--- title: "Upcoming breaking change: Python 3 will be the default version used in License Compliance" author: Nicole Schwartz author_gitlab: NicoleSchwartz author_twitter: gitlab description: "Python 3 will soon become the default version used by the Secure stage License Compliance feature." categories: releases tags: releases, news, integrations ee_cta: false install_cta: false postType: product --- With the release of GitLab 12.2 on August 22, Python 3 will become the default version used in the Secure stage License Compliance1 feature. GitLab.com users should expect to see the change at the beginning of August. ### What do I do if I use Python 2.0? GitLab self-managed users with Python 2 will need to set the CI variable `LM_PYTHON_VERSION` to "2" when they start using GitLab 12.2. GitLab.com users will need to do so at the beginning of August. In the GitLab 12.0 release post, [we announced License Compliance1 will change the default version of Python from version 2 to version 3](/blog/2019/06/22/gitlab-12-0-released/#license-management-will-use-python-3-as-the-default-in-gitlab-12.2) in GitLab 12.2, and that support for Python 2 would be deprecated in a future release due to [Python 2.7 reaching the end of its life](https://pythonclock.org/) on Jan. 1, 2020. ### What if I currently use Python 3? You can change License Compliance1 to use Python 3 by setting the CI variable `LM_PYTHON_VERSION` to "3" today. If you do not make this change before the default is changed, it will only begin to work starting with GitLab 12.2. ##### 1What is License Compliance? License Compliance, formerly called License Management, [is being renamed to better align with common industry vernacular starting in 12.2](/blog/2019/06/22/gitlab-12-0-released/#secure-license-management-renamed-to-license-compliance-in-gitlab-12.0). The purpose of License Compliance is to track which licenses are used by third-party components included in your project, like libraries and external dependencies, and to check that they are compatible with your organizations licensing model. License Compliance is part of our [Secure Composition Analysis group](/handbook/product/categories/#composition-analysis-group). You can view the [documentation for License Management here](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/application_security/license_compliance/).