◆Error Codes Wiki

GitHub Actions Runner Errors — Workflow Failures and Self-Hosted Runner Issues

Warningcommand

Overview

Fix GitHub Actions workflow errors including runner connectivity issues, container job failures, secret access problems, and artifact upload failures.

Key Details

  • GitHub Actions runners execute workflow jobs — GitHub-hosted or self-hosted
  • Self-hosted runners require persistent connectivity to GitHub's API endpoints
  • Container jobs (runs-on: ubuntu-latest with container:) have different filesystem and network behavior
  • Secrets are available as environment variables but not in fork PRs for security
  • Actions cache and artifacts have size limits that can cause failures

Common Causes

  • Self-hosted runner offline or unable to connect to GitHub API endpoints
  • Secret not available in the workflow context (wrong scope, fork PR, or not configured)
  • Docker container image not found or registry authentication failed for container jobs
  • Artifact or cache size exceeding the 10GB per repository limit

Steps

  1. 1Check runner status: repository Settings > Actions > Runners — verify runner is online
  2. 2Debug workflow: add 'ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG: true' to env or enable debug logging in repository secrets
  3. 3For secret issues: verify secret names match the workflow reference and the secret is at the correct scope (repo/org/environment)
  4. 4Self-hosted runner logs: check _diag/ directory in the runner installation folder for detailed logs
  5. 5Use 'act' tool to test workflows locally before pushing: 'act -j build' runs the build job locally

Tags

github-actionsrunnerci-cdworkflowautomation

Related Items

linux-ansible-playbook-errors

More in Command

linux-exit-code-127Linux Exit Code 127 — Command Not Found
Warning
linux-exit-code-126Linux Exit Code 126 — Permission Denied
Warning
linux-segmentation-faultLinux Segmentation Fault (Signal 11)
Error
linux-killed-signal-9Linux Process Killed (Signal 9)
Error
linux-ansible-playbook-errorsAnsible Playbook Errors — Task Failures, SSH Connectivity, and Variable Resolution Issues
Warning
linux-terraform-errorsTerraform Errors — Plan, Apply, and State Management Failures
Warning

Frequently Asked Questions

GitHub does not expose secrets to workflows triggered by pull requests from forks. This prevents fork authors from accessing your repository secrets. For fork PRs, use pull_request_target trigger carefully.