Introduction
The new release of Automation Studio 6.5 and Automation Runtime 6.4/6.5 introduces major improvements in security, multicore support, certificate management, and development environment enhancements. This article provides a complete technical summary of all changes.
Automation Studio 6.5
Security and Communication
Changed behavior when using self-signed certificates If a self-signed certificate is used for online communication in Automation Runtime, this is recognized when the connection is established and Automation Studio is notified. Automation Studio responds with a dialog box that displays details of the certificate
used. The user can reject the certificate, which means that no connection to the target system is established. If the user trusts the certificate, an online connection is possible from this point on. If the self-signed certificate is updated on the target system, the dialog
box appears again.
- Self-signed certificates: Warning dialog when connecting; user can accept or reject.
- Certificate validity check: Warning for expired or not-yet-valid certificates.
Library Export via Command Line
- Tool:
BR.AS.LibraryExporter.exe. - Syntax:
BR.AS.LibraryExporter.exe -P "<ProjectPath>" -n <LibraryName> -o "<OutputDirectory>" -c "<Configurations>" [-d "<DependencyFilePath>"]
ST-OOP Enhancements
Inheritance
- Inheritance: Function blocks can inherit properties and methods from other function blocks.
- Polymorphism: Function blocks can exhibit polymorphic behavior, allowing dynamic binding of methods.
- Method Access Specifiers: Methods within function blocks can have access specifiers such as PUBLIC, PRIVATE, and PROTECTED.
- Variable Access Specifiers: Variables within function blocks can have access specifiers such as PUBLIC, PRIVATE, and PROTECTED.
- Abstract Methods: Function blocks can contain abstract methods that must be implemented by derived function blocks.
- Method Overriding: Methods in derived function blocks can override methods in base function blocks using the keyword OVERRIDE.
Classes
- Class Declaration: Classes are defined with the keyword CLASS and terminated with END_CLASS.
- Variables: Classes contain variables declared within VAR…END_VAR sections.
- Methods: Classes contain methods declared within METHOD…END_METHOD sections.
- Access Specifiers: Methods and variables can have access specifiers such as PUBLIC, PRIVATE, and PROTECTED.
- Inheritance: Classes and function blocks can inherit from other classes using the keyword EXTENDS.
- Method Overriding: Methods in derived classes can override methods in base classes using the keyword OVERRIDE.
- Abstract Classes and Methods: Classes and methods can be declared as ABSTRACT, indicating they must be implemented by derived
classes. - Dynamic Binding: Methods can be dynamically bound to their implementations (SUPER, THIS
Additional Features
-
Telemetry for anonymous usage data collection.
-
Ladder Diagram Editor: Page mode for clarity, compatibility mode for rearrangement.
- Configuration option for assigning task classes to cores.
- TFTP parameter default set to “Off”.
- Treat warnings as errors during build.
- Post-build errors invalidate the entire build.
- Removal of source file encryption feature.
Automation Runtime 6.4
Hypervisor
- New GPOS driver 2.1.0 included.
- Support for Windows 11.
- Support for efficiency cores.
Multicore
- Parallel execution of ANSL communication tasks.
- Support for low-priority AR-Core tasks and asynchronous libraries.
More info also here Innovation 2025 : Multicore Processing in Automation Software 6
Security
- SMB 1.0 permanently disabled due to vulnerabilities.
Other Features
-
ManagedCertificateStore with new FB
ArMcsRecreateCert. -
FTP server port configuration.
-
Reader/Writer Locks for optimized concurrency.
-
Contextual Watch tool discontinued.
Automation Runtime 6.5
Hypervisor Repair Boot
- Boot option for resolving PCIe interrupt conflicts.
Multicore for Hard Real-Time
- Task classes can be assigned to specific cores.
More info also here Innovation 2025 : Multicore Processing in Automation Software 6
Managed Certificate Store
- Extended for ANSL, FTP, HTTP, SMTP libraries.
FTP Server
- Role-based access control (RBAC) for authentication and permissions.
Profiling
- Default configuration now supports multicore profiling.
Additional Changes
- ARsim supports 4 GB process memory.
The Windows process memory limit for 32-bit processes has been increased from 2 GB to 4 GB for ARsim. This was made possible by linker option “/LARGEADDRESSAWARE”.
- The AsHttp - httpsClient supports “Server Name Indication” (SNI)
The httpsClient now sends the hostname information to support SNI.
- ArCert library enhancement for support of certificate signing requests (CSR)
ArCert Library provides functions for creating, exporting, viewing and deleting certificate signing requests (CSRs).
- “Initial commissioning of the target system with static IP configuration via online connection” does not work in all use case
The use case “Initial commissioning of the target system with static IP configuration via online connection” does not work with Automation Studio 6 and Automation Runtime 6 if the target is in Boot mode. This use case is fully supported again as of AS >= 6.5 and AR >=6.5.