Deploy NGINX with the GitHub runner

Overview

This workflow installs and starts a basic NGINX web server on a self-hosted runner whenever code is pushed to the main branch.

In your instance console, create a directory for the repository:

    

        
        
mkdir test-repo && cd test-repo
echo "# test-repo" >> README.md

    

Create the GitHub Actions workflow file at .github/workflows/deploy-nginx.yaml:

    

        
        
mkdir .github  && mkdir .github/workflows/
vim .github/workflows/deploy-nginx.yaml

    

Paste the following content into the file:

    

        
        
name: Deploy NGINX

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - name: Install NGINX
        run: |
          sudo apt update
          sudo apt install -y nginx

      - name: Start NGINX
        run: sudo systemctl start nginx

    

Initialize your repository and push the changes:

    

        
        
git init
git add .
git commit -m "first commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/annietllnd/test-repo.git
git push -u origin main

    

This will trigger an actions job. The job will listen for a self-hosted runner to connect to the GitHub repository. Go back to the actions-runner directory and re-run the script from the previous section:

    

        
        
cd ..
./run.sh

    

The output shows a job called deploy and confirms that both steps ran successfully.

Access the NGINX server

Once the workflow completes, open your browser and navigate to your machine’s external IP address. You will find the information in your instance overview, under Network interfaces.

    

        
        
http://<your-public-IP>

    

You should see the NGINX welcome page confirming a successful deployment.

Screenshot of the NGINX welcome page in a browser

You now know how to set up a self-hosted runner with an Arm-based Google Cloud instance, and use it to run GitHub Actions workflows. From here, you can modify the workflow file to try out different commands.