Upgrade to Azure Synapse runtimes for Apache Spark 3.4 & previous runtimes deprecation

It is important to stay ahead of the curve and keep services up to date. That's why we encourage all Azure Synapse customers with Apache Spark workloads to migrate to the newest GA version, Azure Synapse Runtime for Apache Spark 3.4. The update brings Apache Spark to version 3.4 and Delta Lake to version 2.4, introduces Mariner as the new operating system, and updates Java from version 8 to 11. 

Within a few days/weeks, we are disabling Apache Spark 2.4, 3.1, 3.2 job execution. If you are affected you have already been notified. Using the runtime after EOS date is at one's own risk, and with the agreement and acceptance of the risks that jobs will eventually stop executing. All support tickets will be auto-resolved. Learn more about the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy.

Migrate to the latest GA version of Azure Synapse runtimes for Apache Spark 3.4 before the deprecation and disablement of previous versions. 

Please refer to the following article for more information on the lifecycle and supportability of our runtimes: Azure Synapse runtimes.

Go to Synapse runtime for Apache Spark lifecycle and supportability - Azure Synapse Analytics | Microsoft Learn and Migration Guide: Spark Core - Spark 3.4.1 Documentation (apache.org) for more details on how to migrate and how to change Apache Spark-based runtime in Azure Synapse Analytics.