Deploying a Runner with Docker
Prerequisites
- Container Engine: You will need Docker installed on your device.
- Blink Platform UI Command: You will need the command provided in the Blink platform UI to install the Blink Runner in Docker.
Requirements
When deploying self-hosted runners on a hardened OS, it's crucial to ensure proper communication between Docker containers, therefor please implement the following requirements:
| Requirement | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Manage internal firewall settings | An internal firewall may block container communication. Temporarily disabling the firewall can resolve the issue, but a more secure approach is to create a firewall rule that allows internal container communication. |
| Accommodate randomly selected communication ports | The port used for internal container communication is selected randomly, so the firewall rule must accommodate this flexibility. |
| Ensure sufficient disk space | Ensure that your system has at least 25GB of available disk space on the /var partition to avoid deployment issues. |
| Verify DNS server configuration | Ensure that all DNS servers configured on your system are correctly resolving addresses, as DNS issues could impact network operations during deployment. |
Deployment
- In the left-hand side navigation bar select Runners and proceed by clicking the "New Runner" button in the top-left corner. A dialogue box will then open.
Fill in the parameters:
- Name: Name of Runner group.
- Tags: Add pr Create Tags
- Default: Select the checkbox if this your default Runner group from now on.
- To proceed, click on the Continue button located in the bottom-right corner. This will prompt the opening of a dialogue box where you can access the command required to install the Runner in your Docker environment. Simply copy this command to your clipboard by clicking on the icon positioned in the top-right corner.
note
Please be aware that the provided command contains the registration token of the Runner, which will not be retrievable after copying. It is essential to securely store this token in a safe location for future reference.
Advanced
Balancing the Load within a Runner group
A Group consists of many identical instances of runners. You can balance the load of a runner by spreading it over any number of Instances.
Checking how many Instances you currently have in a Runner Group.
- Click the three dots on the runner and select Edit. A dialogue box opens.
- Under Instances, you can see a list of instances and their status, that are used in the runner group .
Adding more Runner Instances to your group with Docker Runner
- To create more runner instances in a runner Group, use the same command that was provided after creating the runner group used. Run the command in the shell as many times as you wish to create more Instances.