Azure DevOps pipeline that uses AZ CLI start failing with the error "The System cannot find the file specified"

[mahindra-manoj]

Describe the bug

Azure DevOps pipelines/YAML templates that use Azure CLI task fails to deploy Bicep files with the error "The System cannot find the file specified." It stared happening after the pipeline started downloading the lates AZ CLI version. i.e., 2.71.0.

Related command

az deployment group validate

Errors

The system cannot find the file specified.

Issue script & Debug output

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\knack/cli.py", line 233, in invoke
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 666, in execute
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 734, in _run_jobs_serially
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 726, in _run_job
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 114, in handle_template_based_exception
knack.util.CLIError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified

ERROR: cli.azure.cli.core.azclierror: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified
ERROR: az_command_data_logger: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified
DEBUG: cli.knack.cli: Event: Cli.PostExecute [<function AzCliLogging.deinit_cmd_metadata_logging at 0x0000020175C27560>]
INFO: az_command_data_logger: exit code: 1

Expected behavior

Validation of the bicep file should start and either fail or succeed, if failed, the error(s) should be related to the bicep file being validated.

Environment Summary

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 109, in handle_template_based_exception
AttributeError: 'FileNotFoundError' object has no attribute 'inner_exception'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\knack/cli.py", line 233, in invoke
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 666, in execute
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 734, in _run_jobs_serially
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 726, in _run_job
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 114, in handle_template_based_exception
knack.util.CLIError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified

ERROR: cli.azure.cli.core.azclierror: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified
ERROR: az_command_data_logger: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified
DEBUG: cli.knack.cli: Event: Cli.PostExecute [<function AzCliLogging.deinit_cmd_metadata_logging at 0x0000020175C27560>]
INFO: az_command_data_logger: exit code: 1
INFO: cli.main: Command ran in 1.340 seconds (init: 0.406, invoke: 0.934)
INFO: telemetry.main: Begin splitting cli events and extra events, total events: 1
INFO: telemetry.client: Accumulated 0 events. Flush the clients.
INFO: telemetry.main: Finish splitting cli events and extra events, cli events: 1
INFO: telemetry.save: Save telemetry record of length 3966 in cache file under D:\a_work_temp.azclitask\telemetry\20250411051342446
INFO: telemetry.main: Begin creating telemetry upload process.
INFO: telemetry.process: Creating upload process: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\python.exe C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\Lib\site-packages\azure\cli\telemetry_init_.pyc D:\a_work_temp.azclitask D:\a_work_temp.azclitask\telemetry\20250411051342446"
INFO: telemetry.process: Return from creating process 2324
INFO: telemetry.main: Finish creating telemetry upload process.

##[error]Script failed with exit code: 1
C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /D /S /C ""C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\wbin\az.cmd" account clear"
Finishing: Validating Bicep file (Resource Group scoped)

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.

• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189
• bicep publish seems to be broken #26241
• Az bicep publish throws NotFound Exception Error on Microsoft hosted build-agent (Azure Pipelines) #26256
• Az bicep lint throws NotFound Exception Error on Microsoft hosted build-agent (Azure Pipelines) when using AzCli tasks #31226

---

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

Solution 1:

Run az config set bicep.use_binary_from_path=false before executing any deployment commands. This workaround addresses the issue by ensuring the Azure CLI does not attempt to use a non-existent Bicep binary from the path.

Reference:

• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189 (comment)
• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189 (comment)
• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189 (comment)

Solution 2:

Follow the command with 'az bicep install' and it worked for me. This ensures that the Bicep CLI is installed and available for use in the pipeline.

Reference:

• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189 (comment)
• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189 (comment)

Solution 3:

Set useGlobalConfig: true on the AzureCLI@2 task to ensure the global configuration is used, which can help in applying the workaround effectively.

Reference:

• AZ CLI 2.71.x breaks bicep deployments when using Azure Devops Agent #31189 (comment)

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[Lukejkw]

Getting the same issue in GitHub Actions too.

[romeelian]

It seems the problem happening only on Microsoft hosted agent. When I used the self-hosted agent with AZ CLI 2.71x installed, there is no problem.

[henrihietala]

I also got the error when I ran bicep restore in my pipline.

Here is a temporary workaround:

steps:
  - script: |
      az bicep uninstall
      az config set bicep.use_binary_from_path=false
      az bicep install
      az bicep restore

I had to put az bicep uninstall/install in the same step where I call bicep restore.

[vbasky]

Confirming that the fix @henrihietala suggested works for us too

[garrettlondon1]

What is going on here?