Cloud Composer versioning overview

This page describes Cloud Composer versioning and lists differencesbetween major Cloud Composer versions.

Major versions of Cloud Composer

Cloud Composer has the following major versions:

  • Cloud Composer 1. Has manual environment scaling, the infrastructureis deployed to your projects and networks.
  • Cloud Composer 2. In this version, the environment's cluster scalesautomatically to meet the resource demands.
  • Cloud Composer 3. This version has simplified network setup and hidesinfrastructure components including the environment's cluster and environment's dependencies on other services.
Important: OnMarch 25, 2024, Cloud Composer 1 entered itspost-maintenance mode. Google will not release any further updates toCloud Composer 1, including new versions of Airflow, bugfixes, and securityupdates. OnSeptember 15, 2026, all Cloud Composer 1 environments willreach their planned end of life, and you will not be able to use them. Werecommendmigration to Cloud Composer 3.

Comparison of Cloud Composer versions

The following table lists major differences betweenCloud Composer 1, Cloud Composer 2, and Cloud Composer 3.

FeatureCloud Composer 1Cloud Composer 2Cloud Composer 3
Image versioncomposer-1.b.c-airflow-x.y.zcomposer-2.b.c-airflow-x.y.zcomposer-3-airflow-x.y.z-build.t
Airflow versionsAirflow 1.10.* and Airflow 2Airflow 2Airflow 2
Python versions3.8.123.11.8 (3.11.5 and 3.8.12 in earlier versions)3.11.8
Environment's clusterStandard mode VPC-native or Routes-based Google Kubernetes Engine clusterAutopilot mode VPC-native Google Kubernetes Engine clusterEnvironment's cluster is not deployed into your project.
Horizontal scalingCan adjust the number of nodes in the environment's cluster. This changes the number of Airflow workers.
Can adjust the number of Airflow schedulers.
Automatically scaling number of Airflow workers, based on demand. Can set and change upper and lower limits for the number of workers.
Can adjust the number of Airflow schedulers and triggerers
Automatically scaling number of Airflow workers, based on demand. Can set and change upper and lower limits for the number of workers.
Can adjust the number of Airflow schedulers, triggerers, and DAG processors
Vertical scalingCan set machine types for cluster nodes, Airflow web server and database when creating an environment. Can change machine types for Airflow web server and database.Can set and change the workloads configuration: CPU, memory, and storage parameters for Airflow workers, schedulers, web server, and the environment size.Can set and change the workloads configuration: CPU, memory, and storage parameters for Airflow workers, schedulers, web server, DAG processors, and the environment size.
Pricing modelCloud Composer 1 pricing modelCloud Composer 2 pricing modelCloud Composer 3 pricing model
Access controlCloud Composer 1 rolesCloud Composer roles. Uses Workload Identity Federation for GKE and requires additional permissions for the Cloud Composer Service Agent account.Cloud Composer roles. Uses Workload Identity Federation for GKE. Extra permissions are not required
Access through Workforce Identity FederationNot supportedSupportedSupported
Highly Resilient environmentsNot supportedSupportedSupported
Database retention policyNot supportedNot yet availableSupported
Private IP networkingVPC peeringsPrivate Service ConnectSimplified network setup. Can be changed between Public and Private IP in an existing environment.
VPC Service ControlsSupportedSupportedSupported
Airflow executorsCelery ExecutorCelery ExecutorCeleryKubernetes Executor
Airflow triggerer (deferrable operators)Not supportedSupportedSupported
Custom service account for KubernetesPodOperatorSupportedSupportedNot supported
CMEKSupportedSupportedSupported
Web server access controlsSupportedSupportedSupported
Restarting web serverSupportedSupportedSupported
Web server pluginsSupported in Airflow 1 environments with disabled DAG serialization.SupportedSupported, plugins can be disabled and enabled on demand.
Scheduler pluginsNot supportedSupportedNot supported
ListenersNot supportedSupportedOnly task-level listeners
TimeTablesOnly Built-InCustom and Built-InOnly Built-In
Scheduler custom PyPI packagesNot supportedSupportedNot supported
Installing custom pluginsSupportedSupportedSupported
Maintenance operationsAll tasks can be impacted.Tasks that take less than 55 minutes to execute are not impacted.Tasks that take less than 24 hours to execute are not impacted.
Storing SnapshotsSupported for Airflow 2.x and 1.10.15 versionsSupportedSupported
Loading SnapshotsNot supportedSupportedSupported
Scheduled SnapshotsNot supportedSupportedSupported
Custom environment's bucketNot supportedSupportedSupported
Saving Airflow task logs only in Cloud LoggingNot supportedSupportedSupported
Data lineage integrationNot supportedSupportedSupported
Composer Local Development CLI toolNot supportedSupportedSupported

