ZIP package of Azure CLI is available on Windows

Firstly happy new year of 2024!

We’re excited to announce that with our latest release, Windows users can access to a new installation method – the ZIP package. It offers two advantages: installation without admin privilege and faster installation.

Install CLI without admin privilege

One major problem with the existing MSI package is it requires the admin permission. This can be particularly troublesome on some workers' computers. ZIP package comes to the rescue. Simply unzip the package wherever you like, and it's ready to use.

Faster installation

While the MSI installation could take close to a minute to complete, the ZIP package installation is significantly quicker – typically under 20 seconds, depending on your disk speed.

Quick Start

1. Download zip package from https://aka.ms/installazurecliwindowszipx64.
2. Unzip the package to a folder, then you can run the CLI command with: <unzipped folder path>\bin\az.cmd.

If you want to run az command directly, please add <unzipped folder path>\bin in your PATH environment variable, then restart your terminal. For a detail guide, please check out more information.

We’ll keep enhancing the user experience of Azure CLI packaging. If you encounter any problems, please do not hesitate to create an issue on our GitHub.