content/actions/reference/runners/github-hosted-runners.md

---
title: GitHub-hosted runners reference
shortTitle: GitHub-hosted runners
intro: 'Find information about {% data variables.product.github %}-hosted runners, including their specifications and customization options.'
versions:
  fpt: '*'
  ghes: '*'
  ghec: '*'
redirect_from:
  - /actions/reference/github-hosted-runners-reference
---

{% ifversion ghes %}

{% data reusables.actions.enterprise-github-hosted-runners %}

{% else %}

## Supported runners and hardware resources

{% ifversion actions-hosted-runners %}

Ranges of {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runners are available for use in public and private repositories.

For lists of available runners, see:
* [Standard runners for **public** repositories](#standard-github-hosted-runners-for-public-repositories)
* {% ifversion ghec %}[Standard runners for **private** and **internal** repositories](#standard-github-hosted-runners-for-internal-and-private-repositories){% else %}[Standard runners for **private** repositories](#standard-github-hosted-runners-for--private-repositories){% endif %}

{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted Linux runners support hardware acceleration for Android SDK tools, which makes running Android tests much faster and consumes fewer minutes. For more information on Android hardware acceleration, see [Configure hardware acceleration for the Android Emulator](https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator-acceleration) in the Android Developers documentation.

> [!NOTE]
> The `-latest` runner images are the latest stable images that {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} provides, and might not be the most recent version of the operating system available from the operating system vendor.

> [!WARNING]
> Beta and Deprecated Images are provided "as-is", "with all faults" and "as available" and are excluded from the service level agreement and warranty. Beta Images may not be covered by customer support.

{% endif %}

{% data reusables.actions.supported-github-runners %}

Workflow logs list the runner used to run a job. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/monitoring-and-troubleshooting-workflows/viewing-workflow-run-history).

### Limitations for arm64 macOS runners

{% data reusables.actions.macos-runner-limitations %}

### Single-CPU runners

> [!NOTE]
> * Single-CPU runners are in {% data variables.release-phases.public_preview %} and subject to change.{% ifversion ghec %}
> * Single-CPU runners are not available in {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} with Data Residency (`ghe.com`).

{% endif %}

Single-CPU {% data variables.product.github %}-hosted runners are available in both public and private repositories. These runners—specified using the workflow label `ubuntu-slim`—offer a lower-cost option for running lightweight operations. This type of runner is optimized for automation tasks, issue operations and short-running jobs. They are not suitable for typical heavyweight CI/CD builds.

`ubuntu-slim` runners execute Actions workflows in Ubuntu Linux, inside a container rather than a full VM instance. When the job begins, {% data variables.product.github %} automatically provisions a new container for that job. All steps in the job execute in the container, allowing the steps in that job to share information using the runner's file system. When the job has finished, the container is automatically decommissioned. Each container provides hypervisor level 2 isolation.

A minimal set of tools is installed on the `ubuntu-slim` runner image, appropriate for lightweight tasks.

#### Usage limits

Single-CPU runners follow the same concurrency model as other {% data variables.product.github %}-hosted standard runners. See [AUTOTITLE](/actions/reference/limits#job-concurrency-limits-for-github-hosted-runners). The concurrency for the runners is determined by your plan.

The job timeout for single-CPU runners is 15 minutes. If a job reaches this limit, the job is terminated and fails.

### {% data variables.actions.hosted_runner_caps %}s

{% data reusables.actions.about-larger-runners %}

For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-larger-runners).

## Administrative privileges

The Linux and macOS virtual machines both run using passwordless `sudo`. When you need to execute commands or install tools that require more privileges than the current user, you can use `sudo` without needing to provide a password. For more information, see the [Sudo Manual](https://www.sudo.ws/man/1.8.27/sudo.man.html).

Windows virtual machines are configured to run as administrators with User Account Control (UAC) disabled. For more information, see [How User Account Control works](https://docs.microsoft.com/windows/security/identity-protection/user-account-control/how-user-account-control-works) in the Windows documentation.

## IP addresses

To get a list of IP address ranges that {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} uses for {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runners, you can use the {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} REST API. For more information, see the `actions` key in the response of the `GET /meta` endpoint. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/rest/meta/meta#get-github-meta-information).

Windows and Ubuntu runners are hosted in Azure and subsequently have the same IP address ranges as the Azure datacenters. macOS runners are hosted in {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}'s own macOS cloud.

Since there are so many IP address ranges for {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runners, we do not recommend that you use these as allowlists for your internal resources. Instead, we recommend you use {% data variables.actions.hosted_runner %}s with a static IP address range, or self-hosted runners. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-larger-runners) or [AUTOTITLE](/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners/about-self-hosted-runners).

The list of {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} IP addresses returned by the API is updated once a week.

## Communication requirements for {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runners

A {% data variables.product.github %}-hosted runner must establish connections to {% data variables.product.github %}-owned endpoints to perform essential communication operations. In addition, your runner may require access to additional networks that you specify or utilize within an action.

To ensure proper communications for {% data variables.product.github %}-hosted runners between networks within your configuration, ensure that the following communications are allowed.

{% data reusables.actions.domain-name-cname-recursive-firewall-rules %}

{% data reusables.actions.runner-essential-communications %}

## File systems

{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} executes actions and shell commands in specific directories on the virtual machine. The file paths on virtual machines are not static. Use the environment variables {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} provides to construct file paths for the `home`, `workspace`, and `workflow` directories.

| Directory | Environment variable | Description |
|-----------|----------------------|-------------|
| `home` | `HOME` | Contains user-related data. For example, this directory could contain credentials from a login attempt. |
| `workspace` | `GITHUB_WORKSPACE` | Actions and shell commands execute in this directory. An action can modify the contents of this directory, which subsequent actions can access. |
| `workflow/event.json` | `GITHUB_EVENT_PATH` | The `POST` payload of the webhook event that triggered the workflow. {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} rewrites this each time an action executes to isolate file content between actions.

For a list of the environment variables {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} creates for each workflow, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/learn-github-actions/variables#default-environment-variables).

### Docker container filesystem

Actions that run in Docker containers have static directories under the `/github` path. However, we strongly recommend using the default environment variables to construct file paths in Docker containers.

{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} reserves the `/github` path prefix and creates three directories for actions.

* `/github/home`
* `/github/workspace` - {% data reusables.repositories.action-root-user-required %}
* `/github/workflow`

{% endif %}