required NI services

[instrumento]

Is there a document somewhere that lists all the NI services that may be running when I install some NI software (NI-488, LabVIEW, etc), what they do, which ones can be safely stopped as long as one doesn't need the capability they offer, etc, etc?

[Joe D.]

hi instrumento,

We do not support what you are trying to do. However what services do you have? What network function/equipement do you use?

[instrumento]

Not sure I get your answer.  I really don't want to do anything but understand which NI services are superflous in my case.  In one of the systems I just looked I have, besides LabVIEW.exe, the following National Instruments programs running:  lkads.exe, lktsrv.exe, nidmsrv.exe, niLxiDiscovery.exe, nimdnsResponder.exe, nimxs.exe, nipalsm.exe, nipalsm.exe (yes, two of these) and nisvloc.exe.  Seems a bit excessive but it may be the way it is.

[Himanshu_Goyal]

Hi,

you just click on windows start button, now select run and in your run window you type "services.msc"  command and press OK button. This command will give you the list of services running in your windows. In this you can observe the current running National Instruments services.

Thanks and Regards

Himanshu Goyal

[altenbach]

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@Himanshu Goyal wrote:

This command will give you the list of services running in your windows.

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I think the OP was looking for a document that describes what these NI services actually do. Which ones are essential, which one can be safely stopped if certain modules are never used, what is the worst that can happen if they are stopped, etc..

There definitely should be a KB article (maybe there is, but I have not found it?).

Searching for each service by name gives some hints (see below), but there should be a single page with a comprehensive explanation of all NI services.

• lkads.exe  (part of Domain Account Manager)
• lktsrv.exe  (part of logos, go figure 😮 ... actually, Logos is the National Instruments proprietary protocol for inter-process communication)
• nidmsrv.exe (part of Domain Account Manager)
• niLxiDiscovery.exe (see nimdnsResponder.exe)
• nimdnsResponder.exe  (The nimDNSresonder is used for identifying LXI devices over the network without previously knowing their IP address on the host machine running Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX): which is by default.)
• nimxs.exe (back-end database service for MAX)
• nipalsm.exe (NI-PAL Service Manager, multiple instances are expected)
• nisvloc.exe (National Instruments Service Locator)

[instrumento]

I think the OP was looking for a document that describes what these NI services actually do. Which ones are essential, which one can be safely stopped if certain modules are never used, what is the worst that can happen if they are stopped, etc.

Yes, I thought that was obvious.

There definitely should be a KB article.

Though so too. If there is one, it doesn't top or is in the first couple of pages of search results for the queries I tried.

Searching for each service by name gives some hints (see below), but there should be a single page with a comprehensive explanation of all NI services.

I've done that, but some of the pages just point to what the service is, rather than whether I need it, e.g. domain manager, does this do anything for someone on a Windows domain?; lxi stuff, I don't have any LXI stuff, guess I can disable it, but can I?, etc.

[Deborah_B]

Hello instrumento,

I appreciate you pointing out an area where there can be more specific content, as you and Altenbach found, there is no knowledge base article on this. The closest we have is What Windows Services Are Installed With LabVIEW? I'm currently working on creating an article to serve this purpose. But to further answer the question at hand, the Domain Manager is somewhat dependent on Windows administrator access and if you wish to set up different user permissions or permissions across a network. Do you use network communication in any of your LabVIEW programs? If not the domain service could be disabled (nidmsrv.exe).

The LXI 'stuff' running under the nimdnsResponder.exe is not necessary if not using those devices, it is a process for Measurement and Automation Explorer. Stopping both of this processes will not prevent LabVIEW from operating correctly unless using LXI devices. If you wish to use LXI systems they can still be manually added in the software. Please let me know if you have any further questions. I'll post the knowledge base article in the future when it's approved.

Thank you,

Deborah Y.

[JoshuaP]

I just wanted to add some additional information regarding the nimdnsResponder.exe service.  Initially, it was only required for discovering LXI devices, however it is now also used for discovering ethernet cDAQ and GPIB devices as well as LabVIEW RT targets.

In general disabling nimdnsResponder.exe could impact any network based resource.

[DarkLordOfG]

How close are we to having the list or KB?

John

[Deborah_B]

Hello John,

Thank you for checking in, I will get an update on its progress and try to get it pushed through this week.

Regards,

Deborah Y.