Debugging GitHub Actions using Gitpod

Testing out the GitHub Actions is a tough task, especially when you are dealing with Self-Hosted Runners for your enterprises. With this repository, you can set up and use a self-hosted runner within Gitpod's Cloud Development Environment (CDE).

Setup

Step 1: Generate a GitHub Personal Access Token

To use a self-hosted runner, you need to generate a personal access token (PAT) in GitHub. The token must have repo scope if you're going to use the runner with a private repository, or public_repo scope if you're going to use it with a public repository. You can use a PAT to configure each self-hosted runner or you can use the same PAT for each self-hosted runner that you create.

Step 2: Configure the GitHub Personal Access Token

Set the GitHub Personal Access Token as RUNNER_TOKEN in Gitpod Environment Variables with scope to your repository {REPO_OWNER_NAME}/{REPO_NAME} for that certain repository (Recommended) OR */* for all Repositories you will open in Gitpod Workspace.

Step 3: Start the Gitpod Workspace

It would open a fresh, ephemeral CDE with GitHub CLI Installed & ready-to-use.

Usage

Step 1: Create a Self-Hosted Runner

You can easily create a self-hosted runner using the GitHub CLI. For example, the following command creates a self-hosted runner in the current repository. You can pass any preferred name for your runner.

source create-runner.sh siddhant-demo-runner-01

Step 2: Use & Run GitHub Action Workflow Self-Hosted Runner

Once the self-hosted runner is set up and running, you can utilize it in your GitHub Actions workflows.

• Open your GitHub repository.

• Navigate to the Actions tab.

• Create or modify a workflow file (e.g., .github/workflows/demo.yml). Specify the runner label in your workflow file to target the self-hosted runner. For example:

  jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: self-hosted

• Commit and push your workflow file to trigger the workflow using the self-hosted runner.

  

---

Here, Machine name will be your Gitpod Workspace URL.

🗒️ Note

♻️ Reuse in Existing Gitpod Workspace

If you've got an existing Gitpod workspace that you want to turn into a runner:

• Set the GitHub PAT Token above as Gitpod environment variables.
• Run create-runner.sh in the terminal with above instructions.