Azure CLI fails after updating from 2.67.0 to 2.77.0 on Azure DevOps ubuntu-latest

[wterpstra]

Describe the bug

When running az upgrade --yes from Azure CLI v2.67.0 on the Azure DevOps agent using ubuntu-latest image it fails to upgrade to the 2.77.0 version

Related command

az upgrade --yes

Errors

WARNING: This command is in preview and under development. Reference and support levels: https://aka.ms/CLI_refstatus
WARNING: Your current Azure CLI version is 2.76.0. It will be updated to 2.77.0.
Get:1 file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt Mirrorlist [144 B]
Hit:2 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble InRelease
(Reading database ... 30%
(Reading database ... 35%
(Reading database ... 40%
(Reading database ... 45%
(Reading database ... 50%
(Reading database ... 55%
(Reading database ... 60%
(Reading database ... 65%
(Reading database ... 70%
(Reading database ... 75%
(Reading database ... 80%
(Reading database ... 85%
(Reading database ... 90%
(Reading database ... 95%
(Reading database ... 100%
(Reading database ... 219877 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../azure-cli_2.77.0-1~noble_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking azure-cli (2.77.0-1~noble) over (2.76.0-1~noble) ...
Setting up azure-cli (2.77.0-1~noble) ...

Running kernel seems to be up-to-date.

Restarting services...

Service restarts being deferred:
 systemctl restart hosted-compute-agent.service

No containers need to be restarted.

No user sessions are running outdated binaries.

No VM guests are running outdated hypervisor (qemu) binaries on this host.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 233, in invoke
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 666, in execute
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 734, in _run_jobs_serially
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 703, in _run_job
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 336, in __call__
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/command_operation.py", line 120, in handler
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/command_modules/util/custom.py", line 160, in upgrade_version
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py", line 130, in reload
ModuleNotFoundError: spec not found for the module 'subprocess'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
  File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/__main__.py", line 41, in <module>
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/__main__.py", line 27, in cli_main
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 245, in invoke
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/__init__.py", line 129, in exception_handler
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/util.py", line 58, in handle_exception
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath'

Issue script & Debug output

DEBUG: cli.knack.cli: Command arguments: ['upgrade', '--yes', '--debug']
DEBUG: cli.knack.cli: __init__ debug log:
Cannot enable color.
DEBUG: cli.knack.cli: Event: Cli.PreExecute []
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'deviceid'

INFO: cli.azure.cli.core.decorators: Suppress exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 233, in invoke
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 666, in execute
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 734, in _run_jobs_serially
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 703, in _run_job
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 336, in __call__
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/command_operation.py", line 120, in handler
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/command_modules/util/custom.py", line 160, in upgrade_version
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py", line 130, in reload
ModuleNotFoundError: spec not found for the module 'subprocess'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/__main__.py", line 41, in <module>
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/__main__.py", line 27, in cli_main
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 245, in invoke
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/__init__.py", line 129, in exception_handler
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/util.py", line 58, in handle_exception
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/decorators.py", line 79, in _wrapped_func
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/telemetry.py", line 330, in conclude
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/telemetry/__init__.py", line 49, in save
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'azure.cli.telemetry.components'

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 233, in invoke
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 666, in execute
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 734, in _run_jobs_serially
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 703, in _run_job
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/__init__.py", line 336, in __call__
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/command_operation.py", line 120, in handler
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/command_modules/util/custom.py", line 160, in upgrade_version
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/importlib/__init__.py", line 130, in reload
ModuleNotFoundError: spec not found for the module 'subprocess'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
  File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/__main__.py", line 41, in <module>
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/__main__.py", line 27, in cli_main
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 245, in invoke
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/__init__.py", line 129, in exception_handler
  File "/opt/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/util.py", line 58, in handle_exception
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath'

Expected behavior

It should update to 2.77.0 successfully.

Environment Summary

azure-cli 2.76.0 *

core 2.76.0 *
telemetry 1.1.0

Extensions:
azure-devops 1.0.2

Dependencies:
msal 1.33.0b1
azure-mgmt-resource 23.3.0

Python location '/opt/az/bin/python3'
Config directory '/home/vsts/.azure'
Extensions directory '/opt/az/azcliextensions'

Python (Linux) 3.12.10 (main, Jul 29 2025, 09:28:48) [GCC 13.3.0]

Additional context

No response

[yonzhan]

Thank you for opening this issue, we will look into it.

[github-actions]

Here are some similar issues that might help you. Please check if they can solve your problem.

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307
• az upgrade error: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'name'/ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath' #22214

---

Possible solution (Extracted from existing issue, might be incorrect; please verify carefully)

Solution 1:

Use apt to upgrade azure-cli instead of relying on az upgrade. It seems az fails to upgrade itself while running.

Reference:

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307 (comment)

Solution 2:

The design of az upgrade is flawed. It calls an external command to upgrade itself without exiting first. This process is somewhat expected to fail. On Linux, consider using apt-get install --only-upgrade -y azure-cli to upgrade the CLI.

Reference:

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307 (comment)

Solution 3:

Currently running az upgrade inside Azure DevOps is not officially supported. Please see #18363.

Reference:

• az upgrade error: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'name'/ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath' #22214 (comment)

Powered by issue-sentinel

[github-actions]

Here are some similar issues that might help you. Please check if they can solve your problem.

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307
• az upgrade error: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'name'/ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'jmespath' #22214

---

Possible solution (Extracted from existing issue, might be incorrect; please verify carefully)

Solution 1:

How you tried to use apt to upgrade azure-cli?

It seems az fails to upgrade itself while running.

Reference:

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307 (comment)

Solution 2:

apt upgrade does appear to work. previously version of az upgrade have worked as well.

Reference:

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307 (comment)

Solution 3:

The design of az upgrade is flawed. It calls an external command to upgrade itself without exiting first. This process is somewhat expected to fail. That's why pip's upgrade command is python -m pip install --upgrade pip.

azure-cli/src/azure-cli/azure/cli/command_modules/util/custom.py

Line 100 in be320b1

exit_code = subprocess.call(az_update_cmd)

On windows, I've changed it to non-blocking to fix this: #26464
Now the same issue happens on Linux.

Ref: https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/installation/

Reference:

• Ubuntu 2.66.0-1~focal fails to upgrade, ModuleNotFoundError #30307 (comment)

Powered by issue-sentinel

[jurekkow]

I experienced the same issue when upgrading from 2.76 to 2.77. Downgrading back to 2.76 temporarily solves the issue on my end.