Error when using CI license in CI pipeline: CI license only works in CI/CD pipeline

[dbhathena]

I am using our CI license (pyarmor reg pyarmor-ci-XXXX.zip) in GitHub Actions on a Ubuntu-latest runner, and have followed the instructions as outlined in the documentation, but still get the error:

ERROR: CI license only works in CI/CD pipeline

Why am I still receiving this error if I am using this in a CI pipeline? For now I am going to have to use our pro license, but this will probably run out of monthly uses rapidly, which is a problem.

[dbhathena]

I found this discussion #1993 about Azure and confirmed that there is a /dev/disk directory in the github runner. Is this the only way that CI-license checks whether it's in CI?

[jondy]

Could you share the content /dev/disk in the github runner?

In the github pipeline, add one command ls -lhR /dev/disk

[dbhathena]

@jondy Here is the content:

/dev/disk:
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 120 Dec 10 15:12 azure
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 280 Dec 10 15:12 by-id
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  80 Dec 10 15:12 by-label
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 100 Dec 10 15:12 by-partuuid
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 120 Dec 10 15:12 by-path
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  80 Dec 10 15:12 by-uuid
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 120 Dec 10 15:12 cloud

/dev/disk/azure:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  [9](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:10) Dec 10 15:12 root -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root [10](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:11) Dec 10 15:12 root-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root [11](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:12) Dec 10 15:12 root-part14 -> ../../sda14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:[12](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:13) root-part15 -> ../../sda15

/dev/disk/by-id:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-14d53465420202020fa8f90edbba6e840ab5a8f0ff45f3ad4 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-[14](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:15)d53465420202020fa8f90edbba6e840ab5a8f0ff45f3ad4-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 [15](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:16):12 scsi-14d53465420202020fa8f90edbba6e840ab5a8f0ff45f3ad4-part14 -> ../../sda14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-14d53465420202020fa8f90edbba6e840ab5a8f0ff45f3ad4-part15 -> ../../sda15
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-360022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-360022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-360022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4-part14 -> ../../sda14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 scsi-360022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4-part15 -> ../../sda15
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Dec 10 15:12 wwn-0x60022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 wwn-0x60022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 wwn-0x60022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4-part14 -> ../../sda14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 wwn-0x60022480fa8f90edbba68f0ff45f3ad4-part15 -> ../../sda15

/dev/disk/by-label:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 UEFI -> ../../sda15
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 cloudimg-rootfs -> ../../sda1

/dev/disk/by-partuuid:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 5123f679-d605-4389-a23d-23692[18](https://github.com/Liquid4All/devkit/actions/runs/12259111790/job/34200489382#step:2:19)cc1a5 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 5a96d93f-d978-48a9-8a28-777e93049518 -> ../../sda15
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 e3aee39a-471d-41db-8a93-b9faf884b04f -> ../../sda14

/dev/disk/by-path:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Dec 10 15:12 acpi-VMBUS:01-vmbus-00000000000088990000000000000000-lun-0 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 acpi-VMBUS:01-vmbus-00000000000088990000000000000000-lun-0-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 acpi-VMBUS:01-vmbus-00000000000088990000000000000000-lun-0-part14 -> ../../sda14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 acpi-VMBUS:01-vmbus-00000000000088990000000000000000-lun-0-part15 -> ../../sda15

/dev/disk/by-uuid:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 0b58668a-ba2e-4a00-b89a-3354b7a547d4 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 C83D-C1E5 -> ../../sda15

/dev/disk/cloud:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Dec 10 15:12 azure_root -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 10 15:12 azure_root-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 azure_root-part14 -> ../../sda14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Dec 10 15:12 azure_root-part15 -> ../../sda15

[jondy]

It seems the disk is really used.
At this time Pyarmor CI license won't work if docker container has disk mounted.
I'll check this case and find the final solution

[jondy]

Try to remove /dev/disk roughly, I test the following actions, it seems it doesn't matter if no /dev/disk

name: test-github-actions
run-name: ${{ github.actor }} is testing GitHub Actions
on: [push]
jobs:
  test-no-disk:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: sudo mv /dev/disk /dev/notdisk
      - run: pip install pyarmor
      - run: pyarmor -h

[dbhathena]

This worked as a temporary workaround - after registering the CI license, can we move /dev/notdisk back to /dev/disk? Or does the CI license check during obfuscation as well?

