Specifying latest for the azPSVersion generates an exception on the Ubuntu hosted agent

[wlhutchison]

On the Ubuntu runner, the following yaml snipped will generate an exception (burying the output) :

    steps:
    - name: checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: 'Azure PowerShell script: Inline Script Version'
      continue-on-error: true
      uses: Azure/login@v1
      with:
        creds: "${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}"
    - name: 'Azure PowerShell script: Inline Script Version'
      continue-on-error: true
      uses: azure/powershell@v1
      with:
        inlineScript: |-
          Write-Host "Testing 1.2..3..."
          Get-ChildItem
        errorActionPreference: Stop
        failOnStandardError: false
        azPSVersion: "latest"

The exception output is:

Run azure/powershell@v1
Validating inputs
Module Az latest installed from hostedAgentFolder
Initializing Az Module
/usr/bin/pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command Test-Path (Join-Path /usr/share az_*)
/usr/bin/pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command try ***
            $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
            $WarningPreference = "SilentlyContinue"
            $output = @***
            $data = Get-Module -Name Az -ListAvailable | Sort-Object Version -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
            $output['AzVersion'] = $data.Version.ToString()
            $output['Success'] = "true"
        ***
        catch ***
            $output['Error'] = $_.exception.Message
        ***
        return ConvertTo-Json $output
Process terminated. The type initializer for 'Microsoft.PowerShell.Telemetry.ApplicationInsightsTelemetry' threw an exception.
   at System.Environment.FailFast(System.String, System.Exception)
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.UnmanagedPSEntry.Start(System.String[], Int32)
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.ManagedPSEntry.Main(System.String[])
System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'Microsoft.PowerShell.Telemetry.ApplicationInsightsTelemetry' threw an exception.
 ---> System.IO.IOException: The system cannot open the device or file specified. : 'CreateUniqueUserId'
   at System.Threading.Mutex.CreateMutexCore(Boolean initiallyOwned, String name, Boolean& createdNew)
   at System.Threading.Mutex..ctor(Boolean initiallyOwned, String name)
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.Telemetry.ApplicationInsightsTelemetry.GetUniqueIdentifier() in /PowerShell/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/Telemetry.cs:line 802
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.Telemetry.ApplicationInsightsTelemetry..cctor() in /PowerShell/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/Telemetry.cs:line 548
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.Telemetry.ApplicationInsightsTelemetry.SendPSCoreStartupTelemetry(String mode) in /PowerShell/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/Telemetry.cs:line 656
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost.Start(String bannerText, String helpText) in /PowerShell/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost/host/msh/ConsoleHost.cs:line 248
(node:1671) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: The process '/usr/bin/pwsh' failed with exit code null
    at ExecState._setResult (/home/runner/work/_actions/azure/powershell/v1/node_modules/@actions/exec/lib/toolrunner.js:561:25)
    at ExecState.CheckComplete (/home/runner/work/_actions/azure/powershell/v1/node_modules/@actions/exec/lib/toolrunner.js:544:18)
    at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (/home/runner/work/_actions/azure/powershell/v1/node_modules/@actions/exec/lib/toolrunner.js:444:27)
    at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:210:5)
    at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:1021:16)
    at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:283:5)
(node:1671) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 1)
(node:1671) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.
   at Microsoft.PowerShell.UnmanagedPSEntry.Start(String[] args, Int32 argc) in /PowerShell/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost/host/msh/ManagedEntrance.cs:line 99***
  "AzVersion": "6.1.0",
  "Success": "true"
***
Initializing Az Module Complete
Running Az PowerShell Script
/usr/bin/pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command /home/runner/work/_temp/f6af17b0-6b1e-4ebb-b04d-5a5cadbd0600.ps1
Testing 1.2..3...

    Directory: /home/runner/work/valet-testing/valet-testing

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-----          09/03/2021    01:07             37 README.md

This happens when azPSVersion is latest, 'latest', or "latest".

However it works if a specific azPSVersion is specified such as: 3.1.0 or 6.1.0.

That is, the following action.yml generates the appropriate output:

    steps:
    - name: checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: 'Azure PowerShell script: Inline Script Version'
      continue-on-error: true
      uses: Azure/login@v1
      with:
        creds: "${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}"
    - name: 'Azure PowerShell script: Inline Script Version'
      continue-on-error: true
      uses: azure/powershell@v1
      with:
        inlineScript: |-
          Write-Host "Testing 1.2..3..."
          Get-ChildItem
        errorActionPreference: Stop
        failOnStandardError: false
        azPSVersion: 6.1.0

In this case, the run succeeds without an exception:

Run azure/powershell@v1
Validating inputs
Module Az 6.1.0 installed from hostedAgentFolder
Initializing Az Module
Initializing Az Module Complete
Running Az PowerShell Script
/usr/bin/pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command Test-Path (Join-Path /usr/share az_*)
/usr/bin/pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive -Command /home/runner/work/_temp/84acae14-92ca-479b-8ac8-08753b234257.ps1
Testing 1.2..3...
True

    Directory: /home/runner/work/valet-testing/valet-testing

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-----          09/03/2021    01:29             37 README.md

Script execution Complete

On a Windows runner, the azPSVersion works with either the latest or a numeric specification.

[BALAGA-GAYATRI]

Hey @wlhutchison, if you want to use powershell action for running any Az-ps script you need to set enable-AzPSSession: true. So the login action part which is a prerequisite should look like

- name: 'Az CLI login'
   uses: azure/login@v1
   with:
       creds: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}
       enable-AzPSSession: true

This will definitely accept your azPSVersion: "latest" in the workflow.

[BALAGA-GAYATRI]

closing this issue. Feel free to reopen this if the issue persists.