Scaling GitHub Actions on AWS: Best Practices for Managing Self-Hosted Runners

Scaling GitHub Actions on AWS: Best Practices for Managing Self-Hosted Runners

When it comes to scaling GitHub Actions on Amazon Web Services (AWS), managing self-hosted runners is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and reliability. Self-hosted runners allow you to customize your CI/CD workflows, keeping sensitive data in-house, and reducing potential dependencies on third-party infrastructure. In this article, we’ll discuss best practices for managing self-hosted runners at scale on AWS.

Choose the Right Infrastructure

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) or Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) can be used to manage self-hosted runners at scale. Both platforms offer scalability, high availability, and ease of deployment.

1.1 Amazon ECS

Amazon ECS

• Simple to set up and manage
• Integrates well with AWS services like Fargate, Task Definition, and Cluster
• Supports different container runtimes and platforms
• Can be easily scaled using Auto Scaling groups or Elastic Load Balancers

1.2 Amazon EKS

Amazon EKS

• A fully managed service for running Kubernetes clusters at scale
• Offers advanced features such as Auto Scaling, Cluster Autoscaler, and Managed Nodegroups
• More complex setup but offers greater flexibility and control over Kubernetes clusters
• Highly recommended for larger scale deployments or organizations with complex requirements

Security Best Practices

Security should always be a top priority when managing self-hosted runners at scale.

2.1 Access Control

Limit access to your self-hosted runners. Ensure that only trusted users and services have access to your runner infrastructure.

2.2 Encryption

Encrypt sensitive data

• Use encryption when at rest and in transit
• Consider using AWS services like KMS, S3, or DynamoDB

2.3 Network Isolation

Isolate your self-hosted runners from the public internet. Use private networks, security groups, or VPCs to secure access to your infrastructure.

Monitoring and Logging

Monitoring and logging are crucial for maintaining the health and performance of your self-hosted runners at scale.

3.1 Real-Time Monitoring

Use AWS services like CloudWatch, Elasticsearch, and Logstash for real-time monitoring of your self-hosted runners.

3.2 Alerts and Notifications

Set up alerts and notifications for critical events, such as runner failures or high error rates.

Scaling GitHub Actions in Larger Organizations with Self-Hosted Runners on AWS

GitHub Actions, an automated workflow created by GitHub, has been gaining popularity among development teams due to its simplicity and ease of use. It allows developers to define and run workflows that automate tests, builds, and deployments right from the same repository where your code resides. The benefits of GitHub Actions are numerous: it is free for public repositories, integrates seamlessly with other GitHub features like pull requests and releases, and offers a vast library of pre-built actions that can be used out of the box.

The Need for Scaling

As organizations and their projects grow, the demand for more extensive and complex workflows increases. In response, GitHub Actions allow users to scale their workflows by adding more actions or jobs and even creating multiple workflows. However, as the number of workflows and the size of each one grow, managing them can become a challenge for larger organizations.

Self-Hosted Runners on AWS

One solution to this problem is the use of self-hosted runners. Self-hosting allows organizations to control and manage their own infrastructure for running GitHub Actions, providing better security, performance, and customization. In this blog post, we’ll focus on best practices for managing self-hosted runners on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is a popular choice for many organizations due to its scalability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Topics Covered:

• Setting up an AWS EC2 instance for self-hosted runners
• Configuring the runner to connect with GitHub
• Managing and scaling runners using AWS services like Elastic Load Balancer, Auto Scaling, and ECS
• Monitoring and logging for self-hosted runners on AWS

Stay Tuned!

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In the following sections, we’ll dive deeper into each topic and provide you with best practices for managing self-hosted runners on AWS. Stay tuned!

Understanding GitHub Actions and Self-Hosted Runners

GitHub Actions is a continuous integration, delivery, and security platform provided by GitHub. It enables developers to automate their workflows right from GitHub. With GitHub Actions, you can build, test, package, release, and deploy your projects using a variety of languages, tools, and services. It offers numerous actions for different use cases like Docker build, Python test, Java deploy, and many more.

What are Self-Hosted Runners?

Self-hosted runners

(SHRs) are a part of the GitHub Actions ecosystem that allows users to host their own runners on their infrastructure. Self-hosted runners can be installed on your servers, datacenters, or even in the cloud. By running your workflows on your infrastructure, you gain more control over the security, customizability, and performance aspects of your CI/CD pipeline.

