Keysight IO Libraries Suite 2026

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

New Features:

• Unified installer with selectable GUI utilities and IO interfaces
  The unified IO Libraries Suite installer now allows you to select which GUI utilities and IO interfaces to enable during installation. You can choose to enable or disable the following components:
  • New Connection Expert
  • New Interactive IO
  • New IO Monitor
  • IO interfaces supported on the platform
• By default, all components supported on the current platform are selected. Components that are not supported on the platform are shown as disabled and cannot be selected.
• The installer automatically installs required dependencies for selected interfaces. For example:
  • Remote interfaces require the LAN interface
  • VXI-GPIB requires PCI-GPIB
  • PXI (ZED feature) requires the LAN interface
• This provides greater flexibility and control over which utilities and interfaces are installed.
• Platform-specific availability applies. For example:
  • VXI and VXI-GPIB are not selected by default on Windows 11
  • Some interfaces, such as ASRL and GPIB, are not supported on Windows on ARM64 and cannot be selected

Enhancements:

• Usability improvements in new utilities
  • New Connection Expert, New IO Monitor, and New Interactive IO include the following usability improvements:
    • Support for resizing, reordering, and selecting visible columns in tabular views
    • Ability to launch IO Monitor and Interactive IO directly from Connection Expert
    • Renamed views:
      • Flat View → Instruments View
      • Group View → Interface View
    • Status bar displays the IO Libraries Suite version
    • At launch, a welcome dialog highlights recent UI changes and new functionality improvements
• Updates to utilities user interfaces
  • Connection Expert, IO Monitor, and Interactive IO UI include the following changes:
    • Links to launch the new Connection Expert, Interactive IO, and IO Monitor.
    • At launch, a welcome dialog highlights recent UI changes and new functionality improvements

Defect fixes:

• Missing shared files after uninstalling IO Libraries Suite or HPP
• Failure when hostname contains non-ASCII characters
• Failure when Windows username contains non-ASCII characters
• Discovery service stops working after system resumes from sleep
• iproc82357.exe crash when connecting certain USB devices
• Conflict caused by VISA header macro definition
• VISA.NET installer did not remove old policy files during upgrade
• Default PXI address form setting was not applied correctly
• PXI registry sub-keys were removed during uninstall
• TCP Keep Alive not functioning correctly with HiSLIP and VXI-11
• LAN auto-discovery list displayed when auto-discovery was disabled
• The chassis detection problem occurring when Nimbus 7–based IVI drivers were installed
• The KCCS malfunction that occurred after the system resumed from sleep
• Unexpected reboot occurs on instruments with Windows OS during installation

Known Issues:

New GUIs Fail to Launch Without Microsoft WebView2 Installed

• The new GUIs of Connection Expert, Interactive IO, and IO Monitor do not work on systems where Microsoft WebView2 is not installed. This is observed on some machines, specifically Windows Server 2019 and 2022, where WebView2 may not be available by default. WebView2 is Microsoft’s component for embedding Edge/Chromium in Windows applications. When launching any of the new GUIs, a pop-up will appear stating that WebView2 is not installed, along with a link to download and install it. The pop-up is shown only once; if dismissed, you must restart the system to see it again.
• Workaround: Download and install WebView2 from the link provided in the pop-up, or directly from: Download Microsoft WebView2. A reboot is required after the installation.

Installation and Uninstallation Issue When Running an Older Installer

• If a version newer than IOLS 2024 is installed, and an older installer (but not older than IOLS 2023 Update 1) is run, the installation fails with the error "a newer version has already been installed." In this scenario, attempting to uninstall the current version from the Control Panel also fails, showing the message the IOLS "is already uninstalled."
• Workaround: Rerun the installer of the currently installed version, or install a newer version.

Issues in the new GUIs

• The New Connection Expert application needs to be refreshed to reflect the following changes:
  • When you update Instrument drivers
  • When you programmatically update triggers

Unexpected Reboot During IOLS Upgrade on Systems with PCIe-GPIB Card

• On systems such as the HP Z4 G5 Workstation Desktop PC running Windows 10 21H2 (10.0.19044) with a PCIGPIB card, the system may unexpectedly reboot during an IOLS upgrade when the PCIGPIB kernel driver is updated. 
• Workaround: Disable VT‑d/IOMMU in the BIOS, reboot the system, verify in msinfo32 that Kernel DMA Protection is OFF and Virtualization‑Based Security is Not Enabled, then proceed with the upgrade.

Missing Components in VISA COM Applications

• 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 and above.

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)