Issue with Initializing Synapse Spark Environment Using Synapse VS Code Extension

[kacperroczen]

I am encountering an issue with initializing the Synapse Spark Environment using the Synapse VS Code extension due to the presence of a Polish character in my username. The extension fails to retrieve the correct path to the .ipython/profile_default/startup/init_lighter.py script, resulting in an error. While I am able to edit notebooks locally, I cannot set up a proper Spark environment for working with Fabric notebooks locally, which prevents me from running them effectively.

Here’s the error log for reference:

Upgrade the existing lighter scripts to the latest versions. Download c:/users/exampleuser�/.ipython/profile_default/startup/init_lighter.py script completed, download to c:/users/exampleuser�/.ipython/profile_default/startup/init_lighter.py The Synapse PySpark environment preparation failed: Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'c:\users\exampleuser�\.ipython\profile_default\startup\init_lighter.py' Installing PySpark related packages error

I’ve tried the following without success:

• Modifying the PATH variables to address the issue.
• Unfortunately, changing my username is not an option.

This issue is particularly frustrating, especially considering that the web version of Fabric does not yet have a dark theme, making the local setup even more important for usability.

Does anyone know of a workaround for this issue? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[v-shamiliv]

Hi @kacperroczen 
I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you'd like to discuss this further. If this answers your question, please Accept it as a solution and give it a 'Kudos' so others can find it easily.
Thank you.

[v-shamiliv]

Hi @kacperroczen 
I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to reach us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.
Thank you.

[v-shamiliv]

Hi @kacperroczen 
May I ask if you have resolved this issue? If so, please accept it as the solution. This will be helpful for other community members who have similar problems to solve it faster.
Thank you.

[v-shamiliv · Accepted solution]

Hi   @kacperroczen 

Thank you for reaching out to us on the Microsoft Fabric Community Forum.

It looks like the issue is related to the special character in your username, which is causing problems for the Synapse VS Code extension when it tries to locate and initialize the necessary files. Here are a few steps you can try to work around this issue:
Create a Shortcut (Symbolic Link) for Your User Folder:

Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

Run this command:
mklink /D c:\users\exampleuser c:\users\exampleuser�
This creates an alternate path (e.g., c:\users\exampleuser) that doesn’t include the special character, which the Synapse extension might handle better.

Check if the Synapse extension allows you to specify file paths or configurations manually. If it does, point it to a folder path without special characters.

Download the init_lighter.py script from the URL mentioned in the error message or from Microsoft’s official repository.
Save it in the appropriate folder, typically:
c:\users\exampleuser�\.ipython\profile_default\startup\

While changing your current username may not be an option, you could create a second local account without special characters in the username. Use this account specifically for Synapse-related work in VS Code.

If the issue persists despite these steps,please raise a support ticket

To raise a support ticket for Fabric , kindly follow the steps outlined in the following guide:
How to create a Fabric and Power BI Support ticket - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

If this solution helps, please consider giving us Kudos and accepting it as the solution so that it may assist other members in the community.