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Runner Types - Linux, Windows, GPU

Overview of the different runner types available in RunsOn - Linux, Windows, GPU - plus the capabilities you can layer on top.

RunsOn gives you access to the full range of AWS EC2 instances as self-hosted GitHub Actions runners. Choose the right runner type for your workload.

Usage#

Flex#

Flex lets each workflow choose the runner shape directly from the runs-on label:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: runs-on=${{ github.run_id }}/runner=2cpu-linux-x64

Fleet#

Fleet publishes runner shapes as Terraform-owned runner fleets. Workflows target the fleet label instead of choosing CPU, RAM, image, or instance family per job:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: runs-on/fleet=linux-small/env=production

Platforms & customization#

Labels Configure RunsOn runners with per-job runs-on labels and reusable runner definitions — CPU, GPU, RAM, instance type, volume size, sticky cache disks, and more. Platforms Self-host GitHub Actions runners on AWS across Linux (x64 + arm64), Windows, and GPU — for any GitHub plan. macOS is not yet supported. Custom runners Define custom runner shapes and custom AMIs for RunsOn — per job in Flex (.github/runs-on.yml) or in the Terraform catalog for Fleet. Capabilities Compare optional RunsOn runner capabilities across Linux, Windows, Flex, and Fleet.

Platforms covers Linux, Windows, GPU, and macOS, with built-in images and Flex/Fleet usage for each. Custom shows how to define your own runner shapes and AMIs. For per-minute spot and on-demand rates, see the pricing page.

Capabilities#

Layer extra capabilities on top of any runner type — static egress IPs, nested virtualization, remote access, a local OTLP endpoint, and Amazon Bedrock for AI workloads.

Static IPs Static egress IPs for RunsOn Flex and Fleet runners through private subnets, NAT gateways, and Elastic IPs. Local storage (NVMe) Use local NVMe on EC2 instance-store types for build workspaces, temporary files, and Docker layers on Linux and Windows. YOLO mode (tmpfs) How to use the tmpfs feature with RunsOn, for faster builds Shared volumes (EFS) How to use the EFS file system with RunsOn, for storing files across GitHub Actions workflow jobs Sticky disks (EBS) Keep build caches on a persistent EBS disk and restore them at native filesystem speed on Flex and Fleet. Docker Hub pull-through Mirror Docker Hub and other public registries through ECR in your own account, so runners pull images over the VPC and never hit 429 rate limits. Dependabot Run Dependabot update jobs on RunsOn Flex or Fleet self-hosted runners. Local OTEL collector Send workflow logs, metrics, and traces to the local OTLP endpoint on RunsOn runners, then forward them through the stack exporter. Nested virtualization When to use Linux KVM or Windows Hyper-V inside RunsOn runners, and the EC2 constraints that matter. Remote access Use SSM and optional SSH access to troubleshoot RunsOn Flex and Fleet runner instances. AI agents Run AI-assisted CI on RunsOn runners — IAM access to invoke Amazon Bedrock models, and self-hosted execution for GitHub's Copilot coding agent.