Linux: Import of Az.Accounts fails with obscure error message when $HOME is not set

Description

When importing Az.Accounts on Linux, the startup checks assume that $HOME is set to a non-empty string. Some CI servers (TeamCity at least) do not set this by default.

The error is thrown in

azure-powershell/src/Accounts/Accounts/StartupScripts/AzError.ps1

Line 32 in cd91bc2

$pathToInstallationChecks = Join-Path (Join-Path $HOME ".Azure") "AzInstallationChecks.json"

Maybe it would be better to check whether $HOME is set before calling Join-Path there, and either skip the check or produce a meaningful error message.

Issue script & Debug output

Set-Variable -Name Home -Value "" -Force
Import-Module Az.Accounts

Join-Path: {REDACTED}/.local/share/powershell/Modules/Az.Accounts/2.19.0/StartupScripts/AzError.ps1:32
Line |
  32 |      $pathToInstallationChecks = Join-Path (Join-Path $HOME ".Azure")  …
     |                                                       ~~~~~
     | Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is an empty string.
InvalidOperation: {REDACTED}/.local/share/powershell/Modules/Az.Accounts/2.19.0/StartupScripts/AzError.ps1:34
Line |
  34 |      if (!(Test-Path $pathToInstallationChecks -ErrorAction Ignore))
     |                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     | The variable '$pathToInstallationChecks' cannot be retrieved because it has not been
     | set.

Environment data

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.4.1
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.4.1
OS                             Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
Platform                       Unix
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Module versions

ModuleType Version    PreRelease Name                                ExportedCommands
---------- -------    ---------- ----                                ----------------
Script     2.19.0                Az.Accounts                         {Add-AzEnvironment, Clear-AzConfig, Clear-AzContext, Clear-AzDefault…}

Error output

No response

[isra-fel]

Makes sense. We'll evaluate the impact of removing the dependency to $home but at least we can fail gracefully. Thanks for reporting!