docs/content/actions/tutorials/use-actions-runner-controller/quickstart.md

title, shortTitle, intro, versions, type, topics, defaultPlatform, redirect_from

title	shortTitle	intro	versions	type	topics	defaultPlatform	redirect_from
Quickstart for Actions Runner Controller	Quickstart	In this tutorial, you'll try out the basics of {% data variables.product.prodname_actions_runner_controller %}.	fpt ghec ghes * * *	quick_start	Actions Runner Controller	linux	/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners-with-actions-runner-controller/quickstart-for-actions-runner-controller /actions/tutorials/quickstart-for-actions-runner-controller /actions/tutorials/actions-runner-controller/quickstart-for-actions-runner-controller

Prerequisites

In order to use ARC, ensure you have the following.

• A Kubernetes cluster

  • For a managed cloud environment, you can use AKS. For more information, see Azure Kubernetes Service in the Azure documentation.
  • For a local setup, you can use minikube or kind. For more information, see minikube start in the minikube documentation and kind in the kind documentation.

• Helm 3

  • For more information, see Installing Helm in the Helm documentation.

• While it is not required for ARC to be deployed, we recommend ensuring you have implemented a way to collect and retain logs from the controller, listeners, and ephemeral runners before deploying ARC in production workflows.

Installing Actions Runner Controller

1. To install the operator and the custom resource definitions (CRDs) in your cluster, do the following.

   1. In your Helm chart, update the NAMESPACE value to the location you want your operator pods to be created. This namespace must allow access to the Kubernetes API server.
   2. Install the Helm chart.

   The following example installs the latest version of the chart. To install a specific version, you can pass the --version argument along with the version of the chart you wish to install. You can find the list of releases in the GitHub Container Registry.

   NAMESPACE="arc-systems"
   helm install arc \
       --namespace "{% raw %}${NAMESPACE}{% endraw %}" \
       --create-namespace \
       oci://ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner-controller-charts/gha-runner-scale-set-controller
   

   For additional Helm configuration options, see values.yaml in the ARC documentation.

2. To enable ARC to authenticate to {% data variables.product.company_short %}, generate a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %}. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.

Configuring a runner scale set

1. To configure your runner scale set, run the following command in your terminal, using values from your ARC configuration.

   When you run the command, keep the following in mind.

   • Update the INSTALLATION_NAME value carefully. You will use the installation name as the value of runs-on in your workflows. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.

   • Update the NAMESPACE value to the location you want the runner pods to be created.

   • Set GITHUB_CONFIG_URL to the URL of your repository, organization, or enterprise. This is the entity that the runners will belong to. {% ifversion fpt %}

   • Set GITHUB_PAT to a {% data variables.product.company_short %} {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} with the repo and admin:org scopes for repository and organization runners. {% else %}

   • Set GITHUB_PAT to a {% data variables.product.company_short %} {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} with the repo and manage_runners:org scopes for repository and organization runners, and the manage_runners:enterprise scope for enterprise runners. {% endif %}

   • This example command installs the latest version of the Helm chart. To install a specific version, you can pass the --version argument with the version of the chart you wish to install. You can find the list of releases in the GitHub Container Registry.

     Note

     • {% data reusables.actions.actions-runner-controller-security-practices-namespace %}
     • {% data reusables.actions.actions-runner-controller-security-practices-secret %} For more information, see AUTOTITLE.

     INSTALLATION_NAME="arc-runner-set"
     NAMESPACE="arc-runners"
     GITHUB_CONFIG_URL="https://github.com/<your_enterprise/org/repo>"
     GITHUB_PAT="<PAT>"
     helm install "{% raw %}${INSTALLATION_NAME}{% endraw %}" \
         --namespace "{% raw %}${NAMESPACE}{% endraw %}" \
         --create-namespace \
         --set githubConfigUrl="{% raw %}${GITHUB_CONFIG_URL}{% endraw %}" \
         --set githubConfigSecret.github_token="{% raw %}${GITHUB_PAT}{% endraw %}" \
         oci://ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner-controller-charts/gha-runner-scale-set
     

     For additional Helm configuration options, see values.yaml in the ARC documentation.

2. From your terminal, run the following command to check your installation.

   helm list -A
   

   You should see an output similar to the following.

   NAME            NAMESPACE       REVISION        UPDATED                                 STATUS          CHART                                       APP VERSION
   arc             arc-systems     1               2023-04-12 11:45:59.152090536 +0000 UTC deployed        gha-runner-scale-set-controller-0.4.0       0.4.0
   arc-runner-set  arc-runners     1               2023-04-12 11:46:13.451041354 +0000 UTC deployed        gha-runner-scale-set-0.4.0                  0.4.0
   

3. To check the manager pod, run the following command in your terminal.

   kubectl get pods -n arc-systems
   

   If everything was installed successfully, the status of the pods shows as Running.

   NAME                                                   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   arc-gha-runner-scale-set-controller-594cdc976f-m7cjs   1/1     Running   0          64s
   arc-runner-set-754b578d-listener                       1/1     Running   0          12s
   

If your installation was not successful, see AUTOTITLE for troubleshooting information.

Using runner scale sets

Now you will create and run a simple test workflow that uses the runner scale set runners.

1. In a repository, create a workflow similar to the following example. The runs-on value should match the Helm installation name you used when you installed the autoscaling runner set.

   For more information on adding workflows to a repository, see AUTOTITLE.

   name: Actions Runner Controller Demo
   on:
     workflow_dispatch:
   
   jobs:
     Explore-GitHub-Actions:
       # You need to use the INSTALLATION_NAME from the previous step
       runs-on: arc-runner-set
       steps:
       - run: echo "🎉 This job uses runner scale set runners!"
   

2. Once you've added the workflow to your repository, manually trigger the workflow. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.

3. To view the runner pods being created while the workflow is running, run the following command from your terminal.

   kubectl get pods -n arc-runners -w
   

   A successful output will look similar to the following.

   NAMESPACE     NAME                                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS      AGE
   arc-runners   arc-runner-set-rmrgw-runner-p9p5n                     1/1     Running   0             21s
   

Next steps

{% data variables.product.prodname_actions_runner_controller %} can help you efficiently manage your {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} runners. Ready to get started? Here are some helpful resources for taking your next steps with ARC:

• For detailed authentication information, see AUTOTITLE.
• For help using ARC runners in your workflows, see AUTOTITLE.
• For deployment information, see AUTOTITLE.

Legal notice

{% data reusables.actions.actions-runner-controller-legal-notice %}