Custom GitHub Actions Runner

This repository contains a custom GitHub Actions Runner image based on the official ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner image with additional tools pre-installed.

Image

ghcr.io/marxbiotech/actions-runner:latest

Base Image

• Base: ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner:2.336.0 (pinned in the Dockerfile)

The base image is pinned to an exact runner version and bumped via Dependabot. Keep it current: GitHub stops queueing jobs to a self-hosted runner that has not been updated within 30 days of a new actions/runner release, and ARC runners do not self-update — the image tag is the only way to upgrade them.

Additional Tools

This custom image includes the following additional tools beyond the base image:

Tool	Description	Version
GitHub CLI (gh)	GitHub's official command line tool for interacting with GitHub API, managing PRs, issues, repos, and more	Latest
Docker CLI	Docker command line client for building and managing containers	Latest
Docker Buildx	Docker CLI plugin for extended build capabilities with BuildKit	Latest

GitHub CLI (gh)

The GitHub CLI allows you to:

• Create, view, and manage pull requests
• Create, view, and manage issues
• Manage GitHub Actions workflows
• Authenticate and interact with GitHub API
• Clone, fork, and manage repositories

Usage Example in Workflow:

steps:
  - name: Create a pull request
    run: gh pr create --title "My PR" --body "Description"
    env:
      GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Docker CLI

The Docker CLI allows you to build and manage containers. When running on ARC (Actions Runner Controller), configure a DinD sidecar to provide the Docker daemon.

ARC RunnerSet with DinD Sidecar:

apiVersion: actions.github.com/v1alpha1
kind: RunnerSet
metadata:
  name: my-runner
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: runner
          image: ghcr.io/marxbiotech/actions-runner:latest
          command: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
          args:
            - |
              while [ ! -f /certs/client/ca.pem ]; do
                echo "Waiting for dind certificates..."
                sleep 1
              done
              /home/runner/run.sh
          env:
            - name: DOCKER_HOST
              value: tcp://localhost:2376
            - name: DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY
              value: "1"
            - name: DOCKER_CERT_PATH
              value: /certs/client
          volumeMounts:
            - name: docker-certs
              mountPath: /certs/client
              readOnly: true
        - name: dind
          image: docker:dind
          securityContext:
            privileged: true
          env:
            - name: DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR
              value: /certs
          volumeMounts:
            - name: docker-certs
              mountPath: /certs
      volumes:
        - name: docker-certs
          emptyDir: {}

Usage Example in Workflow:

steps:
  - name: Build Docker image
    run: docker build -t my-app .

Automated Builds

This image is automatically built and pushed to GitHub Container Registry (ghcr.io) when:

• A push is made to the main branch
• The workflow is manually triggered

Usage

Pull the image

docker pull ghcr.io/marxbiotech/actions-runner:latest

Use in self-hosted runner

Configure your self-hosted runner to use this image instead of the default one.

Tags

Tag	Description
latest	Latest build from main branch
main	Latest build from main branch
<sha>	Specific commit SHA

License

This project follows the same license as the base GitHub Actions Runner image.