Cloud Composer images

To run Apache Airflow, Cloud Composer builds Docker imagesthat bundle Airflow releases with other common binaries and Pythonlibraries.

Cloud Composer images include Airflow modifications that arespecific to Cloud Composer and unsuitable for the upstream Airflowcodebase. Each Cloud Composer image contains preinstalled packagesalong with Cloud Composer-specific Airflow changes.

Google periodically releasesnew Cloud Composer images:

  • In Cloud Composer 3, images include new builds of supported Airflowversions. You can select an Airflow version and a build that you want touse. Your environment gets Cloud Composer improvementsautomatically.

  • In Cloud Composer 2 and Cloud Composer 1, images includeCloud Composer improvements and new builds of supportedAirflow versions. To get Cloud Composer improvements, youupgrade your environment to a later version of Cloud Composer.

Version deprecation and support

Composer 3

Google supports anAirflow build for a period of timeafter it was released:

  • 0-12 months from the release date: Cloud Composer 3environments running this Airflow build are supported.

  • 12+ months from the release date: Cloud Composer 3environments running these versions are unsupported.

    After an Airflow build is no longer supported, environmentsrunning this Airflow build are also unsupported and entirely user-managed.

Deprecated: In the past, some Airflow builds in Cloud Composer 3 had theirend of support date listed as "To be announced". This approach wasdeprecated. We're now providing support dates that dependon the date when a particular Airflow build was released. All Airflowbuilds that didn't have an end of support date when this change wasintroducedare supported until July 1, 2026. Because of this change,some Airflow builds released before July 1, 2025 are supported for longerthan the regular support period of 12 months. All builds released afterJuly 1, 2025 use the regular support period. All Airflow builds that hadtheir support date shorter than 12 months are now supported for 12 monthssince the date of their initial release.

Environments work with supported and unsupported Airflow builds in thefollowing way:

Composer 2

Google supportsCloud Composer 2 versions for a period oftime after the version's release:

You can use Cloud Composer versions after the date they areno longer supported. For example, if your environment is based on aCloud Composer version that is past the support period, theenvironment still works and you can keep using it. In this case, we recommendyou toupgrade your environment to asupported version.

Composer 1

New Cloud Composer 1 versions were released until the end of March 2023.All released Cloud Composer 1 versions followthe same version deprecation policy as Cloud Composer 2 and are supportedaccording to it.

Deprecated: OnMarch 25, 2024, Cloud Composer 1 entered itspost-maintenance mode. Google will not release any further updates toCloud Composer 1, including new versions of Airflow, bugfixes, and securityupdates. OnSeptember 15, 2026, all Cloud Composer 1 environments willreach their planned end of life, and you will not be able to use them. Werecommendmigration to Cloud Composer 3.

Airflow version support

Airflow followsthesemantical software versioning schema.Each version of Airflow has amajor,minor, andpatch version.

Composer 3

In Cloud Composer 3, new Airflow versions and builds become available as thetime goes.

Your environment can function with all previous Airflow versions and builds,and receives updates to its infrastructure components automatically. Eachversion and build is supported as described inVersion deprecation and support, and youcan choose to upgrade your Airflow version to a later version or build.