Security

When you use GitHub-managed runners, your code is being executed on GitHub’s servers. Although GitHub takes great care to ensure the security of their infrastructure, there are some organizations that require even more stringent controls over who has access to their code and data. By using self-hosted runners, you can ensure that your code is never leaving your infrastructure, mitigating the risk of potential breaches.

Customizability

Self-hosted runners offer a high degree of customizability, allowing you to tailor the runners to your specific needs. For example, if you’re working on a project that requires access to an internal API or database, you can configure your self-hosted runners with the necessary permissions. This flexibility enables teams to maintain control over their CI/CD infrastructure and adapt it to their unique requirements.

Performance

Running your workflows on self-hosted runners can also lead to improved performance, as the runners are located closer to your infrastructure. This reduced latency leads to faster build times and quicker feedback loops, enabling teams to iterate more effectively on their projects.

Comparison: GitHub-managed Runners vs. Self-Hosted Runners on AWS

GitHub-managed runners

• Provided by GitHub as part of the GitHub Actions platform.
• Easy to set up and get started with.
• Automatically scaled based on usage.
• Limited customizability.

Self-hosted runners on AWS

• Hosted and managed by the user on their Amazon Web Services infrastructure.
• Fully customizable to meet specific requirements.
• Can be used in conjunction with GitHub-managed runners for added flexibility.
• Additional costs associated with using AWS infrastructure.

I Setting Up Self-Hosted Runners on AWS

Prerequisites:

Before setting up self-hosted runners on AWS, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:

• AWS Account: Ensure you have an active AWS account.
• GitHub Account: Link your GitHub repository with the AWS account.
• IAM Permissions: Configure required permissions for accessing EC2 instances and other necessary services.

Setting Up an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):

Begin by setting up a new Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for your self-hosted runner:

1. Log in to the link and navigate to the EC2 dashboard.
2. Create a new Amazon Linux 2 AMI (x86_64 architecture) and customize it with the required packages for GitHub Runner.

Installing and Configuring GitHub Runner for AWS:

Next, install the GitHub Runner software on the newly created AMI:

3. Access your EC2 instance and install Docker following the link.
4. Download and extract the GitHub Runner package from its official repository using the command:

sudo wget https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/github-runner_X.Y.Z_linux_amd64.tar.gz \
      && sudo tar xz github-runner_X.Y.Z_linux_amd64.tar.gz \
      && sudo mv github-runner /usr/local/bin/

5. Configure GitHub Runner with the necessary environment variables and access token from your GitHub repository.

Configuring Self-Hosted Runners:

Now, let’s configure your self-hosted runners:

6. Add the following lines to the /etc/systemd/system/github-runner.service file:

[Unit]
    Description=GitHub Runner
    After=network.target

    [Service]
    WorkingDirectory=/home/github-runner
    User=github-runner
    Group=root
    Restart=always
    ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/github-runner start --config /home/github-runner/config.toml

7. Save the file and restart the GitHub Runner service using:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload && sudo systemctl enable github-runner

Registering Self-Hosted Runners in GitHub Actions:

Lastly, register your newly created self-hosted runners in GitHub Actions:

9. Navigate to your GitHub repository and go to the /actions folder.
10. Create a new file called runners.yml and define your runner:

name: MyAWSRunner
      pool:
        name: MyPool
      config:
        machine:
          image: amazon/aws-codebuild-linux:latest
          type: virtual

11. Commit and push the changes to your repository.
12. Inside your workflow file, specify the runner pool:

jobs:
        build:
          runs-on: MyPool

Managing Self-Hosted Runners on AWS at Scale

Scaling and managing self-hosted runners on Amazon Web Services (AWS) can be a complex task. In this section, we will discuss strategies for managing self-hosted runners at scale using autoscaling, load balancing, security, monitoring, and logging.

Strategies for managing self-hosted runners at scale

To manage self-hosted runners at scale, you can use AWS services like Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Fargate for autoscaling and Amazon Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) for load balancing.

Autoscaling with AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Fargate

AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) is a fully managed container orchestration service that makes it easy to run and scale containerized applications. You can use Fargate, which is the launch type for ECS tasks without having to manage EC2 instances or clusters. By using autoscaling groups with AWS ECS and Fargate, you can automatically add or remove containers based on the current demand.

Load balancing with Amazon Elastic Load Balancer (ELB)

Amazon Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) allows you to automatically distribute incoming application traffic across multiple targets, such as containers or instances, to ensure availability and high performance. ELB can also help you handle traffic spikes by automatically adding or removing targets based on the current demand.

