix the issue is as follows:
  • Install .NET Framework 3.5 - either through Windows Features or with IT approved processes.
  • Uninstall the VISA shared component.
  • Repair IO Library Suite to install VISA shared component.
• Another way to fix the issue is as follows:
  • Open Visual Studio developer command window with elevated privilege 
  • Change directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\VisaCom\Primary Interop Assemblies
  • Run "IviPiaRegistration.bat"

Backward Compatibility

• VISA.NET applications using Ivi.Visa.dll or Keysight.Visa.dll and targeting .NET Framework 2.x or 3.x will no longer work with IO Libraries Suite (IOLS) 2025 and above, as it only supports .NET Framework 4.x for VISA.NET. To resolve this issue, you can:
  • Rebuild your application to target .NET Framework 4.x (recommended).
  • Modify your application's configuration file by explicitly setting <supportedRuntime> to "v4.0" in yourApplication.exe.config:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<configuration>

   <startup>      

      <supportedRuntime version="v4.0"/>

   </startup>

</configuration>

• This ensures compatibility with IOLS 2025.

Thycotic-Delinea Privilege Manager Tool Interference

• We've identified issues when installing or upgrading IO Libraries Suite (IOLS) on systems where the Delinea tool is used. These issues may include failures during installation or upgrading certain IOLS components.
• Action Required: If you encounter problems with IOLS installation or upgrades while using Delinea, please install IOLS 2025 and above through Company Portal if you are a Keysight user or contact Keysight Support for assistance if you are not a Keysight user.

Keysight Secure Instrument Communication Expert

Keysight Secure Instrument Communication provides a secure way to control instruments using HiSLIP protocol revision 2.0 (r2). HiSLIP r2 enables secure connections, which are achieved using the Transport Layer Security (TLS) for encryption and decryption. HiSLIP r2 also enables authentication: the server (instrument) authenticates its identity by sending an X.509 certificate to the client (VISA library) when the TLS connection is established. The client authenticates to the server using a server-supported SASL (Simple Authentication and Security Layer) mechanism.

The challenges to establish a secure connection are: how to proffer the required certificates and authentication information, how to authenticate server/client mutually, and how to configure server/client compatibly, etc.

To overcome the challenges and support secure communication between instruments and test stations, Keysight is providing updates to certain instruments and Keysight IO Libraries Suite. Keysight also provides a configuration tool called Keysight Secure Instrument Communication (SIC) Expert to configure both instruments and test stations to perform secure communication.

Keysight Secure Instrument Communication system consists of three main elements:

• Keysight instrument that supports SIC
• Keysight IO Libraries Suite (installed on test station)
• Keysight Secure Instrument Communication Expert (SIC Expert)