liveBook · Manning

Runs-on

As explained in GitHub Actions in Action: Continuous integration and delivery for DevOps

runs-on is a GitHub Actions job configuration key that selects the runner or runner group on which a job executes.

runs-on is a job-level GitHub Actions key that chooses where the job executes. A basic workflow can target the latest Ubuntu machine hosted by GitHub. section 2.2

The value can target standard GitHub-hosted runners, an enterprise runner group, or a self-hosted machine. Select larger hosted runners for demanding builds; choose self-hosted runners when hardware, operating-system, software, or local-network control matters. section 12.3.4

Run on an enterprise runner group

jobs: build: runs-on: group: contoso-runners steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3

Runner choice affects execution speed, pricing, and maintenance. Larger hosted runners may finish faster even though their minutes cost more; self-hosted runners avoid runner charges but require security hardening, patching, and operational management. section 12.3.4

Listing 2.1 The first step outputting Hello World to the console
jobs:
  MyFirstJob:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - run: echo "👋 Hello World!"

Shows runs-on selecting ubuntu-latest in a minimal job that prints a message. section 2.2

How GitHub Actions in Action: Continuous integration and delivery for DevOps covers it

How deep it goes
Explains scalar and group-based selection plus operational trade-offs, but defers self-hosted setup details.
Examples
Uses ubuntu-latest for a Hello World job and contoso-runners for an enterprise runner-group job.
What it assumes
Assumes basic workflow and job YAML structure while demonstrating the key from a simple job.
What you can do after
Configure a GitHub Actions job to run on standard, larger, grouped, or self-hosted infrastructure.
How it connects
Connects jobs with GitHub-hosted runners, larger runners, runner groups, and self-hosted runners.
Cover of GitHub Actions in Action: Continuous integration and delivery for DevOps
liveBookmanning.com
Read GitHub Actions in Action: Continuous integration and delivery for DevOps on liveBook Get the book at manning.com

Related concepts

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of GitHub Actions in Action: Continuous integration and delivery for DevOps. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.