Azure Automation runbook types

Limitations

• Runbooks can't use parallel processing to execute multiple actions in parallel.
• Runbooks can't use checkpoints to resume runbook if there's an error.
• You can include only PowerShell, PowerShell Workflow runbooks, and graphical runbooks as child runbooks by using the Start-AzAutomationRunbook cmdlet, which creates a new job.
• Runbooks can't use the PowerShell #Requires statement, it isn't supported in Azure sandbox or on Hybrid Runbook Workers and might cause the job to fail.
• Azure runbook doesn't support Start-Job with -credential.
• Azure doesn't support all PowerShell input parameters. Learn more.

Known issues

• Runbooks taking dependency on internal file paths such as C:\modules might fail due to changes in service backend infrastructure. Change runbook code to ensure there are no dependencies on internal file paths and use Get-ChildItem to get the required module information.

  Sample script

  
  # Get information about module "Microsoft.Graph.Authentication"
  $ModuleName = "Microsoft.Graph.Authentication"
  
  $NewPath = "C:\usr\src\PSModules\$ModuleName"
  $OldPath = "C:\Modules\User\$ModuleName"
  
  if (Test-Path -Path $NewPath -PathType Container) {
      Get-ChildItem -Path $NewPath
  } elseif (Test-Path -Path $OldPath -PathType Container) {
      Get-ChildItem -Path $OldPath
  } else {
      Write-Output "Module $ModuleName not present."
  }
  # Getting the path to the Temp folder, if needed.
  $tmp = $env:TEMP
  
  

• Get-AzStorageAccount cmdlet might fail with an error: The Get-AzStorageAccount command was found in the module Az.Storage, but the module could not be loaded.

• PowerShell runbooks can't retrieve an unencrypted variable asset with a null value.

• PowerShell runbooks can't retrieve a variable asset with *~* in the name.

• A Get-Process operation in a loop in a PowerShell runbook can crash after about 80 iterations.

• A PowerShell runbook can fail if it tries to write a large amount of data to the output stream at once. You can typically work around this issue by having the runbook output just the information needed to work with large objects. For example, instead of using Get-Process with no limitations, you can have the cmdlet output just the required parameters as in Get-Process | Select ProcessName, CPU.

• When you use ExchangeOnlineManagement module version: 3.0.0 or higher, you may experience errors. To resolve the issue, ensure that you explicitly upload PowerShellGet and PackageManagement modules as well.

• When you utilize the�New-AzAutomationVariable cmdlet within Az.Automation Module to upload a variable of type object, the operation doesn't function as expected.

  Workaround: Convert the object to a JSON string using the�ConvertTo-Json�cmdlet and then upload the variable with the JSON string as its value. This workaround ensures proper handling of the variable within the Azure Automation environment as a JSON string.

  Example�- Create a PowerShell object that has stored information around Azure VMs

    # Retrieve Azure virtual machines with status information for the 'chinanorth' region 
    $AzVM = Get-AzVM -Status | Where-Object {$_.Location -eq "chinanorth"} 
  
    $VMstopatch = @($AzVM).Id 
    # Create an Azure Automation variable (This cmdlet will not fail, but the variable may not work as intended when used in the runbook.) 
    New-AzAutomationVariable -ResourceGroupName "mrg" -AutomationAccountName "mAutomationAccount2" -Name "complex1" -Encrypted $false -Value $VMstopatch 
  
    # Convert the object to a JSON string 
    $jsonString = $VMstopatch | ConvertTo-Json 
  
    # Create an Azure Automation variable with a JSON string value (works effectively within the automation runbook) 
    New-AzAutomationVariable -ResourceGroupName "mrg" -AutomationAccountName "mAutomationAccount2" -Name "complex1" -Encrypted $false -Value $jsonString 
  

Limitations

• PowerShell 7.1 is no longer supported by parent product PowerShell. We recommend you to create new runbooks in PowerShell 7.2 for a long term support and update the outdated runbooks.
• The Azure Automation internal PowerShell cmdlets aren't supported on a Linux Hybrid Runbook Worker. You must import the automationassets module at the beginning of your PowerShell runbook to access the Automation account shared resources (assets) functions.
• For the PowerShell 7 runtime version, the module activities aren't extracted for the imported modules.
• PSCredential runbook parameter type isn't supported in PowerShell 7 runtime version.
• PowerShell 7.x doesn't support workflows. For more information, see PowerShell Workflow for more details.
• PowerShell 7.x currently doesn't support signed runbooks.
• Source control integration doesn't support PowerShell 7.1 (preview) Also, PowerShell 7.1 (preview) runbooks in source control gets created in Automation account as Runtime 5.1.
• PowerShell 7.1 module management isn't supported through Get-AzAutomationModule cmdlets.
• Runbook fails with no log trace if the input value contains the character '.
• Azure runbook doesn't support Start-Job with -credential.
• Azure doesn't support all PowerShell input parameters. Learn more.

