[WinError 193] when virtualenvs.prefer-active-python is true

[IvanaGyro]

• Poetry version: 1.6.0.dev0
• Python version: 3.12.0
• OS version and name: Window 11
• pyproject.toml: https://github.com/devnoname120/google-play-book-downloader/blob/545b4535f24fb834dc888e7cb36223341178b857/pyproject.toml

• I am on the latest stable Poetry version, installed using a recommended method.
• I have searched the issues of this repo and believe that this is not a duplicate.
• I have consulted the FAQ and blog for any relevant entries or release notes.
• If an exception occurs when executing a command, I executed it again in debug mode (-vvv option) and have included the output below.

Due to #8160 I can't install the latest stable version via the command in the document.

Issue

I got

[WinError 193] %1 is not a valid Win32 application.

with virtualenvs.prefer-active-python set to true. There may be a related thread #7075.

I use pyenv to manage my Python version. To use the different Python version from the version used to install poetry, I enable virtualenvs.prefer-active-python following the document.

poetry config virtualenvs.prefer-active-python true

My current Python versions are

pyenv global: 3.12.0b4
pyenv local: 3.10.11

However poetry doesn't use 3.10.11. Here is the output of poetry debug info -vvv

Poetry
Loading configuration file C:\Users\Ivana\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\config.toml
Version: 1.6.0.dev0
Python:  3.12.0

  Stack trace:

  18  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:327 in run
       325│
       326│             try:
     → 327│                 exit_code = self._run(io)
       328│             except BrokenPipeError:
       329│                 # If we are piped to another process, it may close early and send a

  17  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\console\application.py:190 in _run
       188│         self._load_plugins(io)
       189│
     → 190│         exit_code: int = super()._run(io)
       191│         return exit_code
       192│

  16  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:431 in _run
       429│             io.input.interactive(interactive)
       430│
     → 431│         exit_code = self._run_command(command, io)
       432│         self._running_command = None
       433│

  15  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:473 in _run_command
       471│
       472│         if error is not None:
     → 473│             raise error
       474│
       475│         return terminate_event.exit_code

  14  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:457 in _run_command
       455│
       456│             if command_event.command_should_run():
     → 457│                 exit_code = command.run(io)
       458│             else:
       459│                 exit_code = ConsoleCommandEvent.RETURN_CODE_DISABLED

  13  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\commands\base_command.py:119 in run
       117│         io.input.validate()
       118│
     → 119│         status_code = self.execute(io)
       120│
       121│         if status_code is None:

  12  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\commands\command.py:62 in execute
        60│
        61│         try:
     →  62│             return self.handle()
        63│         except KeyboardInterrupt:
        64│             return 1

  11  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\console\commands\debug\info.py:27 in handle
        25│         command = self.get_application().get("env info")
        26│
     →  27│         exit_code: int = command.run(self.io)
        28│         return exit_code
        29│

  10  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\commands\base_command.py:119 in run
       117│         io.input.validate()
       118│
     → 119│         status_code = self.execute(io)
       120│
       121│         if status_code is None:

   9  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\commands\command.py:62 in execute
        60│
        61│         try:
     →  62│             return self.handle()
        63│         except KeyboardInterrupt:
        64│             return 1

   8  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\console\commands\env\info.py:28 in handle
        26│         from poetry.utils.env import EnvManager
        27│
     →  28│         env = EnvManager(self.poetry).get()
        29│
        30│         if self.option("path"):

   7  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\utils\env\env_manager.py:236 in get
       234│             "virtualenvs.prefer-active-python"
       235│         )
     → 236│         python_minor = self.get_python_version(
       237│             precision=2, prefer_active_python=prefer_active_python, io=self._io
       238│         ).to_string()

   6  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\utils\env\env_manager.py:108 in get_python_version
       106│
       107│         if prefer_active_python:
     → 108│             executable = EnvManager._detect_active_python(io)
       109│
       110│             if executable:

   5  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\utils\env\env_manager.py:86 in _detect_active_python
        84│         )
        85│
     →  86│         executable = EnvManager._full_python_path("python")
        87│
        88│         if executable is not None:

   4  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\utils\env\env_manager.py:69 in _full_python_path
        67│
        68│         try:
     →  69│             executable = subprocess.check_output(
        70│                 [path_python, "-c", "import sys; print(sys.executable)"], text=True
        71│             ).strip()

   3  ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0b4\Lib\subprocess.py:466 in check_output
        464│         kwargs['input'] = empty
        465│
     →  466│     return run(*popenargs, stdout=PIPE, timeout=timeout, check=True,
        467│                **kwargs).stdout
        468│

   2  ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0b4\Lib\subprocess.py:548 in run
        546│         kwargs['stderr'] = PIPE
        547│
     →  548│     with Popen(*popenargs, **kwargs) as process:
        549│         try:
        550│             stdout, stderr = process.communicate(input, timeout=timeout)

   1  ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0b4\Lib\subprocess.py:1026 in __init__
       1024│                             encoding=encoding, errors=errors)
       1025│
     → 1026│             self._execute_child(args, executable, preexec_fn, close_fds,
       1027│                                 pass_fds, cwd, env,
       1028│                                 startupinfo, creationflags, shell,

  OSError

  [WinError 193] %1 不是有效的 Win32 應用程式。

  at ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0b4\Lib\subprocess.py:1538 in _execute_child
      1534│             sys.audit("subprocess.Popen", executable, args, cwd, env)
      1535│
      1536│             # Start the process
      1537│             try:
    → 1538│                 hp, ht, pid, tid = _winapi.CreateProcess(executable, args,
      1539│                                          # no special security
      1540│                                          None, None,
      1541│                                          int(not close_fds),
      1542│                                          creationflags,

[FabianToledo]

It happens to me too, but is not only when virtualenvs.prefer-active-python is set to true.

for instance:
Poetry version: 1.6.1
Python version: 3.12.0
OS version and name: Window 11
pyenv: 3.1.1 (installed when python 3.12.0 was configured as global in pyenv)

Changed to python 3.11.6

pyenv global 3.11.6
pyenv versions

• 3.11.6 (set by %USERPROFILE%.pyenv\pyenv-win\version)
  3.12.0

In a new folder run poetry new:

poetry new .

Then edit my newly generated pyproject.toml to use python ~3.11

[tool.poetry]
name = "test"
version = "0.1.0"
description = ""
authors = [""]
readme = "README.md"

[tool.poetry.dependencies]
python = "~3.11"

[build-system]
requires = ["poetry-core"]
build-backend = "poetry.core.masonry.api"

Then executing either poetry shell, poetry install or any command that tries to create the venv returns this:

The currently activated Python version 3.12.0 is not supported by the project (~3.11).
Trying to find and use a compatible version.

[WinError 193] %1 is not a valid Win32 application

poetry shell -vvv

Loading configuration file C:\Users\Fa\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\config.toml
The currently activated Python version 3.12.0 is not supported by the project (~3.11).
Trying to find and use a compatible version.
Trying python3

  Stack trace:

  13  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:327 in run
       325│
       326│             try:
     → 327│                 exit_code = self._run(io)
       328│             except BrokenPipeError:
       329│                 # If we are piped to another process, it may close early and send a

  12  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\console\application.py:190 in _run
       188│         self._load_plugins(io)
       189│
     → 190│         exit_code: int = super()._run(io)
       191│         return exit_code
       192│

  11  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:431 in _run
       429│             io.input.interactive(interactive)
       430│
     → 431│         exit_code = self._run_command(command, io)
       432│         self._running_command = None
       433│

  10  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:473 in _run_command
       471│
       472│         if error is not None:
     → 473│             raise error
       474│
       475│         return terminate_event.exit_code

   9  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\application.py:454 in _run_command
       452│
       453│         try:
     → 454│             self._event_dispatcher.dispatch(command_event, COMMAND)
       455│
       456│             if command_event.command_should_run():