[jondy]

Do not move back when pyarmor is running.

[walsha2]

@jondy Is there a better solution than moving /dev/disk? When I purchased the CI license I was thinking precisely of Github runners and the standard ubuntu-latest runner. It was a bit surprising that the "CI license" did not work for CI in the base use case of a Github runner on ubuntu. I feel that this is a very common CI workflow.

Regarding "At this time Pyarmor CI license won't work if docker container has disk mounted." - is this a design choice? design limitation? or a bug that needs to resolved?

---

Further, I need to generate builds for linux (ubuntu-latest runner) and MacOS (macos-14 runner). What are the required instructions to get around the disk mounting need for MacOS? Any details/help would be appreciated.

I tried moving /dev/disk0 on the MacOS runner, but I still got "ERROR: CI license only works in CI/CD pipeline".

[jondy]

For MacOS, rename /dev/rdisk0
I'll try to find better solutions for how to tell its CI runner or not after new features of 9.1 are release. Before that, still this solution.

[walsha2]

@jondy thanks! I confirmed that this did indeed work on the MacOS runner.

Please let us know on this discussion (and maybe also #1993) if there is a better solution in a future release than renaming the storage disk.

[jondy]

Please watch release note in this repo, I may or may not comment this discussion if time is too long
And this solution for Github action, by adding one step in workflow, it's accpetable as far as I'm concerned. If change the CI checker, maybe other CI/CD doesn't work
Anyway, if there is better solution, it would be even better

[Hristiyan-Anchev]

Hi @jondy ,
What would be a potential solution/workaround when running PyArmor in Azure pipeline agent running windows-latest image.

The below is the pipeline:

trigger:
- main

pool:
  vmImage: windows-latest

steps:
- task: UsePythonVersion@0
  displayName: 'Use Python 3.11.5'
  inputs:
    versionSpec: 3.11.5

- task: DownloadSecureFile@1
  displayName: 'Download PyArmor CI license from AZ Secure file storage'
  name: 'PyArmorLicense'
  inputs:
    secureFile: 'pyarmor-ci-8034.zip'
  

- powershell: |
   pip install pyarmor==9.0.7 
   Remove-Item -Path .\.git -Recurse -Force
   Remove-Item -Path .\tests -Recurse -Force
   Write-Host "Register pyarmor"
   pyarmor reg $(PyArmorLicense.secureFilePath)
   Write-Host "Checking pyarmor info..."
   pyarmor -v
   Write-Host "Obfuscate project"
   pyarmor gen -r . -O . --exclude "*venv*" --exclude "*test*"

  displayName: 'Obfuscate source code'

Pipeline logs:

