docs/content/actions/tutorials/use-actions-runner-controller/authenticate-to-the-api.md

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

title	shortTitle	intro	versions	type	topics	defaultPlatform	redirect_from
Authenticating ARC to the GitHub API	Authenticate to the API	Learn how to authenticate {% data variables.product.prodname_actions_runner_controller %} to the {% data variables.product.company_short %} API.	fpt ghec ghes * * *	overview	Actions Runner Controller	linux	/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners-with-actions-runner-controller/authenticating-to-the-github-api /actions/how-tos/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners-with-actions-runner-controller/authenticating-to-the-github-api#deploying-using-personal-access-token-classic-authentication /actions/tutorials/actions-runner-controller/authenticating-arc-to-the-github-api

You can authenticate {% data variables.product.prodname_actions_runner_controller %} (ARC) to the {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} API by using a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} or by using a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %}.

Note

You cannot authenticate using a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} for runners at the enterprise level. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.

Authenticating ARC with a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %}

1. Create a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} that is owned by an organization. For more information, see AUTOTITLE. Configure the {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} as follows.

   1. For "Homepage URL," enter https://github.com/actions/actions-runner-controller.

   2. Under "Permissions," click Repository permissions. Then use the dropdown menus to select the following access permissions.

      • Administration: Read and write

        Note

        Administration: Read and write is only required when configuring {% data variables.product.prodname_actions_runner_controller %} to register at the repository scope. It is not required to register at the organization scope.

      • Metadata: Read-only

   3. Under "Permissions," click Organization permissions. Then use the dropdown menus to select the following access permissions.

      • Self-hosted runners: Read and write

{% data reusables.actions.arc-app-post-install-steps %}

1. In the menu at the top-left corner of the page, click Install app, and next to your organization, click Install to install the app on your organization.

2. After confirming the installation permissions on your organization, note the app installation ID. You will use it later. You can find the app installation ID on the app installation page, which has the following URL format:

   https://{% data variables.product.product_url %}/organizations/ORGANIZATION/settings/installations/INSTALLATION_ID

{% data reusables.actions.arc-app-post-install-set-secrets %}

Authenticating ARC with a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %}

ARC can use {% data variables.product.pat_v1_plural %} to register self-hosted runners.

{% ifversion ghec or ghes %}

Note

Authenticating ARC with a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %} is the only supported authentication method to register runners at the enterprise level.

{% endif %}

1. Create a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %} with the required scopes. The required scopes are different depending on whether you are registering runners at the repository{% ifversion ghec or ghes %}, organization, or enterprise{% else %} or organization{% endif %} level. For more information on how to create a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %}, see AUTOTITLE.

   The following is the list of required {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} scopes for ARC runners.

   • Repository runners: repo
   • Organization runners: admin:org {% ifversion ghec or ghes %}
   • Enterprise runners: manage_runners:enterprise {% endif %}

2. To create a Kubernetes secret with the value of your {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %}, use the following command.

   {% data reusables.actions.arc-runners-namespace %}

   kubectl create secret generic pre-defined-secret \
      --namespace=arc-runners \
      --from-literal=github_token='YOUR-PAT'
   

3. In your copy of the values.yaml file, pass the secret name as a reference.

   githubConfigSecret: pre-defined-secret
   

   {% data reusables.actions.actions-runner-controller-helm-chart-options %}

Authenticating ARC with a {% data variables.product.pat_v2 %}

ARC can use {% data variables.product.pat_v2_plural %} to register self-hosted runners.

{% ifversion ghec or ghes %}

Note

Authenticating ARC with a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %} is the only supported authentication method to register runners at the enterprise level.

{% endif %}

1. Create a {% data variables.product.pat_v2 %} with the required scopes. The required scopes are different depending on whether you are registering runners at the repository or organization level. For more information on how to create a {% data variables.product.pat_v2 %}, see AUTOTITLE.

   The following is the list of required {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} scopes for ARC runners.

   • Repository runners:

     • Administration: Read and write

   • Organization runners:

     • Administration: Read
     • Self-hosted runners: Read and write

2. To create a Kubernetes secret with the value of your {% data variables.product.pat_v2 %}, use the following command.

   {% data reusables.actions.arc-runners-namespace %}

   kubectl create secret generic pre-defined-secret \
      --namespace=arc-runners \
      --from-literal=github_token='YOUR-PAT'
   

3. In your copy of the values.yaml file, pass the secret name as a reference.

   githubConfigSecret: pre-defined-secret
   

   {% data reusables.actions.actions-runner-controller-helm-chart-options %}

Authenticating ARC with vault secrets

Note

Vault integration is currently available in public preview with support for Azure Key Vault.

Starting with gha-runner-scale-set version 0.12.0, ARC supports retrieving GitHub credentials from an external vault. Vault integration is configured per runner scale set. This means you can run some scale sets using Kubernetes secrets while others use vault-based secrets, depending on your security and operational requirements.

Enabling Vault Integration

To enable vault integration for a runner scale set:

1. Set the githubConfigSecret field in your values.yaml file to the name of the secret key stored in your vault. This value must be a string.
2. Uncomment and configure the keyVault section in your values.yaml file with the appropriate provider and access details.
3. Provide the required certificate (.pfx) to both the controller and the listener. You can do this by: *Rebuilding the controller image with the certificate included, or *Mounting the certificate as a volume in both the controller and the listener using the listenerTemplate and controllerManager fields.

Secret Format

The secret stored in Azure Key Vault must be in JSON format. The structure depends on the type of authentication you are using:

Example: GitHub Token

{
  "github_token": "TOKEN"
}

Example: GitHub App

{
  "github_app_id": "APP_ID_OR_CLIENT_ID",
  "github_app_installation_id": "INSTALLATION_ID",
  "github_app_private_key": "PRIVATE_KEY"
}

Configuring values.yaml for Vault Integration

The certificate is stored as a .pfx file and mounted to the container at /akv/cert.pfx. Below is an example of how to configure the keyVault section to use this certificate for authentication:

keyVault:
  type: "azure_key_vault"
  proxy:
    https:
      url: "PROXY_URL"
      credentialSecretRef: "PROXY_CREDENTIALS_SECRET_NAME"
    http: {}
    noProxy: []
  azureKeyVault:
    clientId: <AZURE_CLIENT_ID>
    tenantId: <AZURE_TENANT_ID>
    url: <AZURE_VAULT_URL>
    certificatePath: "/akv/cert.pfx"

Providing the Certificate to the Controller and Listener

ARC requires a .pfx certificate to authenticate with the vault. This certificate must be made available to both the controller and the listener components during controller installation. You can do this by mounting the certificate as a volume using the controllerManager and listenerTemplate fields in your values.yaml file:

volumes:
  - name: cert-volume
    secret:
      secretName: my-cert-secret
volumeMounts:
  - mountPath: /akv
    name: cert-volume
    readOnly: true

listenerTemplate:
  volumeMounts:
    - name: cert-volume
      mountPath: /akv/certs
      readOnly: true
  volumes:
    - name: cert-volume
      secret:
        secretName: my-cert-secret

The code below is an example of a scale set values.yml file.

listenerTemplate:
  spec:
    containers:
      - name: listener
        volumeMounts:
          - name: cert-volume
            mountPath: /akv
            readOnly: true
    volumes:
      - name: cert-volume
        secret:
          secretName: my-cert-secret

Legal notice

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