Come configurare un GitHub Actions Self-Hosted Runner su Mac Mini M4

1. Perché usare un Mac Runner self-hosted?

I runner macOS ospitati da GitHub sono comodi ma costosi. A 0,08 $ al minuto, un team che esegue 75 ore di build al mese paga circa 360 $. Un Mac Mini M4 dedicato di MyRemoteMac costa 85 $/mese con minuti di build illimitati, offrendoti lo stesso hardware (o migliore) a una frazione del costo.

2. Prerequisiti

Prima di iniziare, assicurati di avere quanto segue:

• Un server Mac Mini M4 di MyRemoteMac (da 85 $/mese)
• Un account GitHub con accesso admin al tuo repository o alla tua organizzazione
• Accesso SSH al tuo Mac Mini (incluso nel tuo abbonamento MyRemoteMac)
• Un account Apple Developer (per la firma del codice e i profili di provisioning)
• Familiarità di base con YAML e comandi da terminale

3. Passo 1: Connettiti al tuo Mac Mini via SSH e installa Xcode

Per prima cosa, connettiti al tuo Mac Mini M4 via SSH. Hai ricevuto le tue credenziali quando hai configurato il tuo server MyRemoteMac.

Connettiti via SSH

# Connect to your Mac Mini M4
ssh admin@your-server-ip

# Verify you're on Apple Silicon
uname -m
# Expected output: arm64

# Check macOS version
sw_vers
# ProductName:    macOS
# ProductVersion: 15.2
# BuildVersion:   24C101

Installa gli Xcode Command Line Tools

# Install Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

# Accept the license agreement
sudo xcodebuild -license accept

# Verify installation
xcode-select -p
# /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

Installa Xcode (versione completa)

Per le build iOS ti serve l'applicazione Xcode completa. Il modo più veloce per installarla su un server headless è usare xcodes:

# Install Homebrew (if not already installed)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Add Homebrew to PATH
echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

# Install xcodes CLI tool
brew install xcodes

# List available Xcode versions
xcodes list

# Install the latest stable Xcode
xcodes install 16.2

# Set it as the active Xcode
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-16.2.app/Contents/Developer

# Verify
xcodebuild -version
# Xcode 16.2
# Build version 16C5032a

Installa i simulatori iOS

# Install the iOS 18 simulator runtime
xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS

# Verify simulator availability
xcrun simctl list runtimes
# == Runtimes ==
# iOS 18.2 (18.2 - 22C150) - com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-18-2

4. Passo 2: Installa il GitHub Actions Runner

Ora scarichiamo e configuriamo l'agente GitHub Actions runner. Vai al tuo repository su GitHub, apri Settings > Actions > Runners > New self-hosted runner e seleziona macOS + ARM64.

Scarica e configura

# Create a directory for the runner
mkdir -p ~/actions-runner && cd ~/actions-runner

# Download the latest runner package (ARM64)
curl -o actions-runner-osx-arm64-2.321.0.tar.gz -L \
  https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.321.0/actions-runner-osx-arm64-2.321.0.tar.gz

# Extract the package
tar xzf actions-runner-osx-arm64-2.321.0.tar.gz

# Configure the runner
# Replace YOUR_TOKEN with the token from GitHub Settings
./config.sh --url https://github.com/YOUR_ORG/YOUR_REPO \
  --token YOUR_TOKEN \
  --name "mac-mini-m4-runner" \
  --labels "self-hosted,macOS,ARM64,M4" \
  --work "_work"

# Test the runner interactively first
./run.sh

Installa come servizio launchd persistente

Eseguire l'agente in modo interattivo va bene per i test, ma in produzione deve avviarsi automaticamente all'avvio e riavviarsi in caso di crash. GitHub fornisce uno script integrato di installazione del servizio per macOS:

# Install as a launchd service
cd ~/actions-runner
sudo ./svc.sh install

# Start the service
sudo ./svc.sh start

# Check the service status
sudo ./svc.sh status
# Expected: "active (running)"

# View the launchd plist (for reference)
cat /Library/LaunchDaemons/actions.runner.*.plist

Il servizio ora si avvia automaticamente all'avvio e si riavvia se il processo si interrompe. Puoi verificare che il runner appaia come "Idle" nella pagina Settings > Actions > Runners del tuo repository GitHub.

Configura il runner per più repository (a livello di organizzazione)

# For an organization-level runner, use the organization URL:
./config.sh --url https://github.com/YOUR_ORG \
  --token YOUR_ORG_TOKEN \
  --name "mac-mini-m4-org-runner" \
  --labels "self-hosted,macOS,ARM64,M4" \
  --runnergroup "Default" \
  --work "_work"

# This allows ALL repositories in your organization to use this runner

5. Passo 3: Crea il tuo workflow di build iOS

Crea un file di workflow nel tuo repository in .github/workflows/ios-build.yml. Questo workflow verrà eseguito sul tuo self-hosted Mac Mini M4 runner.

name: iOS Build & Test

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main, develop ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64, M4]

    env:
      SCHEME: "MyApp"
      DESTINATION: "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16 Pro,OS=18.2"

