Ubuntu-slim Git version was downgraded to v2.43?

[bewuethr]

Description

It looks like at some point between 20260413.54.1 and 20260504.56.2, the Git version of ubuntu-slim was downgraded from 2.53.0 to 2.43.0

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions - Standard Runners
• GitHub Actions - Larger Runners

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• Ubuntu Slim
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• macOS 26
• macOS 26 Arm64
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025
• Windows Server 2025 with Visual Studio 2026

Image version and build link

VM image version: 20260504.56.2

Is it regression?

VM image version: 20260413.54.1

Expected behavior

I expect Git to be the latest version at the time when the image was created; the README says 2.52, the latest available is 2.54, and previously, there was 2.53. I expect at least Git 2.52 to be available.

Actual behavior

The Git version in ubuntu-slim as of today is 2.43:

2026-05-06T20:15:35.5886400Z Current runner version: '2.334.0'
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5909602Z ##[group]Runner Image Provisioner
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5912160Z Hosted Compute Agent
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5912750Z Version: 20260415.520
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5913295Z Commit: af089020f5f67b61ccc91db6c07980876c02bf7b
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5914053Z Build Date: 2026-04-15T18:07:08Z
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5914667Z Worker ID: {8f1d3abb-dda9-4772-a6ef-adf6816adba5}
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5915318Z Azure Region: northcentralus
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5915997Z ##[endgroup]
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5918041Z ##[group]VM Image
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5918665Z - OS: Linux (x64)
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5919225Z - Source: Docker
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5919702Z - Name: ubuntu:24.04
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5920523Z - Version: 20260504.56.2
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5921104Z ##[endgroup]
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5922145Z ##[group]GITHUB_TOKEN Permissions
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5923894Z Contents: read
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5924518Z Metadata: read
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5925127Z Packages: read
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5925680Z ##[endgroup]
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5927617Z Secret source: Actions
2026-05-06T20:15:35.5928363Z Prepare workflow directory
2026-05-06T20:15:35.6640128Z Prepare all required actions
2026-05-06T20:15:35.6826753Z Complete job name: print-version
2026-05-06T20:15:35.8120883Z ##[group]Run git --version
2026-05-06T20:15:35.8121671Z �[36;1mgit --version�[0m
2026-05-06T20:15:35.8762479Z shell: /usr/bin/bash -e {0}
2026-05-06T20:15:35.8763402Z ##[endgroup]
2026-05-06T20:15:35.9284615Z git version 2.43.0
2026-05-06T20:15:35.9462964Z Uploading runner diagnostic logs
2026-05-06T20:15:35.9631040Z Completed runner diagnostic log upload
2026-05-06T20:15:35.9631746Z Cleaning up orphan processes

Repro steps

1. Create a GitHub Actions workflow running on ubuntu-slim and print the Git version

   name: Git version
   
   on:
     workflow_dispatch:
   
   jobs:
     print-version:
       runs-on: ubuntu-slim
       steps:
         - name: Print git version
           run: git --version

2. Inspect the output

[v-GeorgyPuzakov]

Hi @bewuethr,
We will have a look and get back to you.

[pgaskin]

Runner image from last week with Git 2.53.0:

VM Image
  - OS: Linux (x64)
  - Source: Docker
  - Name: ubuntu:24.04
  - Version: 20260413.54.1

From today with Git 2.43.0:

VM Image
  - OS: Linux (x64)
  - Source: Docker
  - Name: ubuntu:24.04
  - Version: 20260504.56.2

[pgaskin]

The git install script for ubuntu-slim hasn't changed:

runner-images/images/ubuntu-slim/scripts/build/install-git.sh

Lines 9 to 15 in c47d2b0

	GIT_REPO="ppa:git-core/ppa"
	## Install git
	add-apt-repository $GIT_REPO -y
	apt-get update
	apt-get install git

However, apt isn't configured to force the use of the PPA for git, neither is an explicit git version specified.

The PPA doesn't appear to have changed, though, and currently has 2.54.0 (as of 20260421, which is later than the old image, so it makes sense): https://launchpad.net/~git-core/+archive/ubuntu/ppa?field.series_filter=noble.

So the only plausible explanation is that the PPA was either empty or silently failed to get added (the latter seems unlikely since the install script is run with bash -e), causing it to fall back to the version in the ubuntu archives.

Also, side note: the image report (https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/main/images/ubuntu-slim/ubuntu-slim-Report.json) in this repository appears to be quite outdated. Are these still getting updated?