Runner version v2.330.0 is deprecated and cannot receive messages

[FalconerTC]

Starting on March 16 2026, attempting to start a self-hosted runner built from the image ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner:2.330.0 fails to startup with the following errors

[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Terminal] WRITE ERROR: An error occured: Runner version v2.330.0 is deprecated and cannot receive messages.
An error occured: Runner version v2.330.0 is deprecated and cannot receive messages.
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener] GitHub.DistributedTask.WebApi.AccessDeniedException: Runner version v2.330.0 is deprecated and cannot receive messages.
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Actions.RunService.WebApi.BrokerHttpClient.GetRunnerMessageAsync(Nullable`1 sessionId, String runnerVersion, Nullable`1 status, String os, String architecture, Nullable`1 disableUpdate, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Common.BrokerServer.<>c__DisplayClass7_0.<<GetRunnerMessageAsync>b__0>d.MoveNext()
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener] --- End of stack trace from previous location ---
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Common.RunnerService.RetryRequest[T](Func`1 func, CancellationToken cancellationToken, Int32 maxAttempts, Func`2 shouldRetry)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.BrokerMessageListener.GetNextMessageAsync(CancellationToken token)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.Runner.RunAsync(RunnerSettings settings, Boolean runOnce)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.Runner.RunAsync(RunnerSettings settings, Boolean runOnce)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.Runner.RunAsync(RunnerSettings settings, Boolean runOnce)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.Runner.ExecuteRunnerAsync(RunnerSettings settings, Boolean runOnce)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.Runner.ExecuteCommand(CommandSettings command)
[RUNNER 2026-03-17 12:20:29Z ERR  Listener]    at GitHub.Runner.Listener.Program.MainAsync(IHostContext context, String[] args)
Runner listener exit with terminated error, stop the service, no retry needed.
Exiting runner...

Describe the bug
This is presumedly related to the announced minimum version enforcement (https://github.blog/changelog/2026-02-05-github-actions-self-hosted-runner-minimum-version-enforcement-extended/) but the blobpost there and subsequent blogposts all referencing it mention that the new minimum version is v2.329.0. v2.330.0 is also the last version that uses Ubuntu 22 so this means that Ubuntu 22 is also deprecated.

Is this intentional or has the wrong version been deprecated?

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create a self-hosted runner using ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner:2.330.0
2. Observe that the runner fails to startup

Runner Version and Platform

2.330.0

[diogotorres97]

#4203 😄