[Steve Lee (SteveL-MSFT)]

Setting a service's desired status to Running does not restart an already running service. This adds Microsoft.Windows.Action/RestartService for configurations that need an explicit restart on every set operation.

• Stop the service, wait for it to stop, then start it and wait for Running. Start an already stopped service without changing its configuration or forcing dependent services to stop.
• Require elevation and support non-mutating what-if previews with projected state and _metadata.whatIf.
• Replace windows_service.dsc.resource.json with windows_service.dsc.manifests.json, preserving the existing Service resource and adding the action. Update build/package references and documentation.
• Add Spooler coverage for repeated restarts, stopped and disabled services, input validation, discovery, and previews, with original state restoration. Scope existing CLI/MCP action-list assertions to test actions so built-in actions do not break their counts.

Validation

• build.ps1 -Project windows_service -Clippy succeeded.
• Targeted windows_service Pester suite: 49 passed, 24 skipped.
• New restart tests with Pester 5.7.1: 11 passed, 8 skipped.
• CLI/MCP action-list regression tests: 2 passed.
• Confirmed the existing resource manifest is unchanged semantically and restart preview output matches the action output schema.

Limitation: Elevated restart scenarios could not be exercised because the local session is not running as administrator. Spooler remained stopped and disabled.

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The elevated preview test asserts metadata in the wrong location, and incremental builds retain an obsolete manifest that causes duplicate service discovery and fails the count assertion.

2 open issues

• Read whatIf from result metadata in the preview assertion · New
• Remove obsolete manifests to prevent duplicate resource discovery · New

What changed in this PR

Adds Microsoft.Windows.Actions/RestartService for configurations that need an explicit restart on every set operation, rather than only ensuring a service is running.

Changes:

• Implements elevated restart execution and non-mutating what-if previews.
• Combines the existing Service resource and new action in one manifest list, updating build, packaging, and documentation references.
• Adds restart coverage and scopes CLI/MCP action-list assertions to test actions.

File	Description
resources/​windows_service/​windows_service.dsc.resource.json	Removes the standalone resource manifest.
resources/​windows_service/​windows_service.dsc.manifests.json	Preserves Service and registers RestartService with input/output schemas.
resources/​windows_service/​tests/​windows_service_restart.tests.ps1	Adds discovery, validation, preview, and restart tests with state restoration.
resources/​windows_service/​src/​types.rs	Adds restart input and result types.
resources/​windows_service/​src/​service.rs	Implements restart behavior and shares pending-status handling.
resources/​windows_service/​src/​main.rs	Dispatches restart requests and generalizes input deserialization.
resources/​windows_service/​locales/​en-us.toml	Adds restart messages and updates usage text.
resources/​windows_service/​.project.data.json	Copies the combined manifest during project builds.
dsc/​tests/​other/​dsc_server.tests.ps1	Filters MCP action-list assertions to test actions.
dsc/​tests/​other/​dsc_actions.tests.ps1	Limits CLI action-list queries to test actions.
docs/​reference/​resources/​Microsoft/​Windows/​Service/​index.md	Documents restart usage, limitations, and previews.
data.build.json	Updates build and package manifest references.
.github/​skills/​create-dsc-resource/​SKILL.md	Points resource-creation guidance to the combined manifest’s resource entry.

_{Review effort: Balanced}

[github-actions]

😁 Code Coverage Report

Changed Code Coverage

90% (90%+ coverage)

Metric	Value
Changed lines analyzed	62
Lines covered by tests	56
Coverage percentage	90%

🔵 Full Codebase Coverage

83% (good)

Metric	Value
Total executable lines	21053
Lines covered by tests	17524
Coverage percentage	83%

Changed code coverage measures only Rust lines added/modified in this PR.
Full codebase coverage measures all instrumented Rust lines across the project.

[Copilot]

🔵 Needs a closer look

The documentation incorrectly locates the configuration preview message at _metadata.whatIf instead of results[0].metadata.whatIf, preventing consumers from finding it at the documented path.

No open issues 🎉

1 previously missed issue

In code that hasn't changed since last review

Document the configuration preview at the correct result path

docs/​reference/​resources/​Microsoft/​Windows/​Service/​index.md:102

For the documented dsc config set --what-if command, the preview message is exposed at results[0].metadata.whatIf, not _metadata.whatIf: configuration processing moves _metadata out of afterState (lib/dsc-lib/src/configure/mod.rs:400–475). Please distinguish the configuration result path from the raw action output so consumers can locate the preview message.

2 resolved since last review

• Read whatIf from result metadata in the preview assertion
• Remove obsolete manifests to prevent duplicate resource discovery

_{Review effort: Balanced}