Windows Services Installed with LabVIEW and Where to Find Them

Updated Oct 18, 2022

Reported In

Software

  • LabVIEW
  • LabVIEW NXG
  • Developer Suite
  • TestStand
  • VeriStand
  • DIAdem

Issue Details

  • I need to know what Windows Services are installed with LabVIEW. Where can I find that information?
  • I need to know if NI services are running or enabled. Where can I find that infomation?

Solution

Different services will be installed depending on what all NI products are installed to the computer.

A quick way to list all services and their corresponding executable is with the command line tool wmic. To get a list of all services and their corresponding executable, type the following in the command prompt:
wmic service get name,pathname

You can further filter this list to NI products with the following command line input:
wmic service where "name like 'NI%'" get name,pathname

To check whether or not a service is running/enabled, search for "Services" in windows. This will find an application called services, and when clicked on you can see the NI Windows Services installed with your National Instruments software. An example is shown below.


For example, an installation of LabVIEW Professional Development System 2013 will install the following services:
 
ServiceDescription
NI Application Web Server The NI Application Web Server loads Web service applications which are deployed using National Instruments LabVIEW. Stopping this service will may cause deployed Web service applications to become unavailable.
NI Application Web Server (64-bit)The NI Application Web Server (64-bit) loads Web service applications which are deployed using National Instruments LabVIEW. Stopping this service will may cause deployed Web service applications to become unavailable.
NI Citadel 4 ServiceHistorical data logging database service used for Lookout prior to ver. 6 and LabVIEW DSC prior to ver. 7. If this service is stopped or disabled, you will be unable to load databases logged in the Citadel 4 format used by those products.
NI Configuration ManagerManages National Instruments configuration data. If this service is stopped, some NI programs and hardware will not function properly.
NI Domain ServiceProvides a domain server for NI Shared Variable security. If this service is stopped or disabled, this machine will be unable to act as a domain when configuring shared variable security.
NI License ServerControls the National Instruments License Server to track volume software licenses. If this service is stopped or disabled, the volume license server will stop working, and users will not be able to check out software.
NI mDNS Responder ServiceAdvertises and discovers Zeroconf devices and services. If this service is stopped, advertisement and discovery of devices and services will no longer function. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
NI Network DiscoveryDiscovers NI Zeroconf devices and services. If this service is stopped components that rely on discovering NI Zeroconf devices and services will no longer function. If this service is disabled any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
NI PSP Service LocatorLocates servers at the request of network variable clients and other proprietary NI network protocols. If this service is stopped or disabled, network variables and network streams will stop working.
NI Service LocatorThe National Instruments service locator
NI System Web ServerThe NI System Web Server provides National Instruments Web services and Web-based configuration and Monitoring utility. Stopping this service may cause some NI software to not function properly.
NI Time SynchronizationAllows this machine to keep its time synchronized with a master time server, or to act as a time server for other machines. This feature is configured with the Shared Variable Engine settings in LabVIEW. If this service is stopped or disabled, this form of time synchronization will not be available.
NI Variable EngineHosts network published shared variables and I/O servers. If this service is stopped or disabled, shared variables and I/O servers will not function.
OpcEnumThe OpcEnum service enumerates/retrieves a list of OPC Servers on the computer.

Doing a Professional installation from the 2013 LabVIEW Platform DVD installs the above services along with the following additional services:
 
ServiceDescription
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v4.0.30319_X86Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN
ASP.NET State ServiceProvides support for out-of-process session states for ASP.NET. If this service is stopped, out-of-process requests will not be processed. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
NI Citadel 5Provides historical data logging and data management for Lookout and the LabVIEW Datalogging and Supervisory Control Module. If this service is stopped or disabled, you will not be able to access Citadel 5 databases.
NI LXI Discovery ServiceDiscovers Zeroconf enabled LXI devices. If this service is stopped, these devices will no longer be automatically discovered by NI-VISA.
NI PXI Resource ManagerIdentifies PXI and PXI Express systems and manages shared resources. If this service is stopped, PXI and PXI Express devices may lose some or all functionality.
NI-Motion Device ManagerManages National Instruments Motion Control devices. If stopped, the devices may not function properly.
SQL Server (CITADEL)Provides storage, processing and controlled access of data, and rapid transaction processing.
SQL Server Active Directory HelperEnables integration with Active Directories.
SQL Server BrowserProvides SQL Server connection information to client computers.
SQL Server VSS WriterProvides the interface to backup/restore Microsoft SQL server through the Windows VSS infrastructure.

 

Additional Information

  • Prior to LabVIEW 2012, several service names were preceded with 'National Instruments' rather than 'NI'.
  • National Instruments does not recommend starting or stopping services (changing the default installed settings) as it will adversely affect the functioning of the programs installed on your machine.

    You can programmatically start or stop services using the commands net start and net stop in the command prompt. For example, executing net start "NI Citadel 5"  in the command prompt starts the NI Citadel 5 service.

    One way to use this would be to have a batch file that has all the necessary net start or net stop commands.