Configuring AWS security groups for secure access to self-hosted runners

Security is a critical aspect of managing self-hosted runners on AWS. You can configure security groups to control access to your runners by specifying the allowed IP addresses or ranges, ports, and protocols.

Monitoring and logging self-hosted runners using AWS tools (CloudWatch, CloudTrail)

AWS provides several monitoring and logging services like Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon CloudTrail to help you monitor the performance, availability, and security of your self-hosted runners. With these tools, you can set up alarms for key metrics, view logs to troubleshoot issues, and gain insights into your runner’s usage patterns.

Best Practices for Managing Self-Hosted Runners on AWS:

Maintaining Self-Hosted Runners with Regular Updates and Patches

Self-hosted runners on Amazon Web Services (AWS) require regular updates and patches to ensure optimal performance and security. You can set up an automated system using tools like AWS Systems Manager Run Command or Terraform to apply software updates and security patches to your self-hosted runners.

Ensuring Data Security and Encryption for GitHub Actions using AWS Services (S3, KMS)

Protecting your data is crucial when using self-hosted runners on AWS for GitHub Actions. You can use AWS services like Simple Storage Service (S3) and Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt your data both at rest and in transit. Configure AWS IAM roles for GitHub Actions to provide access only to the required AWS resources.

Utilizing AWS Services to Optimize Resource Usage and Costs

Optimize your resource usage and cost savings when managing self-hosted runners on AWS by utilizing the following services:

EC2 Spot Instances

Use Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Spot Instances to save up to 80% on compute costs compared to On-Demand instances. These instances allow you to use spare computing capacity in the AWS cloud at up to a 90% discounted price.

Auto Scaling Groups

Scale your self-hosted runners automatically based on demand using Auto Scaling Groups. This ensures that you have the right number of resources to handle GitHub Actions workflows efficiently, without overpaying for unused capacity or risking performance issues due to insufficient resources.

Backing up Self-Hosted Runners in Case of Disaster Recovery Scenarios

Lastly, ensure data redundancy and disaster recovery by backing up your self-hosted runners. Use AWS services like Amazon S3 for storing backups and AWS Data Lifecycle Policies to automate backup retention and expiration. Additionally, you can implement disaster recovery strategies like Multi-Region Mirroring or cross-region replication for added data resiliency.

VI. Conclusion

Managing GitHub Actions at scale with self-hosted runners on AWS offers numerous benefits and importance for organizations. Firstly, self-hosted runners provide greater control over the CI/CD pipeline, allowing organizations to customize their workflows according to their specific needs. Secondly, self-hosted runners enable the processing of large workloads and complex builds, reducing the dependency on external resources which can lead to cost savings and improved performance. Thirdly, self-hosted runners increase security by allowing organizations to manage their infrastructure, access control, and data privacy in-house.

Best Practices for Scaling GitHub Actions with AWS

To ensure success when scaling GitHub Actions using AWS services, organizations are encouraged to follow these best practices:

Properly configure and manage your self-hosted runners in a scalable manner using AWS services like Amazon ECR, Amazon S3, and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).
Automate the creation of self-hosted runners using AWS services like AWS Batch, AWS Lambda, or AWS Fargate.
Monitor the performance and availability of self-hosted runners using tools like Amazon CloudWatch and GitHub Actions logs.
Implement security measures, such as access control and encryption, for your self-hosted runners and AWS infrastructure.
5. Ensure proper communication between GitHub Actions and AWS services to streamline the CI/CD pipeline.

Further Learning Resources

For readers interested in implementing these strategies within their own organizations, we recommend the following resources and learning materials:

[GitHub documentation on self-hosted runners](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners)
[AWS documentation on running GitHub Actions on AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/containers/running-github-actions-on-amazon-elastic-kubernetes-service/)
[GitHub community discussion on scaling GitHub Actions with AWS](https://github.com/communities/github-actions/discussions/102328)
[AWS GitHub repository for self-hosted runners on EKS](https://github.com/aws-samples/eks-github-actions)
5. [AWS Well-Architected Framework for CI/CD](https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected/landing-pages/ci-cd/)

By following these best practices and utilizing the resources provided, organizations can effectively manage GitHub Actions at scale using self-hosted runners on AWS. Embrace automation and reap the benefits of increased control, improved performance, and enhanced security.