2025-01-30T15:22:31.4563870Z Installing collected packages: pyarmor.cli.core, pyarmor
2025-01-30T15:22:32.1489885Z Successfully installed pyarmor-9.0.7 pyarmor.cli.core-7.6.3
2025-01-30T15:22:33.3997063Z Register pyarmor
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0666399Z INFO     Python 3.11.5
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0668814Z INFO     Pyarmor 9.0.7 (trial), 000000, non-profits
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0678292Z INFO     Platform windows.x86_64
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0678803Z INFO     register "D:\a\_temp\pyarmor-ci-8034.zip"
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0725088Z INFO     This license registration information:
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0725406Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0725722Z License Type    : pyarmor-ci
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0728175Z License No.     : pyarmor-vax-008034
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0728584Z License To      : Spaceflux
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0728856Z License Product : TCS
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0729091Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0729349Z BCC Mode        : Yes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0729612Z RFT Mode        : Yes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0729849Z CI/CD Mode      : Yes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0730049Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0730298Z Notes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0730552Z This license has requested 1 ci regfiles
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0730959Z The last ci regfile will expired on Fri Jan 30 10:30:02 2026
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0731318Z This license could still request 99 ci regfiles
2025-01-30T15:22:34.0731501Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.1546770Z Checking pyarmor info...
2025-01-30T15:22:34.3979603Z ##[debug]Agent environment resources - Disk: D:\ Available 12380.18 MB out of 14334.00 MB, Memory: Used 2315.00 MB out of 7167.00 MB, CPU: Usage 56.00%
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6817192Z Pyarmor 9.0.7 (ci), 008034, TCS
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6817563Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6817942Z License Type    : pyarmor-ci
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6818258Z License No.     : pyarmor-vax-008034
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6818581Z License To      : Spaceflux
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6819009Z License Product : TCS
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6819177Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6819418Z BCC Mode        : Yes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6819686Z RFT Mode        : Yes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6819914Z CI/CD Mode      : Yes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6820088Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6820323Z Notes
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6820566Z This license has requested 1 ci regfiles
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6821513Z The last ci regfile will expired on Fri Jan 30 10:30:02 2026
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6821906Z This license could still request 99 ci regfiles
2025-01-30T15:22:34.6822111Z 
2025-01-30T15:22:34.7529437Z Obfuscate project
2025-01-30T15:22:35.2689775Z INFO     Python 3.11.5
2025-01-30T15:22:35.2693016Z INFO     Pyarmor 9.0.7 (ci), 008034, TCS
2025-01-30T15:22:35.2698728Z INFO     Platform windows.x86_64
2025-01-30T15:22:35.2708120Z INFO     search inputs ...
2025-01-30T15:22:35.2708956Z INFO     find package at .
2025-01-30T15:22:35.2804645Z INFO     find 1 top resources
2025-01-30T15:22:35.3485900Z ERROR    CI license only works in CI/CD pipeline
2025-01-30T15:22:35.4504097Z ##[debug]$LASTEXITCODE: 2
2025-01-30T15:22:35.4863425Z ##[debug]Exit code: 1
2025-01-30T15:22:35.4905700Z ##[debug]Leaving Invoke-VstsTool.
2025-01-30T15:22:35.6282270Z ##[error]PowerShell exited with code '1'.
2025-01-30T15:22:35.6283450Z ##[debug]Processed: ##vso[task.logissue type=error;source=TaskInternal;correlationId=8a52b851-d6db-4baa-b244-e66092ea08c7]PowerShell exited with code '1'.
2025-01-30T15:22:35.6285862Z ##[debug]Processed: ##vso[task.complete result=Failed]Error detected
2025-01-30T15:22:35.6335273Z ##[debug]Leaving D:\a\_tasks\PowerShell_e213ff0f-5d5c-4791-802d-52ea3e7be1f1\2.247.1\powershell.ps1.
2025-01-30T15:22:35.6507459Z ##[section]Finishing: Obfuscate source code

[jondy]

For Windows, it need pyarmor.cli.core >= 7.6.4 which will be released in this month (Feb. 2025)
Before the new version is released, add one step before pip install pyarmor:

pip install https://pyarmor.dashingsoft.com/downloads/temp/pyarmor.cli.core-7.6.4-cp311-none-win_amd64.whl

[Hristiyan-Anchev]

Thanks a lot, this version resolved the issue for windows agents!

[jondy]

pyarmor.cli.core v7.6.4 will be released in this month.

[jondy]

pyarmor.cli.core v7.6.4 is released today, it need not extra step to install pyarmor.cli.core, just install pyarmor only now.

[cjavad]

Thank you! Will test it out.

[jondy]

@ari-almanak please also check notes in https://pyarmor.readthedocs.io/en/latest/how-to/ci.html

[ari-almanak]

This worked! 👍 thank you

[bvanelli]

If you have the same problem with bare-metal Windows runners, you cannot use the CI license in them. All env variables are set but Pyarmor will refuse to run.

You can get around this issue by using a Wine alternative to build the Windows executable. One example is pywine ;)