act_runner/examples/systemd

Running the runner as a systemd service

gitea-runner.service is an example unit for running the runner as a background service on a systemd host.

Setup

1. Install the gitea-runner binary (e.g. to /usr/local/bin/gitea-runner).

2. Create a dedicated user and working directory:

   sudo useradd --system --home-dir /var/lib/gitea-runner --create-home gitea-runner
   

3. Generate a config and register the runner (as the service user), so the .runner file ends up in the working directory:

   sudo -u gitea-runner gitea-runner generate-config > /etc/gitea-runner/config.yaml
   cd /var/lib/gitea-runner
   sudo -u gitea-runner gitea-runner register --config /etc/gitea-runner/config.yaml
   

4. Install and enable the unit:

   sudo cp gitea-runner.service /etc/systemd/system/gitea-runner.service
   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable --now gitea-runner
   

Adjust the binary path, config path, working directory and user to match your installation. If jobs use the host's Docker daemon, uncomment the docker.service dependencies in the unit.