# Use a protected process file and diagnose access failures

Set the main-process passkey through the visible Studio controls, distinguish licence/key/expiry failures and account for two reproduced protected-file compatibility limits.

## Compatibility

8.0.1 Windows / current-source Studio review

Published guidance with release-applicability limits. Confirm package applicability before following this guide.

**KB-LDF-001 · hold**: General issued-file compatibility across the conflicting protected-container headers is not accepted. Preserve issuer bytes and obtain an issuer-confirmed compatible file/runtime; do not rewrite an issued header.

**KB-LDF-002 · supported path**: Compare the issuer's minimum supported version with the actual runtime before running. Successful execution does not prove the minimum was enforced; do not lower the metadata.

## Use the issuer’s file and matching access

Keep the protected LDF unchanged and use its issuer-provided passkey with a compatible InductEx® version. Select the file as the main Process input, set ProcessKey in the IXI command settings, save and run. A valid product licence and a valid process passkey serve different purposes: the first permits extraction, while the second opens the issued process description.

Obtain the complete LDF, process ID/revision, expiry, minimum supported product version and passkey through the issuer’s approved route. Keep a private writable project copy and preserve any result generation you need before rerunning. This answer covers the main layout’s ProcessKey; access for additional die processes is not qualified here.

The checks below use a synthetic protected copy of the public microstrip teaching stack and an explicitly public test key. No issuer technology or actual process password was used. The accepted synthetic container is an investigative control, not a new distribution specification.

## Set the main process key in Studio

1. Open the private saved IXI project. On Basic > Input files, check the Fabrication process reference and the other inputs. Keep the issuer’s process file intact; open the IXI project to run the extraction.
2. Choose Basic > Review, expand Advanced setup, then use Project inputs in the retained structured setup. Expand Project inputs if necessary. This is separate from the shorter Solver settings view, which does not expose the process-key controls.
3. Enter the issuer’s passkey in Process key and choose its Apply button. The field is masked. Save the project; the underlying Raw IXI ProcessKey value is stored in that file. Quotes around the token are optional; whitespace and quotation marks inside the key are not supported by the documented contract.
4. Return to Check and run, resolve applicable input diagnostics and choose Run extraction. Read the current Results status and Raw output. An open editor, masked key field or successful product-licence check does not prove that the protected process opened.

![Native Project inputs region showing a masked Process key with Apply and Reveal raw, and the Fabrication process reference process.ldf with its file controls.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/31de30_cff30b8349c94075a3833d605e07a748~mv2.png)

The actual Advanced setup Project inputs controls mask Process key. Apply writes the value to the saved IXI; masking the field does not encrypt or anonymise that project file.

## Recognise success and handle key or expiry failures

For the synthetic microstrip, normal native extraction and both corrected-key/recovered-input runs report Completed and L1 = 3.89648 pH at the displayed precision. The CLI protected and open controls produce the same mesh bytes and L1 = 3.896479063 pH. These compare file decoding and execution on one public model; they do not calibrate an issued process or establish general numerical accuracy.

For your device, require the current run to complete, then check the actual requested quantities, units, model-fit/solver diagnostics and appropriate design/refinement criteria. A nonzero process exit or Failed task is a failed run. In the checked CLI, a rejected same-folder rerun removed the prior elements.txt; preserve required generations before starting.

| Observed message or condition | Next action |
| --- | --- |
| Protected process file … could not be opened. Check passkey and expiry date. | Confirm the exact main-process file and issuer-supplied key, including case. A changed bound header or malformed container can also produce this message; obtain a clean issuer copy rather than assuming the password alone is wrong. |
| Protected process file … has expired. | Confirm the process revision and request a current file from the issuer. The expiry check is separate from a product-licence expiry. Preserve the issued metadata. |
| No "Parameters" block found, although the file is protected | Check the bounded header compatibility finding below. Do not add a plaintext Parameters block to an encrypted payload. |
| Run completes despite a stated newer minimum version | Check the actual product version against the issuer’s requirement yourself. Completion does not establish that this metadata was enforced. |

## Account for the header mismatch — KB-LDF-001

The maintained manual and Studio editor validation specify ;SUNMAGNETICS-LDF-PROTECTED=:1. The exercised Windows 8.0.1 loader recognises ;SUNMAGNETICS-LDF-PROTECTED:1 instead. Otherwise identical synthetic encrypted files reproduce success for the loader spelling and a missing-Parameters failure for the documented spelling, through both CLI and native Run.

This is a reproduced compatibility discrepancy between the loader, editor and documented contract. A syntax diagnostic alone therefore cannot establish runtime compatibility for these files. Keep an issued file’s original bytes and report the exact message, process revision and actual product build to its issuer. Obtain a compatible supported file/runtime. Editing the first line of a real protected file is not the approved recovery supplied by this answer.

