Mastering Self-Hosted Runners in GitHub Actions
Self-hosted runners exist to provide organizations with the ability to execute jobs from GitHub Actions on their own infrastructure. This means you can utilize machines and services that your company already maintains, reducing costs and improving efficiency. By deploying self-hosted runners, you gain control over the environment where your CI/CD jobs run, which can lead to faster execution times and better resource management.
How do self-hosted runners work? They can be set up on physical machines, virtual machines, in containers, or on cloud services. You can deploy them at different levels in your management hierarchy; repository-level runners are dedicated to a single repository, while organization-level runners can handle jobs for multiple repositories within an organization. This flexibility allows you to tailor your CI/CD pipeline to your specific needs and existing infrastructure.
In production, you need to be aware of the responsibilities that come with self-hosted runners. You are responsible for updating the operating system and all other software on the runner. Additionally, you have the option to disable automatic updates, which can lead to outdated software if not managed properly. This requires diligence to ensure security and performance are maintained over time.
Key takeaways
- →Leverage existing infrastructure by deploying self-hosted runners for GitHub Actions.
- →Utilize repository-level runners for single repositories and organization-level runners for multiple repositories.
- →Stay proactive in updating the operating system and software on your self-hosted runners.
Why it matters
Using self-hosted runners can significantly reduce costs by utilizing existing resources, while also providing greater control over the execution environment, leading to improved performance and reliability in your CI/CD pipelines.
When NOT to use this
The official docs don't call out specific anti-patterns here. Use your judgment based on your scale and requirements.
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