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Enabling GitHub Actions with Azure Blob storage

In this article

You can enable GitHub Actions on GitHub Enterprise Server and use Azure Blob storage to store data generated by workflow runs.

Who can use this feature

Site administrators can enable GitHub Actions and configure enterprise settings.

About external storage for GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions uses external blob storage to store data generated by workflow runs. Stored data includes workflow logs, caches, and user-uploaded build artifacts. For more information, see "Getting started with GitHub Actions for GitHub Enterprise Server."

Prerequisites

Before enabling GitHub Actions, make sure you have completed the following steps:

  • Create your Azure storage account for storing workflow data. GitHub Actions stores its data as block blobs, and two storage account types are supported:

    • A general-purpose storage account (also known as general-purpose v1 or general-purpose v2) using the standard performance tier.

      Warning: Using the premium performance tier with a general-purpose storage account is not supported. The standard performance tier must be selected when creating the storage account, and it cannot be changed later.

    • A BlockBlobStorage storage account, which uses the premium performance tier.

    For more information on Azure storage account types and performance tiers, see the Azure documentation.

  • Review the hardware requirements for GitHub Actions. For more information, see "Getting started with GitHub Actions for GitHub Enterprise Server."

  • TLS must be configured for your GitHub Enterprise Server instance's domain. For more information, see "Configuring TLS."

    Note: We strongly recommend that you configure TLS on GitHub Enterprise Server with a certificate signed by a trusted authority. Although a self-signed certificate can work, extra configuration is required for your self-hosted runners, and it is not recommended for production environments.

  • If you have an HTTP Proxy Server configured on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance:

  • You must add localhost and 127.0.0.1 to the HTTP Proxy Exclusion list.

  • If your external storage location is not routable, then you must also add your external storage URL to the exclusion list.

For more information on changing your proxy settings, see "Configuring an outbound web proxy server."

Enabling GitHub Actions with Azure Blob storage

  1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

  2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

  3. In the " Site admin" sidebar, click Management Console.

  4. In the "Settings"" sidebar, click Actions.

  5. Under "GitHub Actions", select Enable GitHub Actions.

  6. Under "Artifact & Log Storage", select Azure Blob Storage, then enter your Azure storage account's connection string. For more information about getting the connection string for your storage account, see the View account access keys in the Azure documentation.

  7. Click the Test storage settings button to validate your storage settings.

    If there are any errors validating the storage settings, check the settings with your storage provider and try again.

  8. Under the "Settings" sidebar, click Save settings.

    Note: Saving settings in the Management Console restarts system services, which could result in user-visible downtime.

  9. Wait for the configuration run to complete.

Next steps

After the configuration run has successfully completed, GitHub Actions will be enabled on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. For your next steps, such as managing GitHub Actions access permissions and adding self-hosted runners, return to "Getting started with GitHub Actions for GitHub Enterprise Server."