act_runner/examples/kubernetes

Kubernetes Docker in Docker Deployment with gitea-runner

NOTE: Docker in Docker (dind) requires elevated privileges on Kubernetes. The current way to achieve this is to set the pod SecurityContext to privileged. Keep in mind that this is a potential security issue that has the potential for a malicious application to break out of the container context.

NOTE: dind-docker.yaml uses the native sidecar pattern (init container with restartPolicy: Always), which requires Kubernetes 1.29+ (or 1.28 with the SidecarContainers feature gate).

NOTE: A helm chart for gitea-runner also exists for easier deployments https://gitea.com/gitea/helm-actions

Each example persists two things, and it is worth knowing which is which:

• /data is the runner's working directory. It holds the .runner registration file and, optionally, the config file — so the runner re-attaches to the server instead of registering again.
• The Docker daemon's data root holds the images pulled for jobs (/var/lib/docker for the dind sidecar, /home/rootless/.local/share/docker for dind-rootless). It is not under /data. If you drop this volume, the examples still work, but the image cache is discarded whenever the pod is recreated and every job re-pulls its images.

Files in this directory:

• dind-docker.yaml How to create a Deployment and Persistent Volume for Kubernetes to act as a runner. The Docker credentials are re-generated each time the pod connects and does not need to be persisted.

• rootless-docker.yaml How to create a rootless Deployment and Persistent Volume for Kubernetes to act as a runner. The Docker credentials are re-generated each time the pod connects and does not need to be persisted.

• statefulset-dind.yaml StatefulSet variant of the dind example. Each replica gets a stable identity and its own persistent volume via volumeClaimTemplates, so the runner keeps its .runner registration across restarts and reschedules instead of trying to register again.