RunsOn

Launch self-hosted GitHub Actions runners at scale on AWS, no third-party. A modern and maintained alternative to actions-runner-controller or the terraform-aws-github-runner.

Compatible images
CloudFormation
Scalable
Proprietary
Pricing:Free/Paid
Self-hosted
Real Virtual Machine
Easy Setup
Auto-scaling
Cloud:AWS

Overview

RunsOn is a powerful solution for launching and managing self-hosted GitHub Actions runners on AWS. It offers a modern approach to runner management without relying on third-party services.

Strengths

  1. Scalability: Designed to handle large-scale deployments on AWS.
  2. Compatible Images: Provides pre-configured, compatible runner images.
  3. Easy Setup: Uses CloudFormation for straightforward deployment.
  4. Auto-scaling: Automatically adjusts runner capacity based on demand.
  5. Real Virtual Machines: Runs on EC2 instances, providing full VM isolation.
  6. Pricing Model: Free for non-profit organizations, flat-fee license for commercial use.

Weaknesses

  1. AWS-only: Limited to AWS cloud infrastructure.
  2. Proprietary: Not open-source, which may be a concern for some organizations. Full source code is available with a Sponsorship license (1500€/year).

Technical Considerations

  • Utilizes AWS CloudFormation for infrastructure provisioning.
  • Uses EC2 instances for running the runners, with support for both On-Demand and Spot Instances.
  • Supports private networking, static IPs, custom images, SSH access, unlimited concurrency.
  • Built-in support for using an S3 backend (with unlimited storage) as a cache for dependencies and docker layers.
  • Built-in support for monitoring with CloudWatch log and metrics integration.

RunsOn is an excellent choice for organizations heavily invested in AWS infrastructure and looking for a simple, scalable solution for GitHub Actions self-hosted runners.

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