Start-AzAutomationRunbook, - error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."

Dmitrii Kalmanovich 0

Hi all. Could anybody give me a clue, what should I do for the following issue.. Need to invoke asynchronous execution of Azure Runbook from parent runbook. Code in the parent runbook looks like this:

$DebugPreference = "Continue"
$AutomationAccountName = "aaaa"
$RunbookName = "test_child_rb"
$ResourceGroupName = "rgrgrg"

 $job = Start-AzAutomationRunbook -AutomationAccountName $AutomationAccountName -Name $RunbookName -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName

The child runbook - is just
Write-Output "test_child" ,without any parameters.
Getting the error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."
The full output is following:

Sought all Az modules and got latest version 0.0.0
Cannot fetch PowerShell version due to exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
2:02:34 PM - StartAzureAutomationRunbook begin processing with ParameterSet 'ByAsynchronousReturnJob'.
2:02:35 PM - [ConfigManager] Got nothing from [DisplayBreakingChangeWarning], Module = [], Cmdlet = []. Returning default value [True].
2:02:35 PM - [ConfigManager] Got nothing from [EnableDataCollection], Module = [], Cmdlet = []. Returning default value [True].
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
2:02:36 PM - [ConfigManager] Got nothing from [DisplayBreakingChangeWarning], Module = [], Cmdlet = []. Returning default value [True].
AzureQoSEvent: Module: Az.Automation:1.7.3; CommandName: Start-AzAutomationRunbook; PSVersion: 3.0.0.0; IsSuccess: False; Duration: 00:00:04.5629325; Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.;
Finish sending metric.
2:02:38 PM - StartAzureAutomationRunbook end processing.
test_DK_parent

Power-Shell runtime version: 5.1.
Tried to do for 7.2 as well, - got the similar error.
What might be the cause?
Thanks.

tbgangav-MSFT 10,421 Reputation points

2023-04-17T16:12:13.8866667+00:00
Hi @Dmitrii Kalmanovich , As explained in this example, connect to Azure and set context before using Start-AzAutomationRunbook cmdlet. Also, you may refer this complete article to understand various other ways to call child runbooks so

you might opt to call child runbooks inline if appropriate in your environment and

also you might use wait parameter along with Start-AzAutomationRunbook cmdlet if needed and

also you might check this article in case your child runbook produces an object result
tbgangav-MSFT 10,421 Reputation points

2023-04-19T17:09:33.6433333+00:00

Hi @Dmitrii Kalmanovich , Just checking in to see if you got chance to look at my earlier response. If yes, do you have any follow-up questions?
Dmitrii Kalmanovich 0 Reputation points

2023-04-20T07:05:34.1633333+00:00
Hi.
Thank you for your response.
I tried to apply the setting of context, like in the example you are referring to, but got the error
"Cannot validate argument on parameter 'TenantId'. The argument is null or empty..".
I guess it somehow related to the warning, I see in the job log, -
"TenantId 'XXXXXXX-213f-4271-b174-bd59d03c87a3' contains more than one active subscription..", - maybe I should have assigned the TenantId value explicitly.
But ultimately I've managed to resolve my issue by code like that:

$servicePrincipalConnection = Get-AutomationConnection -Name "AzureRunAsConnection" $account = Add-AzAccount -ServicePrincipal -TenantId $servicePrincipalConnection.TenantId -ApplicationId $servicePrincipalConnection.ApplicationId -CertificateThumbprint $servicePrincipalConnection.CertificateThumbprint

I see the warning "Run As account is retiring on 30 September 2023. Use Managed identities for authentication." - but currently it is the only way to make the things work. The usage of inline invocations, suggested by you, was not appropriate for my case, - my aim was to create a 'ever-lasting' job, with recursive invocations of the same runbook, while with inline invocations this "eternal loop" was interrupted by Azure after 3 hours of run.
SZ 0 Reputation points

2023-09-26T23:59:40.18+00:00

@Dmitrii Kalmanovich I'm having the same issue. Could you please share the complete script?
Ashish Dadhich 56 Reputation points

2023-10-04T16:13:46.6966667+00:00

Getting same issue and I am using system assigned identity for authentication.

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Start-AzAutomationRunbook, - error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."