Getting ICU error when trying to build with globalization - Updated from #10989

[DevOpsAzurance]

Description

Ubuntu image is not built with required ICU packages needed for dotnet build:

Process terminated. Couldn't find a valid ICU package installed on the system. Set the configuration flag System.Globalization.Invariant to true if you want to run with no globalization support.

Setting environment variable to:

$export DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT=1

is not viable as dev requires globalization.

Per the recommendation of:

https://github.com/actions/runner-images/issues/10989

But still having an issue. My Pipeline YAML is running this:

    - task: bash@3
      displayName: 'Install ICU Globalization on Linux'
      condition: eq(variables['Agent.OS'], 'Linux')
      inputs:
        targetType: 'inline'
        script: >
          echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT;]0"

          sudo apt-get update

          sudo apt-get -U install -y libicu-dev

Dev teams can set whether invariant is set to 0 or 1. If '0' and running on linux machine, it needs to install libicu-dev. The output of said steps is:

Author       : Microsoft Corporation
Help         : https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/devops/pipelines/tasks/utility/bash
==============================================================================
Generating script.
========================== Starting Command Output ===========================
/usr/bin/bash /agent/_work/_temp/0d5f30fd-8992-4d16-9031-22d0699ca3ef.sh
Get:1 file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt Mirrorlist [142 B]
Hit:2 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble InRelease
Get:3 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates InRelease [126 kB]
Get:4 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports InRelease [126 kB]
Hit:6 https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/azure-cli noble InRelease
Hit:7 https://packages.microsoft.com/ubuntu/18.04/prod bionic InRelease
Get:5 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security InRelease [126 kB]
Get:8 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 Packages [775 kB]
Get:9 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 Components [151 kB]
Get:10 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 Packages [974 kB]
Get:11 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 Components [309 kB]
Get:12 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/restricted amd64 Components [212 B]
Get:13 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/multiverse amd64 Components [940 B]
Get:14 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports/main amd64 Components [208 B]
Get:15 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports/universe amd64 Components [11.7 kB]
Get:16 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports/restricted amd64 Components [216 B]
Get:17 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports/multiverse amd64 Components [212 B]
Get:18 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security/main amd64 Components [7240 B]
Get:19 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security/universe amd64 Components [52.0 kB]
Get:20 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security/restricted amd64 Components [212 B]
Get:21 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security/multiverse amd64 Components [212 B]
Fetched 2661 kB in 2s (1439 kB/s)
Reading package lists...
Get:1 file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt Mirrorlist [142 B]
Hit:2 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble InRelease
Hit:3 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates InRelease
Hit:6 https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/azure-cli noble InRelease
Hit:4 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports InRelease
Hit:7 https://packages.microsoft.com/ubuntu/18.04/prod bionic InRelease
Hit:5 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security InRelease
Reading package lists...
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
libicu-dev is already the newest version (74.2-1ubuntu3.1).
libicu-dev set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 68 not upgraded.

Finishing: Install ICU Globalization on Linux

but then still fails with:

