Actions: new images and ubuntu-latest changes

Ubuntu 24 for GitHub-hosted runners is now GA

The Ubuntu 24.04 image for Actions is now generally available. To use Ubuntu 24 directly on your GitHub-hosted runners update runs-on: in your workflow file to ubuntu-24.04.

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
      - name: Build
        run: dotnet build
      - name: Run tests
        run: dotnet test

The Ubuntu 24.04 runner image has different tools and tool versions than Ubuntu 22.04.

ubuntu-latest migration

The ubuntu-latest label will migrate to Ubuntu 24 over the course of the next month, beginning September 23rd and finishing on October 30th. During migration, you can determine if your job has migrated by viewing the “Runner Image” information in the “Set up job” step of your Actions logs.

macOS 15 for GitHub-hosted runners in Public Beta

The macOS 15 image for Actions is now available in public beta. To use macOS 15 directly, update runs-on: in your workflow file to macos-15, macos-15-xlarge, or macos-15-large.

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: macos-15
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Build
        run: swift build
      - name: Run tests
        run: swift test

The macOS 15 runner image has different tools and tool versions than macOS 14.

To view the list of installed software for each image, or report issues, head to the runner-images repository.

Following our change to default customers to use Node20, Node16 will reach end of life in the Actions runner on the 15th of October 2024.

From the 15th of October, we will no longer include Node16 in the Actions runner and customers will no longer be able to use Node16 Actions or operating systems that do not support Node20.

To prevent disruption to your Actions workflows, if you’re an Actions maintainer, update your actions to run on Node20 instead of Node16. If you’re an Actions user, update your workflows with latest versions of the actions, which run on Node20.

Learn more about Actions configuration settings or using versions for Actions. Join the discussion within GitHub Community.

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Starting today, existing GitHub Enterprise customers will begin to transition to the enhanced billing platform.

What is the enhanced billing platform?

The enhanced billing platform is a suite of new features designed to help administrators understand and manage GitHub spend for their enterprise. Benefits of the new platform include:

  • Cost allocation – create cost centers to allocate spend to different Azure subscriptions
  • Spend transparency – view usage for organizations, repositories, products, cost centers, and SKUs by hour, day, month, or year
  • Improved control – set budgets to limit spending and configure alerts to stay informed of budget utilization

View of the usage page of the enhanced billing platform

What to expect

Existing enterprises will gain access to the enhanced billing platform on a rolling basis, and all enterprises will have access by March 2025. You will be informed via email as well as through an in-app banner on the billing page in advance of the transition .

Here are some things to know about the transition:
– Once transitioned, a new Billing & Licensing section will appear in the enterprise account menu.
Spending limits will be migrated and renamed as budgets in the new billing platform. For more details about budgets, visit “Preventing overspending.”
– While the new billing platform will not visually display historical usage, you will be able to download a usage report to get your pre-transition historical usage.

Other important changes

  • Git Large File Storage will transition from prepaid, quota-based data packs to a usage-based metered billing model. If you use Git Large File Storage today, you’ll receive credits for any unused data packs. For more information, visit “About enhanced billing for Git Large File Storage.”
  • Note: some billing-related APIs will no longer work or will work differently, and the relevant API documentation will be updated to reflect this information. In the coming weeks, there will be a separate changelog post that summarizes these changes. For more information about the billing API, visit “REST API endpoints for enterprise billing.”

Learn more

For more information, visit “Using the enhanced billing platform for enterprises” or join the GitHub Community discussion.

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