# Symptoms

Having the right version of Az PS Modules is paramount to a successful Azure Local deployment, in some cases misaligned versions can lead to seemingly conflicting errors between validators.

One such error is from ClusterWitness Validation:

Type 'ValidateClusterWitness' of Role 'EnvironmentValidator' raised an exception:

{
    "ExceptionType":  "text",
    "ErrorMessage":  "This module requires Az.Accounts version 5.3.0. An earlier version of Az.Accounts is imported in the current PowerShell session. Please open a new session before importing this module. This error could indicate that multiple incompatible versions of the Azure PowerShell cmdlets are installed on your system. Please see https://aka.ms/azps-version-error for troubleshooting information.",
    "ExceptionStackTrace":  "at \u003cScriptBlock\u003e, \u003cNo file\u003e: line 8"
}

This is misleading, because the Az.Storage module is later than it should be and thus complaining that Az.Accounts need to be updated. When in fact a dependency module needs to be downgraded.

Issue Validation

To confirm the scenario that you are encountering is the issue documented in this article, please run this script on the first node of the cluster:

# These are the versions required up to Azure Local 2511
$RequiredModules = @{
    'Az.StackHCI' = '2.5.0'
    'Az.Accounts' = '4.0.2'
    'Az.Resources' = '7.8.0'
    'Az.Storage' = '8.1.0'
}

# Check
foreach ($module in $RequiredModules.GetEnumerator()) {
    $RequiredModuleName = $module.Key
    $RequiredModuleVersion = $module.Value
    Write-Host "---------Checking $RequiredModuleName is exactly version $RequiredModuleVersion ------------"
    
    # Get all versions of the required module
    $installedModules = @()
    $installedModules = @(Get-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -ListAvailable)

    # Check if the required version is installed and it is the only version installed
    # if it is, output success in green
    # if not output the current versions and their Installed locations in red
    if ($installedModules.Count -eq 1 -and $installedModules[0].Version.ToString() -eq $RequiredModuleVersion) {
        Write-Host "$RequiredModuleName version $RequiredModuleVersion is correctly installed." -ForegroundColor Green
    }
    else {
        Write-Host "$RequiredModuleName version $RequiredModuleVersion is NOT correctly installed. Current installed versions:" -ForegroundColor Red
        foreach ($mod in $installedModules) {
            Write-Host "Version: $($mod.Version) InstalledLocation: $($mod.InstalledLocation)" -ForegroundColor Red
        }
    }
    Write-Host "---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- `n"
}

It will indicate which modules should be in place and which should not.

Mitigation Details

Clear the PowerShell environment, leaving only the required modules. For each module that failed in the above output, run the following:

Az.StackHCI

$RequiredModuleName = 'Az.StackHCI'
$RequiredModuleVersion = '2.5.0'
# Get all versions of the required module, this should look the same as above
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

#Uninstall all but the required version
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions | Where-Object { $_.Version -ne $RequiredModuleVersion } | ForEach-Object { 
    Uninstall-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $_.Version
}

# if the required version was not present in the first command's output, install it.
Install-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $RequiredModuleVersion -Force -Repository PSGallery -AllowClobber

# Verify only the required version is installed
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

Az.Accounts

$RequiredModuleName = 'Az.Accounts'
$RequiredModuleVersion = '4.0.2'
# Get all versions of the required module, this should look the same as above
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

#Uninstall all but the required version
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions | Where-Object { $_.Version -ne $RequiredModuleVersion } | ForEach-Object { 
    Uninstall-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $_.Version
}

# if the required version was not present in the first command's output, install it.
Install-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $RequiredModuleVersion -Force -Repository PSGallery -AllowClobber

# Verify only the required version is installed
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

Az.Resources

$RequiredModuleName = 'Az.Resources'
$RequiredModuleVersion = '7.8.0'
# Get all versions of the required module, this should look the same as above
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

#Uninstall all but the required version
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions | Where-Object { $_.Version -ne $RequiredModuleVersion } | ForEach-Object { 
    Uninstall-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $_.Version
}

# if the required version was not present in the first command's output, install it.
Install-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $RequiredModuleVersion -Force -Repository PSGallery -AllowClobber

# Verify only the required version is installed
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

Az.Storage

$RequiredModuleName = 'Az.Storage'
$RequiredModuleVersion = '8.1.0'
# Get all versions of the required module, this should look the same as above
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

#Uninstall all but the required version
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions | Where-Object { $_.Version -ne $RequiredModuleVersion } | ForEach-Object { 
    Uninstall-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $_.Version
}

# if the required version was not present in the first command's output, install it.
Install-Module -Name $RequiredModuleName -RequiredVersion $RequiredModuleVersion -Force -Repository PSGallery -AllowClobber

# Verify only the required version is installed
Get-InstalledModule -Name $RequiredModuleName -AllVersions

Verify the setting

Verify the modules are correct with the first script.

Cause

An out of band installation of a later module has pushed up the version of a dependency module.

Next action

Rerun validation from the portal.