macOS-latest workflows will use macOS-11

[miketimofeev]

Breaking changes

macOS-11 is ready to be the default version for the "macos-latest" label in GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps.

Target date

This change will be rolled out over a period of several weeks beginning on September, 15. We plan to complete the migration by November, 3 December, 13 January 14.

The motivation for the changes

GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps have supported macOS-11 in preview mode since October 2020, and starting from August 2021 macOS-11 is generally available for all customers. For almost a year we have monitored customer feedback to improve the macOS-11 image stability and now we are ready to set it as the latest.

Possible impact

The macOS-11 image has a different set of software than macOS-10.15. The most significant changes are listed in the table below:

Tool name	macOS-10.15	macOS-11	Notes
R lang	4.*	-	R was not available for Big Sur when we prepared the image for the first time. Please use standard tool request process if the tool needs to be added
Virtualbox and Vagrant	6.* and 2.*	-	Virtualbox on macOS 11 requires security preferences changes, which can't be easily done. The PR with virtualbox is not yet merged #4010
Java	8(default) 11 12 13	8(default) 11	Due to our software guidelines we left only LTS versions on the image. If you need to use other versions of Java, consider using setup-java and Java tool installer tasks
Python toolcache	2.7 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9	3.7 3.8 3.9	EOL python versions were deprecated
PyPy toolcache	2.7 3.6 3.7	2.7 3.7	Version 3.6 was deprecated as it won't receive any updates
Go toolcache	1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17	1.15 1.16 1.17	EOL go versions were deprecated
Xamarin.Mono	6.4 - 6.12	6.12	Old versions and versions incompatible with the pre-installed Xcodes were removed
Xamarin.iOS	13.2 - 14.10	13.20 - 14.20	Old versions and versions incompatible with the pre-installed Xcodes were removed
Xamarin.Mac	6.2 - 7.8	6.20 - 7.14	Old versions and versions incompatible with the pre-installed Xcodes were removed
Xamarin.Android	10.0 - 11.2	11.0 - 11.3	Old versions and versions incompatible with the pre-installed Xcodes were removed
Xcode	12.4 (default) 12.3 12.2 12.1.1 12.1 12.0.1 11.7 11.6 11.5 11.4.1 11.3.1 11.2.1 10.3	13.0 (beta) 12.5.1 (default) 12.5 12.4 11.7	Only OS-compatible versions left + the latest 11 version
Android SDK build-tools and platforms	24 - 31	27 - 31	Android Platforms and build tools < 27.0 were removed from image. Consider installation in runtime using sdkmanager

Virtual environments affected

• Ubuntu 16.04
• Ubuntu 18.04
• Ubuntu 20.04
• macOS 10.15
• macOS 11
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

Mitigation ways

If you see any issues with your workflows during this transition period:

• File an issue in this repository
• Switch back to macOS 10.15 by specifying the “macOS-10.15" label. We will continue to support macOS 10.15.

[spoelstraethan]

This should probably be given higher priority or a sooner release date, with iOS 15 becoming widely available to end users on September 20.

In our experience the iOS 15 betas are already requiring the new digital signatures that only seem to be available in Xcode 12.5.x, so any Apple Enterprise program users signing applications with the macos-10.15 image are going to see their apps not launching on iOS 15 if they are installing them via AppCenter.ms or anywhere but TestFlight/App Store.

It appears that Xcode 12.5.x is only available on the macos-11 image and Apple doesn't support it on Catalina aka 10.15 so either you will have a LOT of customers using the default macos-latest image reaching out for support or spending hours (or days) trying to figure out the issue, or you could save them a lot of hassle and update the tag for everybody.

[zi6xuan]

When I compiled the ios version of the flutter project on actions, the script script of the ios project got stuck. Stuck at the last script running. I was stuck for six hours and was eventually cancelled because time ran out.

project: flutter
platform: iOS
tool: fastlane

[miketimofeev]

@zi6xuan feel free to create a new issue and we will try to help you

[ettore]

Meanwhile, this forum post highlights the iOS re-signing details on macOS 10.15 / Xcode 12 to solve the new signature issues on iOS 15 devices:
https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/682775

[jimhester]

FWIW the first R-4.1.1.pkg link for Intel based Macs at https://cloud.r-project.org/bin/macosx/ does support Big Sur (I have been using it on Big Sur myself for months now), however the explanatory text does not seem to have been updated to reflect this.

[miketimofeev]

@jimhester feel free to open Add request in this repo and we will add R to the Big Sur image.

[bionanek]

Just out of curiosity - why does this update take so long after new iOS and MacOS has been already officially released by Apple? I mean, If it's gonna be done by November 3rd it's gonna be +/- 3 months without proper GitHub support for this kind of environments.

[miketimofeev]

The migration is completed — all the jobs on macos-latest now run on macos-11.

[ghost]

My job doesn't run yet on macos-11 https://github.com/goblinengine/goblin/actions/runs/1730824706

[miketimofeev]

@filipworksdev the build took place 6 days ago, we finished the migration yesterday

[iMonZ]

@filipworksdev the build took place 6 days ago, we finished the migration yesterday

What about macOS 12?

[ghost]

@iMonZ @miketimofeev Guys you were right. Everything is done. The build was old. I did a fresh build and is all been ported. Is all good . Thank you everyone! Now I can finally use C++17 for iOS 👍