Update ARC quickstart authentication guidance#44450
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Key: fpt: Free, Pro, Team; ghec: GitHub Enterprise Cloud; ghes: GitHub Enterprise Server 🤖 This comment is automatically generated. |
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Pull request overview
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Updates the ARC “Get started” documentation to better guide users toward the appropriate authentication method (GitHub App vs PAT) and clarifies that the walkthrough uses a PAT for brevity.
Changes:
- Replaces PAT-only guidance with method selection guidance (GitHub App recommended for repo/org; PAT required for enterprise).
- Adds a note explaining the example uses a PAT to keep setup short and recommends GitHub App for production when possible.
| For additional Helm configuration options, see [`values.yaml`](https://github.com/actions/actions-runner-controller/blob/master/charts/gha-runner-scale-set-controller/values.yaml) in the ARC documentation. | ||
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| 1. To enable ARC to authenticate to {% data variables.product.company_short %}, generate a {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %}. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners-with-actions-runner-controller/authenticating-to-the-github-api#deploying-using-personal-access-token-classic-authentication). | ||
| 1. To enable ARC to authenticate to {% data variables.product.company_short %}, choose an authentication method for your runner scale set. If you are registering runners at the repository or organization level, we recommend authenticating with a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %}. Enterprise-level runners require {% data variables.product.pat_v1 %} authentication. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners-with-actions-runner-controller/authenticating-to-the-github-api). |
| * Update the `INSTALLATION_NAME` value carefully. You will use the installation name as the value of `runs-on` in your workflows. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idruns-on). | ||
| * Update the `NAMESPACE` value to the location you want the runner pods to be created. | ||
| * Set `GITHUB_CONFIG_URL` to the URL of your repository, organization, or enterprise. This is the entity that the runners will belong to. | ||
| * This example uses a {% data variables.product.pat_generic %} to keep the initial setup short. For repository or organization runner scale sets, use a {% data variables.product.prodname_github_app %} in production environments when possible. |
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A stale label has been added to this pull request because it has been open 30 days with no activity. If you think this pull request should remain open, please add a new comment. |
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@suzunn I'm sorry I haven't looked into this yet. I got sick just as it popped up, and trying to get a review is complicated, especially since we had a PR that really should have closed the issue, but wasn't linked properly. I will try to find someone to review it. |
What changed
Updates the ARC quickstart to recommend GitHub App authentication for runner scale sets registered at the repository or organization level, while keeping the short setup example based on a classic PAT.
Also clarifies that runner scale sets registered at the enterprise level require classic PAT authentication, and aligns the
GITHUB_PATsetup bullets with that token type.Why
This addresses #37288 by nudging readers toward the more production-ready GitHub App authentication path where it is supported, while avoiding ambiguity for enterprise-level runner scale sets.
Testing
npm run lint-content -- --paths content/actions/tutorials/use-actions-runner-controller/get-started.mdnpm run lint-content -- --precommit --paths C:/_Dev/Code/open-sources/docs/content/actions/tutorials/use-actions-runner-controller/get-started.mdCloses #37288
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