Composer 2

For a list of Airflow versions supported in each Cloud Composerversion, see thelist of Cloud Composer versions.

  • In each release, Cloud Composer 2 supportstwo minor versions of Airflow 2.

    For example, Cloud Composer 2.4.0 supports Airflow 2.4.* andAirflow 2.5.*.

  • For each minor version of Airflow 2, Cloud Composersupports one patch version.

    For example, for Airflow 2.4.*, Cloud Composer supportsAirflow 2.4.3.

  • When a new patch version of Airflow 2 becomes available inCloud Composer, the corresponding release hastwo patch versions of Airflow 2 available for the same minor versionof Airflow. The previous patch version is then removed in one of the nextreleases.

    For example, Cloud Composer 2.3.4 supports both Airflow 2.5.1and Airflow 2.5.3.

  • Cloud Composer canskip some Airflow patch versions betweenreleases of Cloud Composer. In addition, if there arefunctional, quality, or performance issues with a specific patch versionof Airflow, Cloud Composer can also skip this version.

    For example, Airflow 2.1.3 is skipped and Airflow 2.1.4 is available.

  • A Cloud Composer release running a stable Airflow version caninclude Airflow updates that are backported from a later Airflow version.

Composer 1

The latest version of Airflow supported in Cloud Composer 1 is Airflow 2.4.3.

Only Cloud Composer 1 supports Airflow 1.10.15, which is the latest releasedversion of Airflow 1.

Cloud Composer version schema

Composer 3

Cloud Composer 3 versioning schema captures Airflow versions and builds:

composer-3-airflow-x.y.z-build.t

Where:

  • composer-3 is the major version of Cloud Composer.

  • airflow-x.y.z.build.t is the Airflow version and build.Every next release of the same Airflow version in Cloud Composer 3 has ahigher build number. The build number is defined byCloud Composer and not by the Airflow open source project.

Composer 2

Cloud Composer 2 image versioning schema captures Cloud Composerand Airflow versions:

composer-2.b.c-airflow-x.y.z

Where:

  • composer-2.b.c denotes the minor and patch version ofCloud Composer-managed customizations in Cloud Composer 2.As a general rule, minor versions of Cloud Composer correspondto significant changes in functionality compared to the previous minorversion, such as when the available set of Airflow versions is changed.Patch versions are updated in subsequent releases.

  • airflow-x.y.z is the Airflow release, it denotes the major, minor, andpatch version of Airflow that's used in a specificCloud Composer image.

Composer 1

Cloud Composer 1 image versioning schema captures Cloud Composerand Airflow versions:

composer-1.b.c-airflow-x.y.z

Where:

  • composer-1.b.c is the version of Cloud Composer-managedcustomizations
  • airflow-x.y.z is the Airflow release

Version aliases

Version aliases work in the following way:

  • Cloud Composer resolves the version alias to the full format whenit creates your environment:

    • All version aliases becomecomposer-3-airflow-x.y.z-build.t inCloud Composer 3.
    • All version aliases becomecomposer-a.b.c-airflow-x.y.z inCloud Composer 2 and Cloud Composer 1.
  • In Cloud Composer 3, using a version alias, such ascomposer-3-airflow-x.ydoes not automatically upgrade the Airflow version and build of yourenvironment. The environment stays on the same Airflow build andversion until you upgrade it. The environment still receives automaticinfrastructure upgrades, as usual.

  • In Cloud Composer 2 and Cloud Composer 1, using a version alias, such ascomposer-a-airflow-x.y.zdoes not provide automatic upgrades for anenvironment. The environment stays on the same Cloud Composerand Airflow version until you upgrade it.