   8  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\events\event_dispatcher.py:26 in dispatch
        24│
        25│         if listeners:
     →  26│             self._do_dispatch(listeners, event_name, event)
        27│
        28│         return event

   7  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\cleo\events\event_dispatcher.py:89 in _do_dispatch
        87│                 break
        88│
     →  89│             listener(event, event_name, self)
        90│
        91│     def _sort_listeners(self, event_name: str) -> None:

   6  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\console\application.py:299 in configure_env
       297│
       298│         env_manager = EnvManager(poetry, io=io)
     → 299│         env = env_manager.create_venv()
       300│
       301│         if env.is_venv() and io.is_verbose():

   5  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\utils\env\env_manager.py:514 in create_venv
       512│                     self._io.write_error_line(f"Trying {python_name}")
       513│
     → 514│                 python = self._full_python_path(python_name)
       515│                 if python is None:
       516│                     continue

   4  ~\AppData\Roaming\pypoetry\venv\Lib\site-packages\poetry\utils\env\env_manager.py:69 in _full_python_path
        67│
        68│         try:
     →  69│             executable = subprocess.check_output(
        70│                 [path_python, "-c", "import sys; print(sys.executable)"], text=True
        71│             ).strip()

   3  ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0\Lib\subprocess.py:466 in check_output
        464│         kwargs['input'] = empty
        465│
     →  466│     return run(*popenargs, stdout=PIPE, timeout=timeout, check=True,
        467│                **kwargs).stdout
        468│

   2  ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0\Lib\subprocess.py:548 in run
        546│         kwargs['stderr'] = PIPE
        547│
     →  548│     with Popen(*popenargs, **kwargs) as process:
        549│         try:
        550│             stdout, stderr = process.communicate(input, timeout=timeout)

   1  ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0\Lib\subprocess.py:1026 in __init__
       1024│                             encoding=encoding, errors=errors)
       1025│
     → 1026│             self._execute_child(args, executable, preexec_fn, close_fds,
       1027│                                 pass_fds, cwd, env,
       1028│                                 startupinfo, creationflags, shell,

  OSError

  [WinError 193] %1 is not a valid Win32 application

  at ~\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.12.0\Lib\subprocess.py:1538 in _execute_child
      1534│             sys.audit("subprocess.Popen", executable, args, cwd, env)
      1535│
      1536│             # Start the process
      1537│             try:
    → 1538│                 hp, ht, pid, tid = _winapi.CreateProcess(executable, args,
      1539│                                          # no special security
      1540│                                          None, None,
      1541│                                          int(not close_fds),
      1542│                                          creationflags,

I have found a workaround if (having configured global in pyenv 3.11.6) execute:

poetry env use python.bat

Note that the extension .bat is added to the end of python

Creating virtualenv test in D:\Python\test\.venv
Using virtualenv: D:\Python\test\.venv

poetry env info

Virtualenv
Python:         3.11.6
Implementation: CPython
Path:           D:\Python\test\.venv
Executable:     D:\Python\test\.venv\Scripts\python.exe
Valid:          True

System
Platform:   win32
OS:         nt
Python:     3.11.6
Path:       C:\Users\**\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.11.6
Executable: C:\Users\**\.pyenv\pyenv-win\versions\3.11.6\python.exe

The location of python.bat and its contents are:

where python.bat

C:\Users\**\.pyenv\pyenv-win\shims\python.bat

Contents:

@echo off
chcp 1250 > NUL
call pyenv exec %~n0 %*

[dimbleby]

if I were you I would put some print statements in EnvManager._full_python_path() to see what it is doing. The windows error is strangely unhelpful (what is %1?)

perhaps that method should catch OSError?

[franceschiniandrea]

I get the same error, I'm on Windows 10

[gsfaller]

I also get the same error. I'm on Windows 11.

[tamireinhorn]

Having the same issue as well on Windows 11.

[dimbleby]

Folks, "I am also hitting this" does not make any progress.

One of you who is having a problem will need to put in some work to debug eg #8229 (comment)

[rfaels]

Having the same issue as well on Windows 11.