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In this guide, you’ll learn how to configure and manage self-hosted GitHub Actions runners across GitHub Enterprise and organization scopes. We’ll cover:
  • Reviewing Enterprise vs. Organization settings
  • Creating and renaming runner groups
  • Assigning runners to repositories (including public repos)
  • Installing a self-hosted runner on Linux
  • Running a sample workflow on your new runner

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1. Compare Enterprise and Organization Dashboards

First, open two browser tabs side by side: Tab 1: Enterprise Overview
The image shows a GitHub enterprise dashboard for "kodekloud-training-enterprise," featuring navigation options like Overview, Getting Started, and Settings, with a prompt to create a README.
Tab 2: Organization Home
The image shows a GitHub organization page for "kodekloud-training-organization," which is part of "kodekloud-training-enterprise." It includes options for inviting members, customizing permissions, and setting up discussions.
Notice the UI placement:
  • Enterprise settings live in the left sidebar.
  • Organization and user settings appear in the top navigation.

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2. View and Rename Organization Runner Groups

  1. In your organization, navigate to Settings > Actions > Runner groups.
  2. You’ll see the default runner group:
The image shows a GitHub organization settings page for "kodekloud-training-organization," specifically focusing on the "Runner groups" section, where users can manage access to shared organization runners.
  1. Click into the default group and observe that public repository support cannot be toggled here:
The image shows a GitHub organization settings page for "kodekloud-training-organization," focusing on runner group settings and repository access options.
Public repository support for a runner group is only configurable at the enterprise level. You won’t be able to enable it within the organization settings.

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3. Configure Enterprise Runner Group Policies

Switch to Enterprise > Policies > Actions > Runner groups:
The image shows a GitHub interface for updating a runner group, with options for setting the group name, organization access, and workflow access. The sidebar includes navigation links for various settings and features.
Here you can:
OptionDescription
Group NameRename (e.g., default enterprise runner group)
Organization AccessRestrict to specific orgs or allow all
Repository AccessChoose All, Selected, and include Public repos
Workflow File RestrictionsLimit to certain workflow filenames
Apply your changes and save.

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4. Assign Runner Group to Organization Repositories

Return to the organization’s Runner groups page and refresh. The renamed enterprise group will appear. Click Add repository access:
The image shows a GitHub settings page for a runner group in the "kodekloud-training-organization," with a pop-up window for selecting repository access.
Select:
  • All repositories
  • Include public repositories
Save to propagate the policy.

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5. Install a Self-Hosted Runner on Linux

In the enterprise settings, go to Policies > Actions > Runners:
The image shows a GitHub interface for managing GitHub-hosted runners, indicating no active jobs and displaying various labels for different operating systems. The sidebar includes options like Overview, Organizations, and Actions.
Click New self-hosted runner, choose Linux → x64, and follow the prompts. On your Linux VM, run: 
# 1. Create directory and enter it
mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner

# 2. Download the runner package
curl -L -o actions-runner-linux-x64-2.315.0.tar.gz \
  https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.315.0/actions-runner-linux-x64-2.315.0.tar.gz

# 3. (Optional) Verify checksum
echo "6362646b67613c6981db76f4d25e68e463a9af2cc8d16e31bfeabe39153606a0 actions-runner-linux-x64-2.315.0.tar.gz" \
  | shasum -a 256 -c

# 4. Extract
tar xzf actions-runner-linux-x64-2.315.0.tar.gz

# 5. Configure (replace URL and token)
./config.sh \
  --url https://github.com/enterprises/kodekloud-training-enterprise \
  --token BDEPF64QGNY4SWJQPXUFF363GDQT42

# 6. Start the runner
./run.sh
During setup, assign this runner to your default enterprise runner group and add a label such as enterprise. Once up, you’ll see logs like:
The image shows a terminal window on the KodeKloud platform, displaying a GitHub Actions self-hosted runner registration process with successful connection and runner settings prompts.

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6. Verify Runner Registration

Back in the enterprise’s Runners list, your new self-hosted runner appears with labels and an idle status:
The image shows a GitHub Actions settings page for an enterprise account, displaying options for managing runners, including a self-hosted Linux runner.
Switch to the organization’s Runner groups view to confirm it’s available there too:
The image shows a GitHub settings page for managing runner groups, with options for repository and workflow access, and a list of runners including an "enterprise-linux-runner" that is currently idle.

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7. Create a New Repository and Workflow

  1. Disable the organization’s default runner for public repos to enforce enterprise runners.
  2. Go to Repositories > New repository in your organization:
The image shows a GitHub settings page for an organization, specifically focusing on "Runner groups" for managing access to shared organization runners. It includes options to create a new runner group and displays existing groups with their details.
The image shows a GitHub organization page with a list of repositories and a dropdown menu for creating new repositories or organizations.
The image shows a GitHub interface for creating a new repository, with options to set the repository name, visibility, and initialize with a README file.
  1. Initialize with a README and clone locally:
git clone [email protected]:kodekloud-training-organization/demo-repo.git
cd demo-repo
  1. Add a workflow at .github/workflows/demo.yaml:
name: Exploring GitHub Enterprise Action Features

on:
  push:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  demo_job:
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - name: Hello
        run: echo "Hello GitHub Enterprise!!"

      - name: External Call using cURL
        run: curl -v http://httpbin.org/ip
  1. Commit and push:
git add .
git commit -m "Add demo workflow for enterprise runner"
git push

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8. Review Workflow Execution

Navigate to the repository’s Actions tab. You should see demo_job queued and running on your self-hosted enterprise runner:
The image shows a GitHub Actions interface with a job named "demo_job" that has successfully completed. It includes details about the runner and setup steps.

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Next Steps

In Part 2, we’ll cover how to move runners between groups and update labels directly from the GitHub UI.

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