Cloud Composer 3 version aliases

Cloud Composer 3 supports the following version aliases:

AliasAirflow version
composer-3-airflow-2Latest version and build of Airflow 2
composer-3-airflow-x.yLatest version and build of Airflow withinx.y major and minor versions
composer-3-airflow-x.y.zLatest build of the specified version of Airflow

Cloud Composer 2 version aliases

Cloud Composer 2 supports the following version aliases:

AliasCloud Composer versionAirflow version
composer-2-airflow-2Latest version of Cloud Composer 2Latest version of Airflow 2
composer-2-airflow-x.yLatest version of Cloud Composer 2Latest version of Airflow withinx.y major and minor versions
composer-2-airflow-x.y.zLatest version of Cloud Composer 2Specified version of Airflow
composer-2.b.c-airflow-x.ySpecified version of Cloud Composer 2Latest version of Airflow available withinx.y major and minor versions

Cloud Composer 1 version aliases

Cloud Composer 1 supports the following version aliases:

AliasCloud Composer versionAirflow version
composer-1-airflow-2Latest version of Cloud Composer 1Latest version of Airflow 2
composer-1-airflow-1Latest version of Cloud Composer 1Latest version of Airflow 1
composer-1-airflow-x.yLatest version of Cloud Composer 1Latest version of Airflow withinx.y major and minor versions
composer-1-airflow-x.y.zLatest version of Cloud Composer 1Specified version of Airflow
composer-1.b.c-airflow-x.ySpecified version of Cloud Composer 1Latest version of Airflow available withinx.y major and minor versions.

The following version aliases point to Cloud Composer 2. You can still usethem, but consider switching to aliases for your version ofCloud Composer.

  • composer-latest-airflow-x.y is equal tocomposer-2-airflow-x.y.
  • composer-latest-airflow-x.y.z is equal tocomposer-2-airflow-x.y.z.

Version arguments in Google Cloud CLI

When youcreate orupgradea Cloud Composer environment using Google Cloud CLI, you canspecify Cloud Composer and Airflow versions:

Composer 3

  • --image-version argument specifies the Airflow version and build in thecomposer-3-airflow-x.y.z-build.t format. You can useversion aliases, which are resolved byGoogle Cloud CLI into the full format.

  • --airflow-version specifies the Airflow version in the following formats:

    • Thex.y.z format is for the latest build of the specified version ofAirflow. This format is equal to thecomposer-3-airflow-x.y.zversion alias.

    • Thex.y format is for the latest build of Airflow available withinx.y major and minor versions. This format is equal to thecomposer-3-airflow-x.y version alias.

    • x.y.z-build.t is the specified version and build of Airflow. Thisformat is equal tocomposer-3-airflow-x.y.z-build.t.

Composer 2

  • --image-version argument specifies Cloud Composer 2 and Airflowversions:

    • composer-a.b.c-airflow-x.y.z format creates an environment with thespecified versions of Cloud Composer and Airflow.
    • Version aliases first resolve tothecomposer-a.b.c-airflow-x.y.z format and then create anenvironment with the specified versions of Cloud Composer 2and Airflow.
  • --airflow-version specifies the Airflow version in the following formats:

    • Thex.y.z format is for the latest version of Cloud Composer 2 andthe specified version of Airflow. This format is equal tothecomposer-2-airflow-x.y.z version alias.

    • Thex.y format is for the latest version of Cloud Composer 2 and thelatest version of Airflow available withinx.y major and minorversions. This format is equal to thecomposer-2-airflow-x.yversion alias.

Composer 1

  • --image-version argument specifies Cloud Composer 1 and Airflowversions:

    • composer-a.b.c-airflow-x.y.z format creates an environment with thespecified versions of Cloud Composer and Airflow.
    • Version aliases first resolve tothecomposer-a.b.c-airflow-x.y.z format and then create anenvironment with the specified versions of Cloud Composer 1and Airflow.
  • --airflow-version specifies the Airflow version in the following formats:

    • Thex.y.z format is for the latest version of Cloud Composer 1 andthe specified version of Airflow. This format is equal tothecomposer-1-airflow-x.y.z version alias.

    • Thex.y format is for the latest version of Cloud Composer 1 and thelatest version of Airflow available withinx.y major and minor versions. This format is equal to thecomposer-1-airflow-x.y version alias.

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Last updated 2025-11-04 UTC.