Managing larger runners

Adding a larger runner to an enterprise

Enterprise owners can add larger runners to an enterprise and assign them to organizations. By default, when a larger runner is created for an enterprise, it is added to a default runner group that all organizations in the enterprise have access to. While all organizations are granted access to the runner, the repositories in each organization are not granted access. For each organization, an organization owner must configure the runner group to specify which repositories have access to the enterprise runner. For more information, see "Allowing repositories to access larger runners."

You can choose an operating system and a hardware configuration from the list of available options. When new instances of this runner are deployed through autoscaling, they'll use the same operating system and hardware configuration you've defined here.

New runners are automatically assigned to the default group, or you can choose which group the runners must join during the runner creation process. In addition, you can modify the runner's group membership after you've registered the runner. For more information, see "Controlling access to larger runners."

1. In the top-right corner of GitHub, click your profile photo.

2. Depending on your environment, click Your enterprise, or click Your enterprises then click the enterprise you want to view.

3. On the left side of the page, in the enterprise account sidebar, click Policies.

4. Under " Policies", click Actions.

5. Click the Runners tab.

6. Click New runner, then click New GitHub-hosted runner.

7. Complete the required details to configure your new runner:

   • Name: Enter a name for your new runner. For easier identification, this should indicate its hardware and operating configuration, such as ubuntu-20.04-16core.

   • Platform: Choose a platform from the available options. Once you've selected a platform, you will be able to choose a specific image.

   • Image: Choose an image from the available options. Once you've selected an image, you will be able to choose a specific size.

     • GitHub-owned: For images managed by GitHub, select an image under this tab.
     • Partner: For images managed by a partner, select an image under this tab. Windows 11 desktop and GPU-optimized images are located under this tab.

   • Size: Choose a hardware configuration from the list of available options. The available sizes depend on the image that you selected in a previous step. For GPU runners, select a size under the GPU-powered tab.

   • Maximum concurrency: Choose the maximum number of jobs that can be active at any time.

   • Runner group: Choose the group that your runner will be a member of. This group will host multiple instances of your runner, as they scale up and down to suit demand.

   • Networking: Choose whether static IP address ranges will be assigned to instances of the larger runner. You can use up to 10 larger runners with static IP addresses in total.

   Note

   The names of larger runners can dictate their functionality. For example, to use a larger runner for code scanning default setup, the runner must be named code-scanning. For more information on code scanning with larger runners, see "Configuring larger runners for default setup."

8. Click Create runner.

9. To allow organizations to access your larger runner, specify which organizations can use the runner group the runner is assigned to. For more information, see "Controlling access to larger runners."

Adding a larger runner to an organization

Organization owners and users with the "Manage organization runners and runner groups" permission can add a larger runner to an organization control which repositories can use it. When you create a new runner for an organization, by default, all repositories in the organization have access to the runner. To limit which repositories can use the runner, assign it to a runner group with access to specific repositories. For more information, see "Allowing repositories to access larger runners."

You can choose an operating system and a hardware configuration from the list of available options. When new instances of this runner are deployed through autoscaling, they'll use the same operating system and hardware configuration you've defined here.

New runners are automatically assigned to the default group, or you can choose which group the runners must join during the runner creation process. In addition, you can modify the runner's group membership after you've registered the runner. For more information, see "Controlling access to larger runners."

1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the organization.

2. Under your organization name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.

   

3. In the left sidebar, click Actions, then click Runners.

4. Click New runner, then click New GitHub-hosted runner.

5. Complete the required details to configure your new runner:

   • Name: Enter a name for your new runner. For easier identification, this should indicate its hardware and operating configuration, such as ubuntu-20.04-16core.

   • Platform: Choose a platform from the available options. Once you've selected a platform, you will be able to choose a specific image.

   • Image: Choose an image from the available options. Once you've selected an image, you will be able to choose a specific size.

     • GitHub-owned: For images managed by GitHub, select an image under this tab.
     • Partner: For images managed by a partner, select an image under this tab. Windows 11 desktop and GPU-optimized images are located under this tab.

   • Size: Choose a hardware configuration from the list of available options. The available sizes depend on the image that you selected in a previous step. For GPU runners, select a size under the GPU-powered tab.

   • Maximum concurrency: Choose the maximum number of jobs that can be active at any time.

   • Runner group: Choose the group that your runner will be a member of. This group will host multiple instances of your runner, as they scale up and down to suit demand.

   • Networking: Choose whether static IP address ranges will be assigned to instances of the larger runner. You can use up to 10 larger runners with static IP addresses in total.

   Note

   The names of larger runners can dictate their functionality. For example, to use a larger runner for code scanning default setup, the runner must be named code-scanning. For more information on code scanning with larger runners, see "Configuring larger runners for default setup."

6. Click Create runner.

7. To allow repositories to access your larger runners, add them to the list of repositories that can use it. For more information, see "Allowing repositories to access larger runners."