/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/Exceptions/MyClasses.cs(35,13): warning SYSLIB0051: 'Exception.Exception(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext)' is obsolete: 'This API supports obsolete formatter-based serialization. It should not be called or extended by application code.' (https://aka.ms/dotnet-warnings/SYSLIB0051) [/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/MyProject.csproj]
  MyProject -> /agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/bin/release/net8.0/MyProject.dll
  Process terminated. Couldn't find a valid ICU package installed on the system. Set the configuration flag System.Globalization.Invariant to true if you want to run with no globalization support.
     at System.Environment.FailFast(System.String)
     at System.Globalization.GlobalizationMode.GetGlobalizationInvariantMode()
     at System.Globalization.GlobalizationMode..cctor()
     at System.Globalization.CultureData.CreateCultureWithInvariantData()
     at System.Globalization.CultureData.get_Invariant()
     at System.Globalization.CultureInfo..cctor()
     at System.Resources.ManifestBasedResourceGroveler.GetNeutralResourcesLanguage(System.Reflection.Assembly, System.Resources.UltimateResourceFallbackLocation ByRef)
     at System.Resources.ResourceManager.CommonAssemblyInit()
     at System.Resources.ResourceManager..ctor(System.Type)
     at System.SR.get_ResourceManager()
     at System.SR.GetResourceString(System.String, System.String)
     at System.SR.get_XmlConvert_BadUri()
     at System.Xml.XmlReaderSettings.CreateReader(System.String, System.Xml.XmlParserContext)
     at System.Xml.XmlReader.Create(System.String, System.Xml.XmlReaderSettings, System.Xml.XmlParserContext)
     at System.Xml.XmlReader.Create(System.String, System.Xml.XmlReaderSettings)
     at System.Xml.Linq.XDocument.Load(System.String, System.Xml.Linq.LoadOptions)
     at System.Xml.Linq.XDocument.Load(System.String)
     at Vsxmd.Program.Main(System.String[])
  Aborted (core dumped)
##[error]/home/AzDevOps/.nuget/packages/vsxmd/1.4.5/build/Vsxmd.targets(17,5): Error MSB3073: The command ""/home/AzDevOps/.nuget/packages/vsxmd/1.4.5/build//../tools/linux-x64/Vsxmd" "" "" "True"" exited with code 134.
/home/AzDevOps/.nuget/packages/vsxmd/1.4.5/build/Vsxmd.targets(17,5): error MSB3073: The command ""/home/AzDevOps/.nuget/packages/vsxmd/1.4.5/build//../tools/linux-x64/Vsxmd" "" "" "True"" exited with code 134. [/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/MyProject.csproj]

Build FAILED.

/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/Entities/ReinsuranceResult.cs(46,53): warning CS8618: Non-nullable property 'Claim' must contain a non-null value when exiting constructor. Consider declaring the property as nullable. [/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/MyProject.csproj]
/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/Exceptions/MyClasses.cs(35,13): warning SYSLIB0051: 'Exception.Exception(SerializationInfo, StreamingContext)' is obsolete: 'This API supports obsolete formatter-based serialization. It should not be called or extended by application code.' (https://aka.ms/dotnet-warnings/SYSLIB0051) [/agent/_work/4/s/SourceCodeRepo/src/Services/MyProject/MyProject.csproj]

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions - Standard Runners
• GitHub Actions - Larger Runners

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 20.04
• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• macOS 12
• macOS 13
• macOS 13 Arm64
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025

Image version and build link

Current agent version: '3.236.0'
Current image version: '1.0.3'

This image is using the March Build of the Ubuntu OS.

Is it regression?

N/A

Expected behavior

It should be able to build with Globalization using ICU on Ubuntu

Actual behavior

Fails due to missing packages

Repro steps

Run build with ICU install when DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT=0

[Robbbo-T]

Next Steps for Issue #11419

1. Verify the Issue: Confirm if the issue can be reproduced with the provided steps.
2. Check ICU Installation: Ensure that the libicu-dev package is correctly installed and recognized by the system.
3. Review Dotnet Globalization Settings: Verify that the environment variable DOTNET_SYSTEM_GLOBALIZATION_INVARIANT=0 is correctly set.
4. Consult Related Issues: Refer to similar issues like #10989 for potential solutions.
5. Update Documentation: If a solution is found, update the documentation to help others facing similar issues.
6. Comment and Collaborate: Add comments to the issue to provide updates and ask for additional details if needed.
7. Assign and Prioritize: Assign the issue to a team member and prioritize based on the impact and urgency.

Would you like to take any specific action or need further details on any of these steps?

[yueerchen]

I have the same issue with my latest build. Here's solution I tried:

• Add a step to install the libicu-dev package. Build still failed

- name: Install ICU library # Ensure ICU is available
        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libicu-dev

• Fixed ubuntu version back to 20.04. Build succeed.

I do suspect the recent update altered the default installed packages or runtime configurations, the ICU library might no longer be pre-installed or expected by default. If anyone has an idea, feel free to share, it'll be helpful