Edit

Share via

Azure Virtual Machine - Network Store Interface (NSI) service is not starting

Applies to: ✔️ Windows VMs

Symptoms

  1. The virtual machine (VM) screenshot shows the operating system (OS) fully loaded and waiting for credentials.

    Screenshot of the V M screen, which shows the OS fully loaded and waiting for credentials.

  2. If you view the Guest OS Logs, you'll see that the core networking service, Network Store Interface (NSI), is not starting or failing to start. This issue could be due to a hang, a crash of this service, or any required service to be run before it.

       Log Name:      System
   Source:        Service Control Manager
   Date:          12/16/2015 11:19:36 AM
   Event ID:      7022
   Task Category: None
   Level:         Error
   Keywords:      Classic
   User:          N/A
   Computer:      myvm.contoso.net
   Description:
   The Network Store Interface service hung on starting.

       Log Name:      System
   Source:        Service Control Manager
   Date:          2/25/2016 11:59:08 AM
   Event ID:      7001
   Task Category: None
   Level:         Error
   Keywords:      Classic
   User:          N/A
   Computer:      myvm.contoso.net
   Description:
   The DHCP Client service depends on the Network Store Interface service which failed to start because of the following error: 
   The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it.

       Log Name:      System
   Source:        Service Control Manager
   Date:          12.08.2016 15:35:22
   Event ID:      7000
   Task Category: None
   Level:         Error
   Keywords:      Classic
   User:          N/A
   Computer:      myvm.contoso.net
   Description:
   The Network Store Interface Service service failed to start due to the following error: 
   The account specified for this service is different from the account specified for other services running in the same process.

Connect to the VM using Serial console (Troubleshoot cause)

If you're unable to successfully RDP to the virtual machine (VM), use PowerShell and Serial Console to check for the log entries.

  1. On the command line, launch PowerShell by running powershell.exe.
  2. In PowerShell, execute the following commands:
psCopy

remove-module psreadline

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; StartTime=(Get-Date).AddDays(-1); ProviderName='Service Control Manager'}

Cause

The NSI service is not running on the Virtual Machine. This issue happens in the following scenarios:

  1. The NSI service was set to disabled.
  2. The NSI is not responding, or is crashing.
  3. Another required service is not running.

Solution

Backup the VM OS disk using your preferred method.

One method that you can use is to take a snapshot of the disk.

Connect to the VM using Serial console (Solution)

Connect to the VM using Serial Console to attempt to get the NSI service started.

  1. In the Serial Console, execute this command:

    sc query NSI

  2. If the service is shown as:

    1. Stopped – Try to start the service:

      sc start NSI

      1. If the service starts without error and you can connect to the VM, then stop here.

    2. Starting/Stopping - Try stopping and starting the service again with these commands:

      sc stop NSI

      sc start NSI

  3. If the NSI service is disabled:

    1. First set the service to automatic:

      sc config NSI start=auto

    2. Start the NSI service:

      sc start NSI

    3. Check if the NSI service is running:

      sc query NSI

  4. IF the NSI service fails due to a dependency, you can try the above process on the dependency that was listed. Once the NSI service is running you can try accessing the VM via RDP.

Contact us for help

If you have questions or need help, create a support request, or ask Azure community support. You can also submit product feedback to Azure feedback community.