CCCHH/infra-meta

Create Github Actions compatible runner #1

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opened 2024-07-21 11:40:28 +02:00 by stb · 1 comment

stb commented

2024-07-21 11:40:28 +02:00

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Goals

Using Actions from Github directly, without modifying them, only works well if the action runner is very similar to the one Github is using. Try and build a KVM image we can run that contains the same packages and tools as the Github one.

Approach

Original Github Code

Github publishes a set of Packer configs that build their images at github.com/actions/runner-images These require an Azure subscription, and might only produce Azure images, not KVM images.

Use a fork of the Github code

github.com/fffonion/kvm-github-actions-runner and github.com/fffonion/runner-images-kvm provide changes to the Github code that produces KVM images, and spins up a Github runner based on that image.

We can try to take that image and replace the Github runner with the Forgejo runner.

Challenges:

It's unclear who is maintaining this; we might not be able to rely on it longterm.
There's little documentation, both on how to build images with it, and what changes have been made to the Github code
It's using Hashicorp Packer, which is under a restrictive license.

Custom Image

Packer is under a restrictive license, so it is not ideal. Plus the Github images contain a lot of stuff that we might not need (ever), and building that huge image takes a lot of resources. Instead, we could start with the README and use virt-builder to build our own image with the same contents, without using the Github code directly.

Challenges:

The Github image contains a lot of stuff; writing code from scratch to add all that is likely going to be a lot of work
Tracking the Github changes might be cumbersome

### Goals Using Actions from Github directly, without modifying them, only works well if the action runner is very similar to the one Github is using. Try and build a KVM image we can run that contains the same packages and tools as the Github one. ### Approach #### Original Github Code Github publishes a set of Packer configs that build their images at [github.com/actions/runner-images](https://github.com/actions/runner-images) These require an Azure subscription, and might only produce Azure images, not KVM images. #### Use a fork of the Github code [github.com/fffonion/kvm-github-actions-runner](https://github.com/fffonion/kvm-github-actions-runner) and [github.com/fffonion/runner-images-kvm](https://github.com/fffonion/runner-images-kvm) provide changes to the Github code that produces KVM images, and spins up a Github runner based on that image. We can try to take that image and replace the Github runner with the Forgejo runner. Challenges: * It's unclear who is maintaining this; we might not be able to rely on it longterm. * There's little documentation, both on how to build images with it, and what changes have been made to the Github code * It's using Hashicorp Packer, which is under a restrictive license. #### Custom Image Packer is under a restrictive license, so it is not ideal. Plus the Github images contain a lot of stuff that we might not need (ever), and building that huge image takes a lot of resources. Instead, we could start with the README and use virt-builder to build our own image with the same contents, without using the Github code directly. Challenges: * The Github image contains a lot of stuff; writing code from scratch to add all that is likely going to be a lot of work * Tracking the Github changes might be cumbersome

stb commented

2024-07-21 14:03:01 +02:00

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This works:

git clone -b ubuntu24/20240714.1 https://github.com/fffonion/runner-images-kvm
cd runner-images-kvm/images/ubuntu/templates
packer init ubuntu-24.04.pkr.hcl
packer build ./ubuntu-24.04.pkr.hcl
qm importdisk 118 output-custom_image/ubuntu-24.04 local-zfs

Now I need to figure out what to do with that VM.

This works: ``` git clone -b ubuntu24/20240714.1 https://github.com/fffonion/runner-images-kvm cd runner-images-kvm/images/ubuntu/templates packer init ubuntu-24.04.pkr.hcl packer build ./ubuntu-24.04.pkr.hcl qm importdisk 118 output-custom_image/ubuntu-24.04 local-zfs ``` Now I need to figure out what to do with that VM.

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Reference: CCCHH/infra-meta#1

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