Update EOL OS versions in helix-platforms.yml

[richlander]

Note

This PR was generated by GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.11 using the update-os-coverage skill.

Replace EOL and approaching-EOL OS versions in helix queue definitions with current supported versions per supported-os.json for .NET 11:

Distro	Old version	New version	Reason
openSUSE	15.5	16.0	15.5 already EOL
Fedora	42	43	42 EOL 2026-05-13 (before .NET 11 GA)
Debian	12	13	12 EOL 2026-06-10 (before .NET 11 GA)

All changes are in eng/pipelines/helix-platforms.yml (oldest-version variables for x64 and arm32 helix queues). Container images for all replacement versions are confirmed available in dotnet-buildtools-prereqs-docker.

Partially addresses #125690 (main branch items).

Sources

• .NET 11 supported-os.json — authoritative OS support matrix
• Container image registry — verified image availability
• endoflife.date — EOL date lookups for openSUSE, Fedora, Debian

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Updates Helix Linux queue “oldest” platform aliases in eng/pipelines/helix-platforms.yml to remove EOL / approaching-EOL distro versions and align with currently supported OS versions (per the PR description’s .NET 11 supported OS list).

Changes:

• Debian x64 “oldest” updated from 12 → 13.
• Fedora x64 “oldest” updated from 42 → 43.
• openSUSE x64 “oldest” updated from 15.5 → 16.0.
• Debian ARM32 “oldest” updated from 12 → 13 (including internal queue var).

[richlander]

FYI: oldest == newest in some cases. Is that OK @agocke@hoyosjs? It's a statement of reality.

[richlander]

@copilot will there be multiple runs of a given distro when oldest == newest?

[Copilot]

@richlander I've opened a new pull request, #125992, to work on those changes. Once the pull request is ready, I'll request review from you.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

[github-actions]

🤖 Copilot Code Review — PR #125991

Note

This review was generated by GitHub Copilot.

Holistic Assessment

Motivation: Justified. The tracked issue (#125690) audited OS references across branches and identified three distros with EOL or approaching-EOL "oldest" Helix queue versions on main. openSUSE 15.5 is already EOL; Fedora 42 and Debian 12 reach EOL before .NET 11 GA. Updating these is necessary routine maintenance.

Approach: Correct. The change is a straightforward version bump in the centralized helix-platforms.yml config file, which is the single source of truth for Helix queue platform definitions. The new versions are consistent with the latest versions already defined in the same file and align with supported-os.json for .NET 11.

Summary: ✅ LGTM. This is a clean, mechanical infrastructure change. All updated values are internally consistent (comments match values, queue names match container image tags). The only notable observation — that _oldest now equals _latest for Debian, Fedora, and openSUSE — is an expected consequence of each distro having only one currently supported version, not a bug.

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Detailed Findings

✅ Correctness — Version updates are consistent and accurate

All five variable updates follow the same pattern: the # Oldest: comment is updated to match the new version number, the Helix queue name in parentheses is updated (e.g., Debian.12.Amd64.Open → Debian.13.Amd64.Open), and the container image tag is updated (e.g., debian-12-helix-amd64 → debian-13-helix-amd64). Each update is internally consistent across its three components.

The ARM32 Debian updates correctly update both the .Open (public) and non-.Open (internal) variants with matching queue names and images.

✅ Scope — Focused and matches tracking issue

The PR addresses exactly the main branch items from #125690:

• openSUSE 15.5 → 16.0
• Fedora 42 → 43
• Debian 12 → 13 (x64 + arm32)

No unrelated changes are included.

💡 Observation — _oldest now equals _latest for three distros

After this change, helix_linux_x64_debian_oldest = helix_linux_x64_debian_latest, and similarly for Fedora and openSUSE. This means test coverage collapses to a single version per distro. This is expected when only one version is supported, and the _oldest/_latest separation will provide value again when newer versions of these distros are added.

✅ Consumer impact — Low risk

The specific variables modified (helix_linux_x64_debian_oldest, helix_linux_x64_fedora_oldest, helix_linux_x64_opensuse_oldest, helix_linux_arm32_oldest, helix_linux_arm32_oldest_internal) are not currently referenced outside of helix-platforms.yml itself. The template is included by ~20 pipeline files, but consumers reference other variables (e.g., helix_linux_x64_oldest which is Ubuntu-based and unchanged). This makes the change very low risk.

Generated by Code Review for issue #125991 · ◷

[richlander]

@hoyosjs -- PTAL - this one is ready to go.