Start Here: Connectivity Guide

This section of the Keysight IO Libraries Suite Help covers connectivity – connecting instruments to your PC and establishing communication. The basic process for connecting an instrument is:

( Please note, this version of the software supports instrument drivers for Windows, specific drivers for Windows on ARM (according to supported utilities), but not for Linux.)

If you are creating a new test system, the Keysight IO Libraries Suite should always be installed first – before connecting instruments, installing instrument drivers, etc. Download the latest version of Keysight IO Libraries Suite from www.keysight.com/find/iosuite.

Please note, this version of the software supports instrument drivers for Windows, specific drivers for Windows on ARM (according to supported utilities), but not for Linux.)

  1. Determine what connections you need. If your host PC and instruments are connected by LAN, you don't need any additional connections. If your instruments are not on a LAN, or if the LAN connection does not suit your needs, you'll need to decide what interface (connection type) to use. See Choosing the Interface for Your Instrument for more information.

    If necessary, install interface hardware (such as a GPIB card or USB/GPIB interface converter).

  2. Install instrument software.

    Install any instrument-specific software that you require. This may include instrument drivers, soft front panels, and application software. For Keysight instruments, you will probably get this software on a disk with your instrument or from the Keysight Web site.

    For more information on instrument software, see:

    For more information on modular instruments, see:



    		 Important: For PXI and AXIe (modular) instruments, you must install the modular instrument software on the PC before the IO Libraries Suite can recognize or communicate with the modular instruments. 

  3. To use remote interfaces connected to a remote PC server, configure and run the remote IO server software. For more information: Remote IO Server Options.

  4. Connect your instruments. See your instrument documentation for information on making the connection.

  5. If necessary, configure the instrument (for example, to set its address) from the instrument front panel. For more information, refer to the documentation for your instrument(s) and for your interface hardware (GPIB card, USB/GPIB converter, etc.).

If you turned your host PC off in order to install interfaces or make physical connections in the previous steps, turn the PC back on.

Start Keysight Connection Expert. (In both operating systems, open IO Control and then select Connection Expert from the menu. Or, Windows users can also double-click the IO Control icon to start Connection Expert.)

Most instruments are automatically discovered and displayed in the Connection Expert My Instruments list with no configuration required. LAN instruments on a local subnet are discovered by Connection Expert but may not be automatically added to the My Instruments list. They must be manually added, see Add a LAN Instrument.

If you have serial instruments or other instruments that are not auto-discovered, you will need to add them manually: in Connection Expert, select the type of interface the instrument is connected to, click , then select the type of instrument (such as a LAN instrument or Serial Instrument). See Adding New Instruments and Interfaces more information.

If an interfaces is not shown, click , then select the interface type.

Windows on ARM does not support Serial Interface, Serial Instrument, GPIB Interface, GPIB Instrument, Remote GPIB, Remote Serial, and Remote USB

Once Connection Expert establishes a connection to each instrument, you can use either Interactive IO or the instrument's Soft Front Panel (SFP) to send commands to and receive data from the instrument.

Interactive IO

Interactive IO is a software utility that lets you interactively send commands to instruments and read the responses without writing any program code. You can use Interactive IO to:

  • Quickly verify connectivity to your instrument
  • Troubleshoot communication problems
  • Become familiar with the instrument's command set
  • Rapidly prototype commands and check the instrument's responses before writing code

Interactive IO contains a number of commonly used commands to simplify communicating with instruments.

Select the instrument that you want to configure. Click the Interactive IO icon in Connection Expert.

Alternately, you can start Interactive IO from Keysight IO Control by clicking Utilities > Interactive IO.

See the Interactive IO Help for usage instructions.

Interactive IO does not operate with PXI (modular) instruments. Windows users with PXI instruments, use the instrument's soft front panel instead of Interactive IO.

Instrument or Chassis Soft Front Panel

Many modular instruments and chassis have Soft Front Panel (SFP) software for monitoring and controlling the instrument or chassis; some have more than one. When installed, the Soft Front Panel software is an interactive user interface for the instrument or chassis. Refer to the instrument's SFP help file for instructions on using the SFP.

Select a chassis in the Chassis Content view, then use the links at the right to start (in a new window) soft front panels for chassis or modules. These links are only shown if a soft front panel is installed for the selected chassis or module. There may be more than one soft front panel for a given module; in that case, each link includes the name and version of the soft front panel to be run.

If a non-Keysight soft front panel is installed in a non-standard location, Connection Expert may not be able to find it. In that case, you will have to locate and run the soft front panel outside of Connection Expert (for example, in Windows Explorer).

See Also