We know how important Azure Automation workflows and appreciate the critical role played by automation runbooks. Some customers have experienced issues with the release of 2.26.1 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, particularly when running PowerShell 7.2 runbooks in Azure Automation. The core challenge is a conflict around .NET 6 where fixing Runbooks would break Exchange Online and vice versa.

We are excited to share that an upcoming Azure Runbooks update to support 7.4 will resolve the issue. Here is what you need to know.

Microsoft Graph PowerShell and Azure Runbooks compatibility

Customers running Microsoft Graph PowerShell in Azure Runbooks may have encountered failures due to a compatibility issue stemming from a System.Text.Json dependency in the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. This dependency is critical for supporting the Microsoft Exchange Online management PowerShell module but unfortunately causes compatibility issues with Azure Runbooks, particularly when running PowerShell 7.2.

This situation presents a challenge:

• Removing the dependency would restore functionality for Azure Runbooks but break Exchange Online compatibility.
• Keeping the dependency ensures Exchange Online works but prevents certain Microsoft Graph PowerShell versions from working in Runbooks.

Understanding the workarounds

To help customers navigate this issue, we recommend Azure Automation Runbooks should use Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK 2.25, which works across both PowerShell versions until the fix is fully deployed. No action is required for customers running Azure Automation runbooks based on PowerShell 5.1 as all versions of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK support PowerShell 5.1. versions.

What’s changing? A Permanent fix is on the way

Azure Runbooks currently supports PowerShell 7.2. However, there’s good news on the horizon:

• Azure Automation currently supports PowerShell 7.4 runbooks (in preview) through the Runtime environment experience. No major changes are expected during GA and you can make best use of the existing experience.
• PowerShell 7.4 runs on .NET 8, which is fully compatible with the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK.
• The update to support PowerShell 7.4 will roll out alongside older PowerShell versions, ensuring broader support.

What this means for you

• If you are currently facing issues in Azure Automation Runbooks, we recommend using Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK 2.25 as a temporary workaround in Azure Runbooks.
• Once support for PowerShell 7.4 is available for Azure Automation runbooks, you will be able to use the latest versions of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK without issues.

We remain deeply committed to delivering high-quality releases of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK that meet our customers’ expectations for reliability, compatibility, and performance. Our team is actively collaborating with partner teams across Microsoft to align key dependencies and minimize service disruptions. The next SDK release, expected later this month, will deliver enhanced stability and address many of the issues reported for versions 2.26 and 2.26.1. We encourage customers to review our open bug list on GitHub and report problems by creating a new issue there.

We appreciate your patience and are committed to improving the stability and functionality of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK across different environments. If you have any questions or need further guidance, feel free to reach out on our GitHub repository.