A Github actions runner in Docker

Introduction

This repository houses a Docker image for running Github Actions with a self-hosted runner. The runner is a Docker container and can be run both locally and remotely.

The runner allows you to quickly spin up runners as needed for your public or private repositories on Github.

How to register and run

In order to run this runner as a container, the following data is needed:

• A repository path (the part of the Github URL after github.com, e.g. Physer/github-runner-docker)
• An access token for your runner to connect to Github (more on this below)
• A name for your runner

Getting an access token for your runner

In order to get an access token to connect the runner to your repository, follow these steps:

1. Go to your repository on Github
2. Navigate to the settings page
3. Under the Code and automation tab, expand the Actions item and select Runners
4. Select New self-hosted runner in the top right
5. Look at the Configure tab, your token will be avaiable

Running the pre-built Docker image

You can find the Docker image on the Docker Hub.

Using the Docker CLI

Using the Docker CLI you can quickly run the Docker image as a container. Replace the environment variable values with your data and execute the following command:

docker run --name github-runner-docker -d -e REPOSITORY_PATH=foo -e RUNNER_ACCESS_TOKEN=foo -e RUNNER_NAME=foo physer/github-runner-docker

Using Docker Compose

You can also run the Docker container using Compose. Use the following service in your compose.yaml file:

services:
  runner:
    image: physer/github-runner-docker
    container_name: github-runner-docker
    environment:
      - REPOSITORY_PATH=foo
      - RUNNER_ACCESS_TOKEN=foo
      - RUNNER_NAME=foo

Building and running from source

If you wish to build and run the Docker container from the source of the repository, follow these steps:

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Copy the .env.example file and rename it to .env
3. Fill in the previously mentioned environment variables
4. Run docker compose up -d

Additional software

• Git
• Curl

References

• https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners/about-self-hosted-runners
• https://github.com/actions/runner/blob/main/images/Dockerfile