Allowing repositories to access larger runners

Repositories are granted access to larger runners through runner groups. Enterprise administrators can choose which organizations are granted access to enterprise-level runner groups, and organization owners and users with the "Manage organization runners and runner groups" permission control repository-level access to all larger runners.

Organization owners can use and configure enterprise-level runner groups for the repositories in their organization, or they can create organization-level runner groups to control access. Users with the "Manage organization runners and runner groups" can only manage organization-level runner groups. For more information, see "About custom organization roles."

• For enterprise-level runner groups: By default, repositories in an organization do not have access to enterprise-level runner groups. To give repositories access to enterprise runner groups, organization owners must configure each enterprise runner group and choose which repositories have access.
• For organization-level runner groups: By default, all repositories in an organization are granted access to organization-level runner groups. To restrict which repositories have access, organization owners and users with the "Manage organization runners and runner groups" permission must configure organization runner groups and choose which repositories have access.

Once a repository has access to larger runners, the larger runners can be added to workflow files. For more information, see "Running jobs on larger runners."

1. Navigate to the main page of the organization where your runner groups are located.
2. Click Settings.
3. In the left sidebar, click Actions, then click Runner groups.
4. Select a runner group from either list on the page. Organization-level runner groups are listed at the top of the page, and enterprise-level runner groups are listed under "Shared by the Enterprise."
5. On the runner group page, under "Repository access," select All repositories or Selected repositories. If you choose to grant access to specific repositories, click , then select the repositories you would like to grant access to from the list.

Changing the name of a larger runner

You can edit the name of your larger runners.

• Changing the name of an organization runner
• Changing the name of an enterprise runner

Changing the name of an organization runner

1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the organization.

2. Under your organization name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.

   

3. In the left sidebar, click Actions, then click Runners.

4. In the list of runners, select the runner you would like to edit.

5. Enter a new name for the runner in the text field under "Name."

6. Click Save.

Changing the name of an enterprise runner

1. In the top-right corner of GitHub, click your profile photo.
2. Depending on your environment, click Your enterprise, or click Your enterprises then click the enterprise you want to view.
3. On the left side of the page, in the enterprise account sidebar, click Policies.
4. Under " Policies", click Actions.
5. Click the Runners tab.
6. In the list of runners, select the runner you would like to edit.
7. Enter a new name for the runner in the text field under "Name."
8. Click Save.

Configuring autoscaling for larger runners

You can control the maximum number of jobs allowed to run concurrently for specific runner sets. Setting this field to a higher value can help prevent workflows being blocked due to parallelism.

• Configuring autoscaling for an organization runner
• Configuring autoscaling for an enterprise runner

Configuring autoscaling for an organization runner

1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the organization.

2. Under your organization name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.

   

3. In the left sidebar, click Actions, then click Runners.

4. In the list of runners, select the runner you would like to edit.

5. In the "Auto-scaling" section, under "Maximum Job Concurrency," enter the maximum number of jobs you would like to allow to run at the same time.

6. Click Save.

Configuring autoscaling for an enterprise runner

1. In the top-right corner of GitHub, click your profile photo.
2. Depending on your environment, click Your enterprise, or click Your enterprises then click the enterprise you want to view.
3. On the left side of the page, in the enterprise account sidebar, click Policies.
4. Under " Policies", click Actions.
5. Click the Runners tab.
6. In the list of runners, select the runner you would like to edit.
7. In the "Auto-scaling" section, under "Maximum Job Concurrency," enter the maximum number of jobs you would like to allow to run at the same time.
8. Click Save.

Creating static IP addresses for larger runners

You can enable static IP addresses for larger runners. When you do this, the larger runners are assigned static IP address ranges. All IP addresses in the range assigned are usable and not in CIDR notation. By default, you can configure up to 10 different larger runners with IP ranges for your account. If you would like to use more than 10 larger runners with static IP address ranges, please contact us through the GitHub Support portal.

The number of available IP addresses in the assigned ranges does not restrict number of concurrent jobs specified for autoscaling. Within a runner pool, there is a load balancer which allows for high reuse of the IP addresses in the assigned ranges. This ensures your workflows can run concurrently at scale while each machine is assigned a static IP address.

• Creating static IP addresses for organization runners
• Creating static IP addresses for enterprise runners

Creating static IP addresses for organization runners

1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the organization.

2. Under your organization name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.

   

3. In the left sidebar, click Actions, then click Runners.

4. In the list of runners, select the runner you would like to edit.

5. To assign static IP addresses to the runner, under "Networking," check Assign unique & static public IP address ranges for this runner.

6. Click Save.

Creating static IP addresses for enterprise runners

1. In the top-right corner of GitHub, click your profile photo.
2. Depending on your environment, click Your enterprise, or click Your enterprises then click the enterprise you want to view.
3. On the left side of the page, in the enterprise account sidebar, click Policies.
4. Under " Policies", click Actions.
5. Click the Runners tab.
6. In the list of runners, select the runner you would like to edit.
7. To assign static IP addresses to the runner, under "Networking," check Assign unique & static public IP address ranges for this runner.
8. Click Save.