GitHub-hosted Runner

GitHub-hosted Runner

GitHub-hosted runners are virtual machines operated by GitHub Inc. that are used to execute workflows. They are available exclusively for GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHEC). For GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES), the Self-hosted Runners must be used.

Characteristics

• Each job receives a fresh, isolated virtual machine.
• The environment is automatically discarded after the job completes.
• Common development tools are pre-installed (e.g., Node.js, Python, Java, Docker).
• Internet connectivity is available by default.
• No access to the local network of the University of Bern.

Available runner labels

The most important available runners and their labels:

Label	Operating system	Architecture
ubuntu-latest	Ubuntu (current)	x86_64
ubuntu-24.04	Ubuntu 24.04	x86_64
ubuntu-22.04	Ubuntu 22.04	x86_64
windows-latest	Windows Server (current)	x86_64
macos-latest	macOS (current)	ARM64

A complete and up-to-date list of all available runners can be found in the official GitHub documentation.

Usage in a workflow

yaml

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Build
        run: make build

Limitations

• No access to internal resources of the University of Bern (e.g., internal databases, network drives).
• For workflows that require access to the local network, the Self-hosted Runners must be used.
• Execution time per job is limited to 6 hours.
• During intensive simultaneous usage, wait times may occur (depending on the organization’s GHEC quota).