GitHub Actions Runner (Docker)

A lightweight, self-hosted GitHub Actions runner packaged as a Docker container using Alpine Linux.

Features

• Minimal Alpine Linux base image
• Multi-stage Docker build for smaller image size
• Easy configuration via environment variables
• Docker Compose support for simple deployment

Quick Start

1. Get a Runner Token

1. Go to your repository on GitHub
2. Navigate to Settings > Actions > Runners
3. Click New self-hosted runner
4. Copy the token from the configuration instructions

2. Configure and Run

# Copy the example compose file
cp docker-compose.yml.example compose.yml

# Edit with your values
nano compose.yml

Update the environment variables:

environment:
  RUNNER_TOKEN: "your-runner-token"
  OWNER: "your-github-username"
  REPO: "your-repository-name"

Start the runner:

docker compose up -d

Alternative: Build and Run Manually

# Build the image
docker build -t github-runner .

# Run the container
docker run -d \
  -e RUNNER_TOKEN="your-token" \
  -e OWNER="your-username" \
  -e REPO="your-repo" \
  --name github-runner \
  github-runner

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
RUNNER_TOKEN	Yes	GitHub runner registration token
OWNER	Yes	GitHub username or organization name
REPO	Yes	Repository name

Architecture

.
├── Dockerfile                  # Multi-stage build configuration
├── docker-compose.yml.example  # Compose template
├── entrypoint.sh               # Runner configuration and startup script
└── README.md

The image uses a two-stage build process:

1. Builder stage: Downloads and extracts the GitHub Actions runner
2. Runtime stage: Minimal Alpine image with only necessary dependencies