terraform always asks for login if AZURE_CONFIG_DIR is different from the default

[ghost]

This issue was originally opened by @rnsc as hashicorp/terraform#24193. It was migrated here as a result of the provider split. The original body of the issue is below.

---

Terraform Version

Terraform v0.12.21

Terraform Configuration Files

# The default provider configuration
provider "azurerm" {
  subscription_id = "MySubscriptionId"
}

Crash Output

Error: Error building AzureRM Client: Error populating Client ID from the Azure CLI: No Authorization Tokens were found - please ensure the Azure CLI is installed and then log-in with `az login`.

Expected Behavior

Terraform should support the AZURE_CONFIG_DIR env var (which is supported by Azure CLI).

Actual Behavior

Terraform complains that I'm not logged in, even though I am.

Steps to Reproduce

Configure your env with the AZURE_CONFIG_DIR set to something other than "$HOME/.azure".
Do az login and confirm that the AZURE_CONFIG_DIR is populated with the Azure CLI session files.
Run terraform and it will complain that you need to login.

Additional Context

Azure CLI reference:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/azure-cli-configuration?view=azure-cli-latest#cli-configuration-file

[tombuildsstuff]

Duplicate of #5891

[ghost]

I'm going to lock this issue because it has been closed for 30 days ⏳. This helps our maintainers find and focus on the active issues.

If you feel this issue should be reopened, we encourage creating a new issue linking back to this one for added context. If you feel I made an error 🤖 🙉 , please reach out to my human friends 👉 [email protected]. Thanks!