Need to update from ubuntu-20.04 runner images

[andrewdavidmackenzie]

I just got this email from GitHub:

The Ubuntu 20.04 runner image will be fully unsupported by April 1, 2025. To raise awareness of the upcoming removal, we will temporarily fail jobs using Ubuntu 20.04. Builds that are scheduled to run during the brownout periods will fail. The brownouts are scheduled for the following dates and times:


March 4 14:00 UTC – 22:00 UTC
March 11 13:00 UTC – 21:00 UTC
March 18 13:00 UTC – 21:00 UTC
March 25 13:00 UTC – 21:00 UTC
What you need to do

Jobs using the ubuntu-20.04 YAML workflow label should be updated to ubuntu-22.04, ubuntu-24.04 or ubuntu-latest. You can always get up-to-date information on our tools by reading about the software in the [runner images repository](https://app.github.media/e/er?s=88570519&lid=3455&elqTrackId=1befe7689f3c4a1a9cba67758d7c6fa0&elq=c8e2b0ece4644da9b1fbbf27de7f9c73&elqaid=4309&elqat=1&elqak=8AF512931A9D3060F4A93E1FC36635281ABF6CB5DF51A382344A375EE52C017C3E5F). Please contact GitHub [Support](https://app.github.media/e/er?s=88570519&lid=3338&elqTrackId=51ced43500f64a46924167a4a536829b&elq=c8e2b0ece4644da9b1fbbf27de7f9c73&elqaid=4309&elqat=1&elqak=8AF5D818E42E3357A6143F29D23F7AD3B3C16CB5DF51A382344A375EE52C017C3E5F) if you run into any problems or need help.

I updated cargo-dist:

cargo dist --version
dist 1.0.0-rc.1

and re-run `cargo dist init``

It refreshed dist-workspace.toml, main.waxs and release.yml

But I see that release.yml still uses runs-on: "ubuntu-20.04"

So, I think a new release is needed that updates that to use "ubuntu-24.04", or equivalent as per the GH email.

[duckinator]

Given that the brownout periods are less than 3 weeks away, yeah, we should definitely push an update using a newer version.

We try to use the oldest version that's still supported for a reasonable period of time, so it may be ubuntu-22.04 (since that's supported until April 2027). (This approach allows us to support older operating systems without using unmaintained software.)

In the meantime, I'd recommend switching back to the latest stable dist (<1.0), and then you can switch to ubuntu-22.04 via the github-custom-runners setting.

Related issue: #1613

[konstin]

Would it be possible to change the global, non-building steps to ubuntu-latest? In our case (ruff and uv), we build the actual artifacts in separate containers due to our glibc requirements (manylinux), so it's only the global steps that are on the old ubuntu

[mpizenberg]

Also interested in this. Is there an explanation to what must be temporarily changed while waiting for the dist upgrade? I’ve just had my CI fail today due to this. In particular what custom runners should I set in my dist-workspace.toml file for the following?

[dist.github-custom-runners]
aarch64-apple-darwin = ?
aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu = ?
aarch64-pc-windows-msvc = ?
x86_64-apple-darwin = ?
x86_64-unknown-linux-musl = ?
x86_64-pc-windows-msvc = ?

And are these customization enough, or do I need to manually change things somewhere else?