What does the restart of the network setup service (NetSetupSvc) do and should it happen often

Question

Hi,

I am debugging why several Windows application services stopped at one point. The only log right before it was the Network Setup Service (NetSetupSvc) stopping and then starting(*). This is on Windows Server 2019 and this NetSetupSvc is configured as Manual (Trigger Start).

I found a pretty high level explanation of what the Network Setup Service does. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/security/windows-services/security-guidelines-for-disabling-system-services-in-windows-server#network-setup-service :

The Network Setup Service manages the installation of network drivers and permits the configuration of low-level network settings. If this service is stopped, any driver installations that are in-progress may be cancelled.

Unfortunately it is not clear to me what this actually means.

1. What is the impact on these low-level network settings?
2. What happens with the network adapters during a start? Are they reinitialized, does something happen with the sockets? Can network traffic be impacted?

I am trying to figure out if a set of circumstances could result in those application services to fail during such a restart.

(*) it does stop and start a lot though... So apart from knowing what happens, it would be nice needs to know if it is normal that this service stops and starts every 10 minutes or so. I found https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/16a1c4e5-3859-43f1-973a-a00a2a883293/the-service-netsetupsvc-stop-and-start-frequently?forum=ws2016 but this doesn't tell me whether it is normal and it didn't list a fix...

Best regards,
Diederik

Answer 1

Hello there,

The Network Setup Service manages the installation of network drivers and permits the configuration of low-level network settings. If this service is stopped, any driver installations that are in progress may be canceled. This service exists in Windows 10 only.

The NetSetupSvc service's default startup type is "manual". That means it is 'triggered' to be started whenever an application needs it.

The Network Setup Service does a few things that are not needed continuously. Like the installation of network drivers, the configuration of low-level network settings, and/or updates. If this service is stopped, network driver installations that are in progress are canceled - and the other way round, a network driver update triggers it to be started.

It is pretty usual to see it starting and stopping somewhat often, depending on what software is installed on your machine.

Hope this resolves your Query !!

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Answer 2

Does this mean that when the services is started and stopped that network traffic may be interrupted?