## Check the minimum version explicitly — KB-LDF-002

The catalog Windows 8.0.1 CLI also completes the synthetic protected file when its min_inductex_version field is 99.0.0. The reviewed loader parses the field but the exercised read/decrypt/expiry path does not compare it with the running version. This branch was checked on the CLI; a future-version GUI run is not claimed.

Use the issuer’s supported version or request a compatible process revision. Do not lower the header value or treat a completed calculation as proof of version compatibility. Header reconciliation, minimum-version enforcement and final-package qualification remain open; no product repair or general security guarantee is claimed.

## Run an already configured private project from PowerShell

First configure and save the private working IXI with its Process, ProcessKey, netlist and complete layout references. Select your actual compatible InductEx® executable below and enter that IXI’s full path at the prompt. Run from a fresh writable copy or preserve the previous output generation. The command uses the saved key; it does not put the key on the command line.

Read the normal console output and current generated artifacts after success. A zero exit is one check, not numerical or process-compatibility acceptance. The complete command passes six checks on PowerShell 7 with the actual executable and project path selected: successful decoding/reference result, a path with spaces, wrong-key and missing-project failure, and preserved inputs. Other PowerShell hosts are not separately qualified here.

```text
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$inductex = 'C:\Program Files\SUN Magnetics\InductEx\bin\inductex.exe'
$project = (Read-Host 'Full path to your saved private IXI project').Trim()
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $inductex -PathType Leaf)) { throw 'Select the actual compatible InductEx executable.' }
if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $project -PathType Leaf)) { throw 'Select an existing saved IXI project.' }
$project = (Resolve-Path -LiteralPath $project).Path
Push-Location -LiteralPath ([IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($project))
try {
    & $inductex $project
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw 'Extraction failed. Review the current diagnostic before accepting or retrying the result.' }
} finally {
    Pop-Location
}
```

## Keep keys and protected technology out of shared diagnostics

The masked field and displayed Basic summary omit the key value, but Raw IXI and saved project copies retain it. A support archive can copy selected source files verbatim. Review the actual project, attachments, logs, screenshots and archive before sharing; a masked control or summary is not whole-file redaction.

Share a public teaching reproduction where possible. For issuer-specific problems, provide the minimum permitted metadata and exact diagnostic through the approved support route; arrange authorised protected-file transfer separately. Avoid including ProcessKey, licence contents or an issuer’s protected technology in public issue reports or agent transcripts.

## Sources and verification details

Recorded inputs/builds only. Complete walkthrough and final-package acceptance remain separate.

- VAL-040: Windows InductEx 8.0.1 catalog CLI. Licensed Windows InductEx 8.0.1 catalog runtime. Synthetic public process only, public teaching key; no process issuer key or customer data. The header and future-version failures are reproduced limits, not approved metadata workarounds or security qualification. The exact full PowerShell 7 article command also passes six checks with only executable/project selections supplied Main process only. Header mismatch KB-LDF-001 and unenforced minimum version KB-LDF-002 remain open; physical pickers, issuer contracts/security and final package/platform qualification are not established.
- VAL-041: Frozen current-source Windows Studio with Core 8.0.1. Normal licensed current-source Windows Studio native route on a synthetic public process: Basic masked key Apply, actual failure/recovery and exact reviewed control captures. No real process password, physical picker input, clipboard-redaction test, security audit or final-package qualification Main process only. Header mismatch KB-LDF-001 and unenforced minimum version KB-LDF-002 remain open; physical pickers, issuer contracts/security and final package/platform qualification are not established.

- studio-protected-key-inputs: Windows current-source Studio/Core 8.0.1 native scenario, reviewed 4 November 2026. Visible settings and actual normal key-failure/recovery route on a synthetic public process; not an issuer process, physical picker, clipboard-redaction or final-package qualification.

- inductex:docs/manual/ix_ldf.tex: Open and Protected Process Files; File header and metadata
- inductex:docs/manual/ix_layoutinput.tex: COMMAND Process and ProcessKey for the main process
- inductex:docs/manual/studio_projects.tex: Basic, Raw IXI and current extraction results
- validation:protected-process-windows-20261104: VAL-040 and VAL-041; synthetic protected controls, visible native Apply, actual failure/recovery and KB-LDF-001/002

- Main-process synthetic Windows checks only. Issuer tooling/contracts, other die keys, final packages/platforms, physical pickers and complete GUI article acceptance remain pending. No protected-file product repair or security audit was performed.

## Related guides

- [Define and inspect an LDF fabrication process](/knowledge-base/inductex-process-build)
- [Which process file should I use for a numerical comparison?](/knowledge-base/process-calibration-provenance)
- [An IXI project cannot find an input file](/knowledge-base/inductex-missing-input)
- [Export a selected Studio support bundle and review its contents](/knowledge-base/inductex-support-bundle)