You may design workflows and automate numerous operations inside your software development projects using GitHub Actions, a powerful automation tool offered by GitHub. These processes may be started by events like pushes, pull requests, or predetermined intervals and are configured using YAML files.

You may automate a variety of processes using GitHub Actions, including creating, testing, and deploying your apps as well as executing unique scripts and communicating with third-party services. A process can have numerous phases, each of which can access the code and other resources in the repository and operate in its own context.

You may utilize GitHub Actions' extensive ecosystem of already-created actions and workflows as-is or modify them to meet your unique requirements. To simplify complicated logic, you may also design your own reusable actions and distribute them to others.

You must specify YAML files for your workflows and establish a directory called ".github/workflows" in your repository in order to use GitHub Actions. These files detail the workflow events, the procedures to be taken, and any configuration or secrets needed.

Once you've configured your processes, GitHub will execute them whenever the predefined events take place. The Actions tab of your repository's repository allows you to examine the status and output of each process performed.

This makes it simple for you to monitor the automation's progress and instantly spot any problems or errors.

A flexible tool like GitHub Actions may dramatically speed your development process, foster better teamwork, and increase the general effectiveness of your projects. To get the most out of this potent automation tool, it's recommended to look through the official GitHub Actions guide for additional in-depth details and examples.

What are self-hosted runners?

Self-hosted runners, in the context of GitHub Actions, refer to the infrastructure you can set up and manage yourself to execute workflows in your GitHub repositories. Instead of relying solely on GitHub's hosted runners, which are virtual machines maintained by GitHub, self-hosted runners allow you to use your own machines, physical or virtual, as the execution environment for your workflows.

Self-hosted runners offer several advantages:

1. Customization: You have more control over the runner's environment, enabling you to install specific dependencies, tools, or configurations required by your workflows or applications.

2. Security: By using self-hosted runners, you can ensure that your code and sensitive data stay within your own infrastructure. This is particularly useful when dealing with proprietary or classified information.

3. Performance: Self-hosted runners can potentially provide faster execution times since they are typically located closer to your code and other required resources.

4. Compatibility: Self-hosted runners can execute workflows in environments that might not be available in GitHub's hosted runners, such as specific operating systems, hardware configurations, or network setups.

Setting up a self-hosted runner involves installing and configuring the GitHub Actions Runner application on your chosen machine. This runner connects to GitHub and listens for jobs assigned to it. When a workflow is triggered, GitHub sends the job to the runner, which then executes the necessary steps and reports back the results.

GitHub Actions Runner is available for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can run multiple self-hosted runners simultaneously to handle a higher workload or distribute tasks across different environments.

Keep in mind that while self-hosted runners provide additional flexibility, they also require maintenance and management on your part. You are responsible for ensuring the availability, security, and updates of the runner machines.

Comparison between self-hosted runners and GitHub-hosted runners

Depending on your unique requirements and restrictions, you may choose between self-hosted runners and GitHub-hosted runners. When you need to outsource infrastructure maintenance or are working on a smaller project, GitHub-hosted runners are practical and simple to utilize. When customization, security, or access to local resources are required, self-hosted runners are preferable.

It's also important to note that you may use both kinds of runners in the same process. For instance, you may utilize self-hosted runners for particular activities that call for customization or access to local resources and GitHub-hosted runners for the majority of actions.

In the end, the choice between self-hosted runners and GitHub-hosted runners should be made based on requirements for customization, security, performance demands, and cost.

GitHub Hosted Runners:

1. Convenience: GitHub provides ready-to-use virtual machines as hosted runners, eliminating the need for you to set up and maintain your own infrastructure.

2. Scalability: GitHub-hosted runners can handle a large number of concurrent workflows and automatically scale based on demand.

3. Platform Availability: GitHub-hosted runners are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, offering a wide range of platforms for your workflows.

4. Managed Environment: GitHub maintains and updates the hosted runners, ensuring that they are up to date with the latest security patches and software versions.

5. Distributed Geographically: GitHub-hosted runners are distributed across different geographic regions, which can help reduce latency for users in different locations.

Self-Hosted Runners:

1. Customization: Self-hosted runners provide flexibility in terms of customization. You can install specific software, configure the environment, and manage dependencies according to your requirements.

2. Security and Compliance: Self-hosted runners allow you to keep your code and sensitive data within your own infrastructure, which can be beneficial for organizations with strict security or compliance requirements.

3. Access to Local Resources: Self-hosted runners can access local resources such as databases, network shares, or specialized hardware that may not be available in a cloud-based environment.

4. Performance: Self-hosted runners can potentially offer faster execution times, as they are located closer to your code and other required resources.

5. Cost Control: Using self-hosted runners can be cost-effective for long-running or resource-intensive workflows, as you have control over the infrastructure and can leverage existing resources.

Jenkins vs GitHub-Actions

Jenkins:

1. Flexibility: Jenkins is a highly flexible and customizable automation server. It offers a vast array of plugins and integrations, allowing you to tailor your CI/CD workflows to your specific needs.

2. Mature and Established: Jenkins has been around for a long time and has a large and active community. It has a rich ecosystem of plugins, extensive documentation, and widespread adoption.

3. Self-Managed Infrastructure: Jenkins requires you to set up and maintain your own infrastructure to run Jenkins servers and agents. This gives you full control over the hardware, network, and security configuration.

4. Wide Range of Supported Platforms: Jenkins supports a wide range of platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, and provides agents for distributed execution across different environments.

5. Extensive Integrations: Jenkins integrates with various tools, such as source code repositories, build tools, deployment systems, and testing frameworks. It can adapt to different development stacks and workflows.

GitHub Actions:

1. Tight GitHub Integration: GitHub Actions is tightly integrated with GitHub, providing seamless integration with your repositories, issues, pull requests, and other GitHub features.

2. Ease of Use: GitHub Actions has a user-friendly interface and uses YAML-based configuration files for defining workflows. This makes it easy to get started and maintain automation pipelines.

3. Hosted Infrastructure: GitHub Actions provides hosted runners, eliminating the need for self-managed infrastructure. It offers a scalable and managed environment for running your workflows.

4. Community and Ecosystem: GitHub Actions has a growing community and an extensive ecosystem of pre-built actions and workflows shared by the community. You can leverage these actions or create your own to automate common tasks.

5. Integrated Secrets Management: GitHub Actions provides a built-in secrets management system, allowing you to securely store and access sensitive information, such as API keys or deployment credentials, during your workflows.

When choosing between Jenkins and GitHub actions, consider the following factors:

• Integration with GitHub: If your development workflow heavily relies on GitHub, GitHub Actions provides seamless integration with the platform.

• Flexibility and Customization: Jenkins offers more flexibility and customization options with its extensive plugin ecosystem and configurable pipelines.

• Self-Managed vs. Hosted Infrastructure: Jenkins requires self-managed infrastructure, while GitHub Actions provides a hosted environment, which can impact maintenance and scalability considerations.

• Community and Ecosystem: Both Jenkins and GitHub Actions have active communities, but Jenkins has a long history and a broader ecosystem of plugins and integrations.

Ultimately, the choice between Jenkins and GitHub Actions depends on your specific requirements, existing infrastructure, level of customization needed, and integration with other tools and platforms.