We’re thrilled to announce that Fabric Runtime 1.3 has officially moved from Public Preview to General Availability (GA). This is a major upgrade to our Apache Spark-based big data execution engine, which powers both data engineering and data science workflows. Fabric Runtime 1.3 is now fully integrated into the Fabric platform, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for all users.
What Does This Mean for You?
With this release, all new workspaces will automatically be set up with Fabric Runtime 1.3. However, if you’re working in an existing workspace, it will stay on its current runtime version unless you decide to upgrade.
If you’re still using Runtime 1.1 or Runtime 1.2, we highly recommend upgrading to Runtime 1.3 as soon as possible. Not only does this version offer the latest features and optimizations, but support for Runtime 1.1 will end on March 31, 2025. After that date, continuing on an outdated runtime could lead to disruptions, so it’s important to plan ahead.
What’s New in Fabric Runtime 1.3?
Fabric Runtime 1.3 brings several exciting enhancements, including:
- Delta Lake 3.2: Improved data storage and management, enabling faster and more reliable data operations.
- Python and R Updates: Upgrades to popular Python libraries and improvements to the R language to boost performance and compatibility.
- Query-Specific Optimizations: Fine-tuned query handling for better performance and efficiency.
These updates are designed to make your data engineering and science tasks more efficient, helping you process and analyze large datasets faster. For more detailed information, you can read the official documentation here: Learn more about Runtime 1.3
How to Upgrade to Fabric Runtime 1.3?
Upgrading to the new runtime version is simple and can be done in just a few steps.
1. For the workspace level:
• Navigate to Workspace Settings > Data Engineering/Science > Spark Compute > Workspace Level Default.
• From there, select Fabric Runtime 1.3 or the desired runtime version from the list.
2. For a specific environment:
• In your environment, go to the Home tab and click on Runtime.
• Choose the runtime that best suits your needs based on the preinstalled packages and settings.
Once you’ve made the change, all new Spark sessions within the workspace, including tasks related to Lakehouses, Spark Jobs Definitions (SJDs), and Notebooks, will automatically run on the newly selected version. If you’re working on an active notebook session, it will continue to use the old runtime until the session ends, but any new sessions will adopt Runtime 1.3.
Why Upgrade Now?
Upgrading ensures you’re always working with the latest features and improvements, maximizing your productivity and efficiency. By staying current with Fabric Runtime 1.3, you can take advantage of the latest innovations while avoiding any service disruptions when older versions are phased out.