Full-text Filter Daemon Launcher service does not start

At begining of the week, I had this email from a good friend of mine. On one of his server, the Full-text Filter Daemon Launcher service does not start. So he gave me a call, gave me the error details. And then, he ask for a help. Basically, he want to fix the issue as soon as he can. Reviewing the logs helped, and the issue was fixed.

The error message in logs was exactly the same as I have mentioned earlier. The Full-text Filter Daemon Launcher service does not start. I had to review his server configuration before I could find a fix. Before we jump into a resolution, let us see some definition. This will help understand the thing better.

What is Full-text Index?

As it is named, it is an Index. But, this is a spacial Index, which stores information about significant words and their location within one or more columns or a table. You can read detailed explanation by Microsoft here in case it interests you.

What is Named Pipe Protocol?

It is a protocol developed for Local Area Networks (LAN). Basically, it will pass an information of a process to another process. The way it will relay an information to a local or remote computer. In case you want to read about Named Pipe Protocol and how it works in detail I can suggest you to browse through Link1 and Link2

Use of Named Pipe and Full-text Engine

Within the SQL Server Full-text Filter Daemon Launcher service is used to manage full-text search and it must be running in order to full-text search to function properly. This service is an instance-aware service.

Finally, fixing Full-Text Filter Daemon Launcher service does not start

While reviewing the configuration of the server I have discovered that the Named Pipe service was disabled. Since Full-text Filter Daemon service uses Named Pipe protocol it was not starting. As soon as I started Named Pipe protocol Full-text Filter Daemon service was started fine.

There are many more such interesting troubleshooting tips that you may want to explore, please browse through the Troubleshooting and Configuration category of this blog space. And, do not forget to let me know how do you like this blog via a comment section.

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Hemantgiri Goswami

Throughout my extensive 24-year tenure in the IT industry, I have honed my expertise in SQL Server and cloud technologies. My qualifications include certifications in ITIL, Azure, and Google Cloud, and my professional journey boasts a consistent record of delivering top-notch, dependable, and efficient solutions across diverse clients and domains. In recognition of my dedication and impact, I am honored to have received the Microsoft MVP award for SQL Server on six occasions. Additionally, I actively contribute to various online forums and blogs, acting as a moderator and facilitator of meaningful discussions. My ultimate mission revolves around empowering organizations to enhance the reliability and efficiency of their SQL Server implementations while fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth within the SQL Server community.