Troubleshooting UiPath CLI

If you run into issues while using the UiPath CLI, consider the following troubleshooting scenarios.

Issues related to the .NET version

Description:

You may encounter issues with UiPath CLI tasks and pipeline operations if the correct version of the .NET framework is not installed (or missing) on your system.

When this issue occurs, you may come across error messages such as:

• You must install or update .NET to run this application.App: C:\Program Files (x86)\UiPath CLI\UiPath.CLI.Windows.23.10.8894.39673\tools\uipcli.exeArchitecture: x64Framework: 'Microsoft.NETCore.App', version '6.0.0' (x64).NET location: C:\Program Files\dotnetThe following frameworks were found:8.0.5 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]8.0.8 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]

• An error occurred trying to start process 'dotnet' with working directory 'C:\Users\Public\UiPathDevOpsScripts\uipathcli-23.10\tools'. The system cannot find the file specified. Failed to run the command. UiPath.CommandLine.Exceptions.CommandException: Packaging failed due to one or more errors.Message: An error occurred trying to start process 'dotnet' with working directory 'C:\Users\Public\UiPathDevOpsScripts\uipathcli-23.10\tools'. The system cannot find the file specified.Error at: System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)

Remedy:

You must ensure that you have the correct .NET version installed.

For the CLI and .NET version compatibility matrix, refer to the Prerequisites section.

Running older CLI versions on updated CI/CD agents

Hosted CI/CD environments such as Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and GitLab Runners periodically refresh their build agent images and remove older .NET runtimes that have reached end of life.

If your pipeline uses an older CLI version and the agent no longer provides the exact .NET runtime that CLI version was built for, the CLI may fail to start with an error such as:

The framework 'Microsoft.NETCore.App', version 'X.0.0' was not found.

This does not indicate a product issue with UiPath CLI but rather a runtime mismatch between the CLI build and the environment where it runs.

Resolution:

To restore compatibility, add a roll-forward policy in the uipcli.runtimeconfig.json file located next to uipcli.exe. This allows the CLI to run on newer .NET runtimes than it was originally built for.

Locate the target framework version that your CLI was built for (check the error message or the existing uipcli.runtimeconfig.json file if present), then create or modify the file as follows:

{  "runtimeOptions": {    "tfm": "netX.0",    "framework": {      "name": "Microsoft.NETCore.App",      "version": "X.0.0",      "rollForward": "LatestMajor"    }  }}

Replace X.0 with the target framework version (e.g., net6.0, net8.0) and X.0.0 with the runtime version (e.g., 6.0.0, 8.0.0).

The "rollForward": "LatestMajor" setting allows the CLI to use any newer .NET runtime available on the agent.

If your environment uses a custom .NET installation path, refer to the guidance above on configuring DOTNET_ROOT and verifying the runtime location.

Issues related to special character in connection string passwords

In most instances, connection passwords are encapsulated within a single quotation mark ('). However, when the password includes special characters such as ` or $, a different approach is required.

In these cases, the password must be formatted as \`"<password>\`", replacing <password> with the actual password. Moreover, you must also adhere to the escape rules as detailed in the following table:

Original format in ADUC	Escaped format in PowerShell string
cn=James $ Smith	"cn=James `$ Smith"
cn=Sally Wilson + Jones	"cn=Sally Wilson \+ Jones"
cn=William O'Brian	"cn=William O'Brian"
cn=William O`Brian	"cn=William O``Brian"
cn=Richard #West	"cn=Richard #West"
cn=Roy Johnson$	"cn=Roy Johnson$"

Example:

Assume that the original password is 7'8:<=XMe$y[@vC?_4ZeY8c-~y'W!1dU4gnczuf'/p>j<I. Adhering to the special character escape rules, it becomes: Password=\`"7'8:<=XMe`$y[@vC?_4ZeY8c-~y'W!1dU4```gnczuf'/p>```j<I\`".