November 2017
This document contains information about TestStand 2017. Refer to the TestStand 2017 Release Notes for information about getting started with TestStand, such as system requirements, licensing information, and installation instructions. If you do not activate a TestStand license, TestStand operates in Evaluation Mode.
Refer to the What's New in TestStand topics for TestStand 2017 in the NI TestStand Help for detailed information about new features and other changes since TestStand 2016 SP1. Refer to the What's New in TestStand topics for previous versions of TestStand in the NI TestStand Help for information about new features, compatibility and known issues, and bug fixes for those versions.
Upgrading TestStand 2017 Beta to TestStand 2017
Product Security and Critical Updates
Automating the Installation of NI Products
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10
Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1
Additional TestStand Resources
TestStand 2017 supports the following operating systems:
Note In 2016 TestStand dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. TestStand 2017 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use TestStand 2017 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing TestStand 2017, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabVIEW NXG, LabWindows™/CVI™, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS.
For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2017, refer to KB 79UC78LS, Why Does my LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, or TestStand Built Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Server 2003?.
Note Support for Windows 32-bit operating systems may require disabling physical address extension (PAE). To learn how this might affect your system and what actions you might need to take, visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code PAESupport.
1 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.
2 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 for more information about how to install this security update.
TestStand 2017 provides full support for the following application software versions, including service packs. Refer to the TestStand 2017 Release Notes to see application software that TestStand allows, but does not fully support. If you are not using NI application software, refer to Microsoft Visual Studio Support.
| Application Software | Versions Supported by TestStand 2017 |
|---|---|
| LabVIEW | 2014 SP1, 2015 SP1, 2016 SP1, 2017 |
| LabVIEW NXG | 2.0 |
| LabWindows™/CVI™ | 2012 SP1 (32-bit only), 2013 SP2, 2015 SP1, 2017 |
| NI Switch Executive | 3.5, 3.6 (32-bit only); 15.1 |
TestStand 2017 supports the following Microsoft Visual Studio versions and associated programming languages.
| Programming Languages | Visual Studio Versions Supported by TestStand 2017 |
|---|---|
| .NET Framework 4.6.2 Languages (Visual C#, Visual Basic .NET) | 2012, 2013, 2015, or 2017 |
You can install TestStand or deployments of TestStand for TestStand 2017 and TestStand 2016 SP1 or earlier on the same computer. Use the TestStand Version Selector to select the active version of TestStand before you launch TestStand or a deployed TestStand application. National Instruments does not support running applications that use two different versions of TestStand at the same time.
You cannot install TestStand 2017 over a previous version, such as TestStand 2016 SP1, and you cannot install TestStand 2017 in the default installation directory for a previous version. If you installed a previous version of TestStand in a non-default directory, you can uninstall the previous version of TestStand and install TestStand 2017 to that directory.
Before you install the final release version of TestStand 2017, you must first uninstall TestStand 2017 Beta and then manually delete the <TestStand Public>\TestStand 2017 directory.
Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.
You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the National Instruments website for an up-to-date list of known issues in TestStand 2017.
Refer to the List of Bug Fixes in TestStand 2017 on the National Instruments website for a list of a subset of issues fixed in TestStand 2017 This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in TestStand 2017. If you have a Corrective Action Request (CAR) ID, you can search this list to determine whether the issue has been fixed.
Refer to the NI TestStand Help for information about TestStand 2017. You can access the NI TestStand Help in the following ways:
TestStand includes a variety of example programs that you can use to help you learn key concepts or to serve as a starting point for applications you create. You can browse the examples in the following ways:
Select Help»Find Examples to launch the NI TestStand Example Programs Help from the TestStand Sequence Editor.
You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes.
If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.
For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:
Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.
When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.
Refer to the Technical Support page at ni.com/support and search for TestStand to access the TestStand Support website, which contains online documentation, KnowledgeBase articles, tutorials, example code, discussion forums, and other resources.
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End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices
You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:
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Patents
For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.
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