Known issues

• Runbooks taking dependency on internal file paths such as C:\modules might fail due to changes in service backend infrastructure. Change runbook code to ensure there are no dependencies on internal file paths and use Get-ChildItem to get the required module information.

  Sample script

  
  # Get information about module "Microsoft.Graph.Authentication"
  $ModuleName = "Microsoft.Graph.Authentication"
  
  $NewPath = "C:\usr\src\PSModules\$ModuleName"
  $OldPath = "C:\Modules\User\$ModuleName"
  
  if (Test-Path -Path $NewPath -PathType Container) {
      Get-ChildItem -Path $NewPath
  } elseif (Test-Path -Path $OldPath -PathType Container) {
      Get-ChildItem -Path $OldPath
  } else {
      Write-Output "Module $ModuleName not present."
  }
  # Getting the path to the Temp folder, if needed.
  $tmp = $env:TEMP
  
  

• Get-AzStorageAccount cmdlet might fail with an error: The Get-AzStorageAccount command was found in the module Az.Storage, but the module could not be loaded.

• Executing child scripts using .\child-runbook.ps1 isn't supported in this preview. Workaround: Use Start-AutomationRunbook (internal cmdlet) or Start-AzAutomationRunbook (from Az.Automation module) to start another runbook from parent runbook.

• Runbook properties defining logging preference isn't supported in PowerShell 7 runtime. Workaround: Explicitly set the preference at the start of the runbook as following -

      $VerbosePreference = "Continue"
  
      $ProgressPreference = "Continue"
  

• Avoid importing Az.Accounts module to version 2.4.0 version for PowerShell 7 runtime as there can be an unexpected behavior using this version in Azure Automation.

• You might encounter formatting problems with error output streams for the job running in PowerShell 7 runtime.

• When you import a PowerShell 7.1 module that's dependent on other modules, you may find that the import button is gray even when PowerShell 7.1 version of the dependent module is installed. For example, Az PowerShell module.Compute version 4.20.0, has a dependency on Az.Accounts being >= 2.6.0. This issue occurs when an equivalent dependent module in PowerShell 5.1 doesn't meet the version requirements. For example, 5.1 version of Az.Accounts were < 2.6.0.

• When you start PowerShell 7 runbook using the webhook, it auto-converts the webhook input parameter to an invalid JSON.

• We recommend that you use ExchangeOnlineManagement module version: 3.0.0 or lower because version: 3.0.0 or higher may lead to job failures.

• When you utilize the�New-AzAutomationVariable� cmdlet within Az.Automation Module to upload a variable of type object, the operation doesn't function as expected.

  Workaround: Convert the object to a JSON string using the�ConvertTo-Json�cmdlet and then upload the variable with the JSON string as its value. This workaround ensures proper handling of the variable within the Azure Automation environment as a JSON string.

  Example�- Create a PowerShell object that has stored information around Azure VMs

    # Retrieve Azure virtual machines with status information for the 'chinanorth' region 
    $AzVM = Get-AzVM -Status | Where-Object {$_.Location -eq "chinanorth"} 
  
    $VMstopatch = @($AzVM).Id 
    # Create an Azure Automation variable (This cmdlet will not fail, but the variable may not work as intended when used in the runbook.) 
    New-AzAutomationVariable -ResourceGroupName "mrg" -AutomationAccountName "mAutomationAccount2" -Name "complex1" -Encrypted $false -Value $VMstopatch 
  
    # Convert the object to a JSON string 
    $jsonString = $VMstopatch | ConvertTo-Json 
  
    # Create an Azure Automation variable with a JSON string value (works effectively within the automation runbook) 
    New-AzAutomationVariable -ResourceGroupName "mrg" -AutomationAccountName "mAutomationAccount2" -Name "complex1" -Encrypted $false -Value $jsonString 
  

• You must be familiar with Python scripting.
• Source control integration isn't supported.
• For Python 3.8 modules, use wheel files targeting cp38-amd64.
• To use third-party libraries, you must import the packages into the Automation account.
• Using Start-AutomationRunbook�cmdlet in PowerShell/PowerShell Workflow�to start a Python 3.8 runbook doesn't work. You can use�Start-AzAutomationRunbook cmdlet from Az.Automation module�or�Start-AzureRmAutomationRunbook cmdlet from AzureRm.Automation�module to work around this limitation.�
• Azure Automation doesn't support�sys.stderr.
• The Python automationassets package isn't available on pypi.org, so it's not available for import onto a Windows machine.

• Python 2.7 is no longer supported by parent product Python. We recommend you to create new runbooks in the supported versions and update the outdated runbooks.
• You must be familiar with Python scripting.
• For Python 2.7.12 modules, use wheel files cp27-amd6.
• To use third-party libraries, you must import the packages into the Automation account.
• Azure Automation doesn't support�sys.stderr.
• The Python automationassets package isn't available on pypi.org, so it's not available for import onto a Windows machine.