After upgrade to 2.77 az errors - DLL load failed while importing win32file: specified module could not be found

[eliassal]

Describe the bug

I upgraded my az cli yesterday to 2.77, since ever, ahtever command I run I get

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
File "", line 88, in _run_code
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/main.py", line 13, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/telemetry.py", line 19, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/telemetry/init.py", line 9, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/init.py", line 4, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/portalocker.py", line 11, in
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found.

whereas earlier version I think it was 2.55 was working without any issues

Related command

az account show
or even az upgrade
or az

Errors

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
File "", line 88, in _run_code
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/main.py", line 13, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/telemetry.py", line 19, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/telemetry/init.py", line 9, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/init.py", line 4, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/portalocker.py", line 11, in
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found.

Issue script & Debug output

az account show --debug
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
File "", line 88, in _run_code
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/main.py", line 13, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/telemetry.py", line 19, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/telemetry/init.py", line 9, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/init.py", line 4, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/portalocker.py", line 11, in
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found.

Expected behavior

AZ cli works as before

Environment Summary

az --version
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
File "", line 88, in _run_code
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/main.py", line 13, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/core/telemetry.py", line 19, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\azure/cli/telemetry/init.py", line 9, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/init.py", line 4, in
File "D:\a_work\1\s\build_scripts\windows\artifacts\cli\Lib\site-packages\portalocker/portalocker.py", line 11, in
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found.

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.

• 2.77.0 failes #32067
• Azure CLI 2.77.0 is broken: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found. #32045
• Upgrade to 2.77.0 from 2.76.0 broke installation leaving it in an unusable state #32064
• azure-cli-2.77.0 -issue with any command #32063
• Azure CLI stopped working after update: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified procedure could not be found. #25144

---

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

Solution 1:

Perform a clean installation of Azure CLI:

1. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program, uninstall Microsoft Azure CLI.
2. Delete C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2 (for x64) or C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2 (for x86).
3. Reinstall Azure CLI from scratch using the MSI installer.

This resolves the issue by ensuring no conflicting files remain from previous installations.

Reference:

• Azure CLI 2.77.0 is broken: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found. #32045 (comment)
• Azure CLI 2.77.0 is broken: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found. #32045 (comment)
• Azure CLI stopped working after update: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified procedure could not be found. #25144 (comment)

Solution 2:

Repair the Azure CLI installation by reinstalling the required Python package:

Open an administrator command prompt and run:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\python.exe" -m pip install pywin32==311 --force-reinstall

This fixes the issue by repairing the PyWin32 dependency.

Reference:

• Azure CLI 2.77.0 is broken: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found. #32045 (comment)
• Upgrade to 2.77.0 from 2.76.0 broke installation leaving it in an unusable state #32064 (comment)

Solution 3:

Uninstall and reinstall Azure CLI using winget:

1. Uninstall Azure CLI:

winget uninstall --id Microsoft.AzureCLI -e

2. Delete the contents of C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2 if not automatically removed.
3. Reinstall Azure CLI:

winget install --id Microsoft.AzureCLI -e -s winget

This ensures a clean installation and resolves the issue.

Reference:

• Azure CLI 2.77.0 is broken: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found. #32045 (comment)
• Azure CLI 2.77.0 is broken: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing win32file: The specified module could not be found. #32045 (comment)

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[eliassal]

I removed az cli from settings, reinstalled and it is working fine now