Running Workflow on Self Hosted Runner

Leverage your own infrastructure for faster, customizable CI/CD by configuring GitHub Actions to run on a self-hosted runner. In this guide, we’ll:

1. Verify your runner registration
2. Start the runner service
3. Update a workflow to target your self-hosted runner
4. Commit and push changes
5. Trigger and monitor the job
6. Inspect logs both in GitHub and on the runner VM

Prerequisites

• A GitHub repository with Actions enabled
• A VM (or physical server) where the self-hosted runner is installed
• Network access between GitHub and your runner

1. Verify Your Self-Hosted Runner

Navigate to Settings > Actions > Runners in your repository to ensure your runner is registered and idle:

2. Start the Runner Service

On your runner VM, start the runner process:

cd ~/actions-runner
./run.sh

You should see:

Current runner version: '2.310.2'
2023-10-24 14:51:44Z: Listening for Jobs

3. Update Your Workflow to Target the Self-Hosted Runner

Open the .github/workflows directory and locate your workflow YAML:

Original Workflow (GitHub-hosted runner)

name: Testing Self-Hosted Runner
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
  testing:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Echo Content
        run: |
          echo "Ok"
          sleep 15s

Updated Workflow (Self-Hosted Runner)

Replace runs-on: ubuntu-latest with the labels assigned to your runner (e.g., self-hosted, linux, prod):

name: Testing Self-Hosted Runner
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
  testing:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, prod]
    steps:
      - name: Echo Content
        run: |
          echo "Ok"
          sleep 15s

4. Commit and Push Your Changes

Commit the updated workflow file directly to your main branch (or a feature branch):

5. Trigger the Workflow

1. Open the Actions tab in your repository.
2. Select Testing Self-Hosted Runner.
3. Click Run workflow to invoke workflow_dispatch.

The job status will change to in progress as soon as a matching self-hosted runner picks it up.

6. Monitor Jobs and Inspect Logs

For live details on the runner and active jobs, visit the self-hosted runner’s configuration page:

On your VM, the runner’s logs will reflect job execution:

root@ubuntu-host ~/actions-runner ➜ ./run.sh
Current runner version: '2.310.2'
2023-10-24 14:51:44Z: Listening for Jobs
2023-10-24 15:23:57Z: Running job: testing
2023-10-24 15:24:16Z: Job testing completed with result: Succeeded

Best Practices for Self-Hosted Runners

References

• GitHub Actions: Self-Hosted Runners
• workflow_dispatch Event
• GitHub Actions Concepts