How to configure Self-Hosted GitHub Actions Runner | How to install Self-Hosted GitHub Actions Runner | Configure EC2 instance as self-hosted runner in GitHub Actions

A self-hosted GitHub runner is a machine (physical or virtual) that you set up and manage to run GitHub Actions workflows. A self-hosted runner differs from the default GitHub-hosted runners in that it runs on infrastructure that you control. Self-hosted runners can be physical, virtual, in a container, on-premises, or in a cloud. To learn more about GitHub runner, please click here.

Advantages of self-hosted runners:

• full control over the environment and tools
• Any size machine or configuration
• Secure access and networking

Pre-requisites:

• Project configured in GitHub
• workflow yaml already checked-in GitHub. If you don't have one, click here to create one.
• Create a virtual machine with at least 2 GB RAM. we will use EC2 instance in AWS cloud.
• Install Maven on runner EC2 instance

How to create self-hosted GitHub Actions Runner?

Go to GitHub Repo--> Actions --> Runners

Click on self-hosted runners --> New Runner

Click on Linux

Perform update

sudo apt update

Install Maven in Runner EC2 as We will be doing Maven build for Java project

sudo apt install maven -y

Execute below commands in your virtual machine to configure runner.

Download installables

# Create a folder

mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner

# Download the runner package

curl -o actions-runner-linux-x64-2.323.0.tar.gz -L https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.323.0/actions-runner-linux-x64-2.323.0.tar.gz

# Extract the installer

tar xzf ./actions-runner-linux-x64-2.323.0.tar.gz

Configure the runner

./config.sh --url https://github.com/akannan1087/myJan2024WeekdayRepo --token Token

Enter the name of the runner group to add this runner to: [press Enter for Default]

press enter default for the runner group

Enter name of the runner 

MyRunner1

Enter any additional labels

MyRunner1

Just press Enter for name of work folder

Now configure runner to run as a service

Even if you are stopping and starting your VM, github runner will always run. First install the runner as a service.

sudo ./svc.sh install

Start the service

sudo ./svc.sh start

Check runner to make sure it is running by executing below command:

sudo ./svc.sh status

this confirms that runner is setup and running fine. waiting for the jobs.

you can also view in GitHub under Runners tab:

Create a workflow or modify your existing pipeline or workflow YAML to include GitHub runner:

name: Build a WAR file using Maven

on:

  push:

    branches: [ "main" ]

jobs:

  build:

    runs-on: self-hosted

    steps:

    - uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: Set up JDK 11
      uses: actions/setup-java@v2
      with:
        distribution: 'adopt'
        java-version: '11'
    - name: Build with Maven
      run: mvn clean install -f MyWebApp/pom.xml

Save the file and run the workflow.

Go to your virtual machine where build is running:

Watch steps in YouTube channel:

Different types of GitHub runners | GitHub runners various types | Self hosted vs GitHub Hosted runner

A self-hosted GitHub runner is a machine (physical or virtual) that you set up and manage to run GitHub Actions workflows. GitHub Actions is a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) and automation service provided by GitHub. It allows you to define workflows in your GitHub repositories to automate build, test, and deployment processes. 

• GitHub-hosted runner
• Self-hosted runner
• Larger runner 
• ephemeral self-hosted runners (on-demand)

GitHub-hosted runners:

• These are runners provided by GitHub, and they are hosted on GitHub's infrastructure.
• GitHub provides various virtual machine configurations for different operating systems and environments.
• They are automatically scaled based on the demand, and you don't have to manage their infrastructure.
• GitHub-hosted runners have time and resource limitations, and you may need to consider these limitations based on your project's needs.

Self-hosted runners:

A self-hosted runner differs from the default GitHub-hosted runners in that it runs on infrastructure that you control. Self-hosted runners can be physical, virtual, in a container, on-premises, or in a cloud.

GitHub-hosted large runners:

GitHub offers customers on GitHub Team and GitHub Enterprise Cloud plans a range of managed virtual machines with more RAM, CPU, and disk space. These runners are hosted by GitHub and have the runner application and other tools preinstalled.

Ephemeral self-hosted runners:

GitHub Actions now supports ephemeral (i.e. single job) self-hosted runners to make autoscaling your runners easier. After a job is run, ephemeral runners are automatically unregistered from the service, allowing you to do any required post-job management. Ephemeral runners are a good choice for self-managed environments where you need each job to run on a clean image.