We're excited to announce a new version of the software image used for Mantacompute jobs. The new image is based on the 13.3 baseimage,so it includes upgraded versions of the packages already available in Manta.What's more: many additional packages are installed by default, includingR, Octave,and ImageMagick support for WebP images.

While we believe this image should be a compatible upgrade for most customersand so should be non-impacting, it's possible that some applications may bebroken by the upgrade. In order to avoid breaking existing jobs, the image iscurrently only available by opting in on a per-job basis. (See below fordetails.) Additionally, after we change the default, we will retain somecapacity for the older image. You can try the new image using the --imageflag to mjob ormlogin.

The new image will become the default for new jobs starting June 16. It'sstrongly recommended that you try out any existing jobs on the new image beforethat time. If you need help doing that, please contactsupport.

FAQ

What's an image, and what's actually changing?

Recall that Manta compute jobs run inside containers called compute zones.Each zone is created from a software image that basically defines whichsoftware packages that are available and installed in that zone.

Before today, new Manta jobs were always executed in zones based on the SmartOS13.1image.Starting today, new jobs can instead choose to run in zones based on theSmartOS 13.3image.The new image has much more software available (8829 packages in the 13.3-basedimage instead of 2213 in the 13.1-based image) and provides new versions formany of the existing packages.

Note that the image defines which pkgsrc packages are installed in the zone,but you can always run your own software in a zone based on any image as long asyou either provide all of your own dependencies or rely only on libraries thatdon't change incompatibly over time.

How does this affect me?

Since the 13.1-based image is still the default, there's no immediate change forusers unless you opt in to the new image. But starting June 16, new jobs willrun in the 13.3-based image by default. For that reason, it's stronglyrecommended that you test your jobs on the 13.3-based image as soon as possibleso that things don't start breaking on that day.

How can I try out the new image now?

You can try the new image today by adding --image=13.3 to your mjobcommand. You have to do this for each phase. For example:

$ mjob create \    --image=13.3 -m "grep request_id" \    --image=13.3 -r "sort | uniq -c"

You can also play around with the image using mlogin:

$ mlogin --image=13.3

Note that this requires version 1.2.7 or later of the MantaCLI (released on May 13). You caninstall or upgrade your Manta CLI tools with:

$ npm install -g manta

What if I need to use the old image after June 16?

We understand that some users may need to keep using the old 13.1-based imageafter we switch the default to 13.3. We'll keep some zones available using theold image, but capacity will be significantly reduced for this image, and itwill be completely removed shortly thereafter. If you need help moving to thenew image, please contact support.