macOS Runners in GitHub Actions

Introduction

GitHub Actions allows you to automate workflows directly from your repository. A key component of these workflows is the runner, which is responsible for executing the jobs defined in your workflows.

What are Runners?

Runners are the servers that run your GitHub Actions workflows. They can be GitHub-hosted or self-hosted:

macOS Runners

macOS runners are GitHub-hosted runners that run on macOS. They are particularly useful for projects that require macOS-specific tools or environments, such as iOS applications.

Setting Up macOS Runners

To set up workflows that use macOS runners, you need to specify the runner in your workflow YAML file. Here’s a simple example:

name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: macos-latest
    steps:
    - name: Checkout code
      uses: actions/checkout@v2

    - name: Run a script
      run: |
        echo "Building on macOS!"
        # Add your build commands here

Best Practices

• Use the latest macOS version to ensure compatibility with the newest features and improvements.
• Minimize the number of steps in your workflows to reduce execution time.
• Use caching to speed up installations of dependencies.

FAQ