Fix: az vm run-command Not Working in Azure CLI

If you recently tried to run an Azure CLI command and saw this message:

“This is a sample script with parameters”

you’re not alone. Many users began seeing this after the Azure CLI version 2.78.0 update, which broke the normal behavior of the az vm run-command feature.

Don’t worry — this isn’t your fault or an Azure outage. It’s a bug in the Azure CLI itself, and there are simple ways to fix it.

Fix: az vm run-command Not Working in Azure CLI

Why the az vm run-command Stopped Working

Normally, when you use this command:

az vm run-command invoke \
  --resource-group "mygroup" \
  --name "myvm" \
  --command-id RunPowerShellScript \
  --scripts "Write-Host hello"

You should see your script’s output (for example, “hello”).

But after updating to Azure CLI 2.78.0, the same command instead shows:

"This is a sample script with parameters"

That’s the default test message the system uses when your script doesn’t actually get passed to the VM agent — meaning the CLI never sent your script at all.

Quick Fix: Downgrade Azure CLI to Version 2.77.0

The easiest and most reliable fix is to roll back to the last working version.

For Windows (via Winget)

az version
winget uninstall -e --id Microsoft.AzureCLI
winget install -e --id Microsoft.AzureCLI --version 2.77.0
az version

For macOS (via Homebrew)

brew uninstall azure-cli
brew install [email protected]
brew link --overwrite [email protected]

For Linux (APT)

sudo apt remove azure-cli -y
sudo apt install ./azure-cli_2.77.0-1~buster_amd64.deb

For Docker (no local install needed)

docker run --rm -it mcr.microsoft.com/azure-cli:2.77.0
az login

After the downgrade, re-run your original command — it will start working again.

Alternative Fix: Use Managed Run Command

If you’d rather not downgrade, Azure offers a Managed Run Command feature that works independently of the broken CLI path.

Run this instead:

az vm run-command create \
  --resource-group "<rg>" \
  --vm-name "<vm>" \
  --name "MyRunCommand" \
  --script "Write-Host hello from Managed Run Command"

This executes your script successfully without relying on the broken “invoke” method.

Option 3: Use PowerShell Instead

If you already use PowerShell for Azure, the following command works perfectly:

Install-Module Az.Compute -Scope CurrentUser
Invoke-AzVMRunCommand `
  -ResourceGroupName "<rg>" `
  -Name "<vm>" `
  -CommandId 'RunPowerShellScript' `
  -ScriptString 'Write-Host hello'

This PowerShell command sends your script directly to the VM, unaffected by the CLI bug.

Why This Happens

Azure CLI version 2.78.0 introduced a regression that fails to forward the --scripts content to the Azure VM agent.
Instead, the agent executes its built-in test script — which prints “This is a sample script with parameters.”

Until Microsoft releases a fix (likely in 2.79.0), version 2.77.0 remains the stable option.

How to Confirm It’s Fixed

Run this test again after applying any of the fixes:

az vm run-command invoke \
  -g "<rg>" -n "<vm>" \
  --command-id RunPowerShellScript \
  --scripts "Write-Host FDAYTALK_OK"

If you see FDAYTALK_OK in the output, your issue is resolved.

Quick Tips for AZ VM run-command not working

Stay on Azure CLI 2.77.0 until the next version patch is confirmed stable.
For CI/CD pipelines, use the Docker image pinned to version 2.77.0 to prevent auto-updates.
If you rely heavily on automation, consider switching to PowerShell or Managed Run Command temporarily.

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