az fails to run when a venv w/some azure modules is activated on Azure Linux 3

[brsmyth]

Describe the bug

All az commands fail to run when in the following configuration:

• Azure Linux 3
• azure-cli installed via tdnf
• A venv is activated
• The venv has some azure packages installed, but not azure.cli

Related command

az --version

Errors

% az --version
azure-cli                         2.75.0

core                              2.75.0
telemetry                          1.1.0

Extensions:
azure-devops                       1.0.2
connectedk8s                      1.10.7
k8s-extension                      1.6.5

Dependencies:
msal                            1.33.0b1
azure-mgmt-resource               23.3.0

Python location '/usr/bin/python3.12'
Config directory '/home/acsa/.azure'
Extensions directory '/home/acsa/.azure/cliextensions'
Extensions system directory '/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure-cli-extensions'

Python (Linux) 3.12.9 (main, Jun 12 2025, 19:38:44) [GCC 13.2.0]

Legal docs and information: aka.ms/AzureCliLegal


Your CLI is up-to-date.
% . .venv/bin/activate
(redacted) % /usr/bin/az --version
/workspace/redacted/redacted/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/__init__.py:5: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
  import pkg_resources
/workspace/redacted/redacted/.venv/bin/python3.12: No module named azure.cli
(redacted) % ls .venv/lib64/python3.12/site-packages/azure | wc -l
11
(redacted) % ls .venv/lib64/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli
ls: cannot access '.venv/lib64/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli': No such file or directory
(redacted) % deactivate
% az --version
azure-cli                         2.75.0

core                              2.75.0
telemetry                          1.1.0

Extensions:
azure-devops                       1.0.2
connectedk8s                      1.10.7
k8s-extension                      1.6.5

Dependencies:
msal                            1.33.0b1
azure-mgmt-resource               23.3.0

Python location '/usr/bin/python3.12'
Config directory '/home/acsa/.azure'
Extensions directory '/home/acsa/.azure/cliextensions'
Extensions system directory '/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure-cli-extensions'

Python (Linux) 3.12.9 (main, Jun 12 2025, 19:38:44) [GCC 13.2.0]

Legal docs and information: aka.ms/AzureCliLegal


Your CLI is up-to-date.

Issue script & Debug output

az --debug --version
/workspace/redacted/redacted/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/__init__.py:5: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
  import pkg_resources
/workspace/redacted/redacted/.venv/bin/python3.12: No module named azure.cli

Expected behavior

I would expect the same behavior from az with the venv both activated and not.

Environment Summary

% az --version
azure-cli                         2.75.0

core                              2.75.0
telemetry                          1.1.0

Extensions:
azure-devops                       1.0.2
connectedk8s                      1.10.7
k8s-extension                      1.6.5

Dependencies:
msal                            1.33.0b1
azure-mgmt-resource               23.3.0

Python location '/usr/bin/python3.12'
Config directory '/home/acsa/.azure'
Extensions directory '/home/acsa/.azure/cliextensions'
Extensions system directory '/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure-cli-extensions'

Python (Linux) 3.12.9 (main, Jun 12 2025, 19:38:44) [GCC 13.2.0]

Legal docs and information: aka.ms/AzureCliLegal


Your CLI is up-to-date.

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 stops working if python project called "azure" in cwd #16463
• No module named azure in pyvenv #3989

---

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

Solution 1:

In the azure-cli package from the Microsoft repository, we use the -I option of Python to invoke azure.cli. This option will not prepend the current directory to sys.path, and it should fix this issue.

Reference:

• az-cli stops working if python project called "azure" in cwd #16463 (comment)

Solution 2:

Edit the az script to ensure it uses the correct Python executable. For example, replace the Python invocation in the script with the specific Python executable from the virtual environment:

#!/bin/bash

SOURCE="${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"
while [ -h "$SOURCE" ]; do # resolve $SOURCE until the file is no longer a symlink
  DIR="$( cd -P "$( dirname "$SOURCE" )" && pwd )"
  SOURCE="$(readlink "$SOURCE")"
  [[ $SOURCE != /* ]] && SOURCE="$DIR/$SOURCE" # if $SOURCE was a relative symlink, we need to resolve it relative to the path where the symlink file was located
done
DIR="$( cd -P "$( dirname "$SOURCE" )" && pwd )"

export PYTHONPATH="${DIR}/src:${PYTHONPATH}"

python3 -m azure.cli "$@"

Replace python3 with the correct Python executable from the virtual environment.

Reference:

• No module named azure in pyvenv #3989 (comment)

Solution 3:

Using $DIR/python in the az script works to ensure the correct Python executable is used:

$ sed -i -e 's|python |$DIR/python |' /opt/azure-env/bin/az
$ /opt/azure-env/bin/az --version | head -n 1
azure-cli (2.0.10)

Reference:

• No module named azure in pyvenv #3989 (comment)

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[brsmyth]

I have a fix here: df126a9

I can PR it if that's helpful.

[bebound]

I can't repro.
Since the PYTHONPATH prepend azure-cli's lib at the beginning of sys.path, I can still load az.
What's the output of PYTHONPATH="/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages" python3 -sm site in the venv?

[brsmyth]

Thanks for trying to repro! Here's the output:

(ALSOREDACTED) acsa [ /workspace/REDACTED ]$ az
/workspace/REDACTED/ALSOREDACTED/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/__init__.py:5: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
  import pkg_resources
/workspace/REDACTED/ALSOREDACTED/.venv/bin/python3.12: No module named azure.cli
(ALSOREDACTED) acsa [ /workspace/REDACTED ]$ PYTHONPATH="/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages" python3 -sm site
sys.path = [
    '/workspace/REDACTED',
    '/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages',
    '/usr/lib/python312.zip',
    '/usr/lib/python3.12',
    '/usr/lib/python3.12/lib-dynload',
    '/workspace/REDACTED/ALSOREDACTED/.venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages',
    '/workspace/REDACTED/ALSOREDACTED',
]
USER_BASE: '/home/acsa/.local' (exists)
USER_SITE: '/home/acsa/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages' (doesn't exist)
ENABLE_USER_SITE: False

where REDACTED is the repo name and ALSOREDACTED is the Python package name.

[bebound]

As expected, /lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages appears before .venv/lib/.
Which azure-xxx packages are installed in the venv?

[brsmyth]

These are what we specify in pyproject.toml:

azure-identity>=1.3.1,<2
azure-storage-blob>=12.13.1,<12.23.0
azure-eventhub>=5.10.1,<6
azure-mgmt-containerservice>=20.7.0,<21
azure-mgmt-storage>=21.0.0,<22
azure-devops==7.1.0b3
azure-mgmt-compute>=30.1.0,<31
azure-data-tables>=12.4.4,<13
azure-mgmt-kubernetesconfiguration>=3.1.0,<4
azure-mgmt-hybridkubernetes>=1.1.0,<2
azure-mgmt-resource>=23.0.1,<24

And here's the list including deps from uv.lock:

azure-common
azure-core
azure-data-tables
azure-devops
azure-eventhub
azure-identity
azure-mgmt-compute
azure-mgmt-containerservice
azure-mgmt-core
azure-mgmt-hybridkubernetes
azure-mgmt-kubernetesconfiguration
azure-mgmt-resource
azure-mgmt-storage
azure-storage-blob