Default Python will be switched to 3.8 on Ubuntu 20.04 on October, 6

[maxim-lobanov]

Hello everyone!

Currently, Python 2.7 is set by default on Ubuntu 20.04. Python 2 was sunsetted on Jan 1 2020 and this version is not supported anymore.
Clean Ubuntu 20.04 LTS has Python 3 as default so we would like to follow the same approach.

If you still need to use Python 2.x on Ubuntu 20.04, you will be able to switch Python to 2.7 using actions/setup-python and UsePython tasks.

We are planning to deploy the new image with Python 3 as default on October, 6.

Regards,
Maxim

[rahulsaini]

@maxim-lobanov Does this also follow for Ubuntu embedded in Windows 10 or does Microsoft follow a separate path for that?

[maxim-lobanov]

@rahulsaini , This change will only affect image that you can choose by setting ubuntu-20.04 image label in YAML file.

Ubuntu embedded in Windows 10

What Ubuntu version do you mean? Ubuntu that can be downloaded from store for WSL?

[rahulsaini]

yes, for WSL.

[maxim-lobanov]

@rahulsaini , We don't own those images so this change won't affect them.
This change will affect only ubuntu-20.04 image label.

[bladeoner]

Hi there, when will the new image with Python 3.8 go live?

[maxim-lobanov]

@bladeoner , 3.8 is already in image for a long time: https://github.com/actions/virtual-environments/blob/main/images/linux/Ubuntu2004-README.md#python

[bladeoner]

How can I point to that image?

I'm using the following in my YML file:

jobs:
build:
name: ubuntu-20.04
runs-on: ubuntu-20.04

Or do I need to define container: ?
The container command is already pointed to something else.

[maxim-lobanov]

@bladeoner No containers are needed. You should follow official documentation and examples: https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/guides/building-and-testing-python#using-a-specific-python-version

[bladeoner]

@maxim-lobanov Thank you for your quick response and information I will dive into that.

[al-cheb]

The new Ubuntu 20.04 has been deployed with default Python3 and Python is an alias -> Python3.

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04

    steps:
    - name: default python
      run: |
         python --version
         python3 --version