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Managing access to self-hosted runners using groups

You can use policies to limit access to self-hosted runners that have been added to an organization or enterprise.

Note: GitHub Actions was available for GitHub Enterprise Server 2.22 as a limited beta. The beta has ended. GitHub Actions is now generally available in GitHub Enterprise Server 3.0 or later. For more information, see the GitHub Enterprise Server 3.0 release notes.


Note: GitHub-hosted runners are not currently supported on GitHub Enterprise Server. You can see more information about planned future support on the GitHub public roadmap.

About self-hosted runner groups

Self-hosted runner groups are used to control access to self-hosted runners at the organization and enterprise level. Enterprise admins can configure access policies that control which organizations in an enterprise have access to the runner group. Organization admins can configure access policies that control which repositories in an organization have access to the runner group.

When an enterprise admin grants an organization access to a runner group, organization admins can see the runner group listed in the organization's self-hosted runner settings. The organizations admins can then assign additional granular repository access policies to the enterprise runner group.

When new runners are created, they are automatically assigned to the default group. Runners can only be in one group at a time. You can move runners from the default group to another group. For more information, see "Moving a self-hosted runner to a group."

Creating a self-hosted runner group for an organization

All organizations have a single default self-hosted runner group. Organizations within an enterprise account can create additional self-hosted groups. Organization admins can allow individual repositories access to a runner group. For information about how to create a self-hosted runner group with the REST API, see "Self-hosted runner groups."

Self-hosted runners are automatically assigned to the default group when created, and can only be members of one group at a time. You can move a runner from the default group to any group you create.

When creating a group, you must choose a policy that defines which repositories have access to the runner group.

  1. On your GitHub Enterprise Server instance, navigate to the main page of the organization.

  2. Under your organization name, click Settings.

    Organization settings button

  3. In the left sidebar, click Actions.

  4. In the "Self-hosted runners" section, click Add new, and then New group.

    Add runner group

  5. Enter a name for your runner group, and assign a policy for repository access.

    You can configure a runner group to be accessible to a specific list of repositories, all private repositories, or all repositories in the organization.

    Warning

    We recommend that you only use self-hosted runners with private repositories. This is because forks of your repository can potentially run dangerous code on your self-hosted runner machine by creating a pull request that executes the code in a workflow.

    For more information, see "About self-hosted runners."

    Add runner group options

  6. Click Save group to create the group and apply the policy.

Creating a self-hosted runner group for an enterprise

Enterprises can add their self-hosted runners to groups for access management. Enterprises can create groups of self-hosted runners that are accessible to specific organizations in the enterprise account. Organization admins can then assign additional granular repository access policies to the enterprise runner groups. For information about how to create a self-hosted runner group with the REST API, see the Enterprise Administration GitHub Actions APIs.

Self-hosted runners are automatically assigned to the default group when created, and can only be members of one group at a time. You can assign the runner to a specific group during the registration process, or you can later move the runner from the default group to a custom group.

When creating a group, you must choose a policy that defines which organizations have access to the runner group.

  1. In the top-right corner of GitHub Enterprise Server, click your profile photo, then click Enterprise settings. "Enterprise settings" in drop-down menu for profile photo on GitHub Enterprise Server

  2. In the enterprise sidebar, click Policies. Policies tab in the enterprise account sidebar

  3. Under " Policies", click Actions.

  4. Click the Self-hosted runners tab.

  5. Click Add new, and then New group.

    Add runner group

  6. Enter a name for your runner group, and assign a policy for organization access.

    You can configure a runner group to be accessible to all organizations in the enterprise or choose specific organizations.

    Warning

    We recommend that you only use self-hosted runners with private repositories. This is because forks of your repository can potentially run dangerous code on your self-hosted runner machine by creating a pull request that executes the code in a workflow.

    For more information, see "About self-hosted runners."

    Add runner group options

  7. Click Save group to create the group and apply the policy.

Changing the access policy of a self-hosted runner group

You can update the access policy of a runner group, or rename a runner group.

  1. In the "Self-hosted runners" section of the settings page, click next to the runner group you'd like to configure, then click Edit name and [organization|repository] access. Manage repository permissions

  2. Modify your policy options, or change the runner group name.

    Warning

    We recommend that you only use self-hosted runners with private repositories. This is because forks of your repository can potentially run dangerous code on your self-hosted runner machine by creating a pull request that executes the code in a workflow.

    For more information, see "About self-hosted runners."

Automatically adding a self-hosted runner to a group

You can use the configuration script to automatically add a new self-hosted runner to a group. For example, this command registers a new self-hosted runner and uses the --runnergroup parameter to add it to a group named rg-runnergroup.

./config.sh --url $org_or_enterprise_url --token $token --runnergroup rg-runnergroup

The command will fail if the runner group doesn't exist:

Could not find any self-hosted runner group named "rg-runnergroup".

Moving a self-hosted runner to a group

If you don't specify a runner group during the registration process, your new self-hosted runners are automatically assigned to the default group, and can then be moved to another group.

  1. In the "Self-hosted runners" section of the settings page, locate the current group of the runner you want to move and expand the list of group members. View runner group members
  2. Select the checkbox next to the self-hosted runner, and then click Move to group to see the available destinations. Runner group member move
  3. To move the runner, click on the destination group. Runner group member move

Removing a self-hosted runner group

Self-hosted runners are automatically returned to the default group when their group is removed.

  1. In the "Self-hosted runners" section of the settings page, locate the group you want to delete, and click the button. View runner group settings

  2. To remove the group, click Remove group. View runner group settings

  3. Review the confirmation prompts, and click Remove this runner group.