Broken py312 headers on ubuntu 24.04 runner image

[jbrockmendel]

Description

The pandas-dev/pandas CI started failing yesterday (pandas-dev/pandas#65226) with build failures "../../meson.build:2:0: ERROR: Compiler cython cannot compile programs". We patched it by setting PKG_CONFFIG_PATH (pandas-dev/pandas#65228), but I'm hoping an upstream fix is available longer-term.

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

https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/actions/runs/24413763030/job/71317330629

Is it regression?

https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/actions/runs/24370135756/job/71171651141

Expected behavior

meson succeeds

Actual behavior

build failure.

Repro steps

Run pandas CI without the patch.

[Pierreluc14]

A more clear description

Description

• The ubuntu-24.04 runner image updated on 2026-04-14 (ubuntu24/20260413.86) has broken system Python 3.12 headers — the multiarch pyconfig.h is missing, causing the meson Cython sanity check to fail with Compiler cython cannot compile programs

[v-GeorgyPuzakov]

Hello @jbrockmendel,
We did not start any deployment 3 days ago, so this is most likely unrelated to a regression. We only began rolling out the new version yesterday.
We will check this issue and get back to you.