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Select Xcode version
        run: |
          sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode-16.2.app/Contents/Developer
          xcodebuild -version

      - name: Resolve Swift Package Dependencies
        run: |
          xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies \
            -scheme "$SCHEME" \
            -clonedSourcePackagesDirPath .spm-cache

      - name: Build the app
        run: |
          xcodebuild build \
            -scheme "$SCHEME" \
            -destination "$DESTINATION" \
            -clonedSourcePackagesDirPath .spm-cache \
            -derivedDataPath DerivedData \
            | xcbeautify

      - name: Run unit tests
        run: |
          xcodebuild test \
            -scheme "$SCHEME" \
            -destination "$DESTINATION" \
            -clonedSourcePackagesDirPath .spm-cache \
            -derivedDataPath DerivedData \
            -resultBundlePath TestResults.xcresult \
            | xcbeautify

      - name: Upload test results
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: test-results
          path: TestResults.xcresult

Aggiungi la firma del codice per le build di release

Per i deployment su TestFlight o App Store, aggiungi i passaggi di firma del codice. Salva i tuoi certificati e profili di provisioning come GitHub Secrets:

  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64, M4]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install certificate and provisioning profile
        env:
          BUILD_CERTIFICATE_BASE64: ${{ secrets.BUILD_CERTIFICATE_BASE64 }}
          P12_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.P12_PASSWORD }}
          BUILD_PROVISION_PROFILE_BASE64: ${{ secrets.BUILD_PROVISION_PROFILE_BASE64 }}
          KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD }}
        run: |
          # Create a temporary keychain
          KEYCHAIN_PATH=$RUNNER_TEMP/app-signing.keychain-db
          security create-keychain -p "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" $KEYCHAIN_PATH
          security set-keychain-settings -lut 21600 $KEYCHAIN_PATH
          security unlock-keychain -p "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" $KEYCHAIN_PATH

          # Import certificate
          CERTIFICATE_PATH=$RUNNER_TEMP/build_certificate.p12
          echo -n "$BUILD_CERTIFICATE_BASE64" | base64 --decode -o $CERTIFICATE_PATH
          security import $CERTIFICATE_PATH -P "$P12_PASSWORD" \
            -A -t cert -f pkcs12 -k $KEYCHAIN_PATH
          security list-keychain -d user -s $KEYCHAIN_PATH

          # Install provisioning profile
          PP_PATH=$RUNNER_TEMP/build_pp.mobileprovision
          echo -n "$BUILD_PROVISION_PROFILE_BASE64" | base64 --decode -o $PP_PATH
          mkdir -p ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles
          cp $PP_PATH ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles

      - name: Build for distribution
        run: |
          xcodebuild archive \
            -scheme "MyApp" \
            -archivePath DerivedData/MyApp.xcarchive \
            -destination "generic/platform=iOS" \
            CODE_SIGN_STYLE=Manual

      - name: Export IPA
        run: |
          xcodebuild -exportArchive \
            -archivePath DerivedData/MyApp.xcarchive \
            -exportOptionsPlist ExportOptions.plist \
            -exportPath DerivedData/Export

      - name: Upload to TestFlight
        env:
          APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          xcrun altool --upload-app \
            -f DerivedData/Export/MyApp.ipa \
            -t ios \
            --apiKey $APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY

6. Passo 4: Ottimizza le prestazioni

Uno dei maggiori vantaggi di un self-hosted runner è il caching persistente. Ecco le ottimizzazioni chiave per sfruttare al massimo il tuo Mac Mini M4.

Abilita il caching di DerivedData

Poiché il runner è persistente, DerivedData viene conservato tra le build. Usa un percorso DerivedData coerente:

# In your workflow, always use:
-derivedDataPath DerivedData

# On the runner, periodically clean old DerivedData to save space:
# Add a cron job to clean builds older than 7 days
echo "0 3 * * 0 find ~/actions-runner/_work/*/DerivedData -maxdepth 0 -mtime +7 -exec rm -rf {} +" \
  | crontab -

Metti in cache i pacchetti SPM

# Use clonedSourcePackagesDirPath to keep SPM packages on disk
xcodebuild build \
  -scheme "MyApp" \
  -clonedSourcePackagesDirPath ~/spm-cache \
  -derivedDataPath DerivedData

# This avoids re-downloading packages on every build

Esecuzione dei test in parallelo

# Run tests in parallel across multiple simulators
xcodebuild test \
  -scheme "MyApp" \
  -destination "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16 Pro,OS=18.2" \
  -destination "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15,OS=17.5" \
  -parallel-testing-enabled YES \
  -maximum-parallel-testing-workers 4 \
  -derivedDataPath DerivedData \
  | xcbeautify

Installa xcbeautify per log migliori

# xcbeautify formats Xcode output for CI environments
brew install xcbeautify

# Use it by piping xcodebuild output:
xcodebuild build -scheme "MyApp" | xcbeautify

7. Risoluzione dei problemi comuni

# Check service status
sudo ./svc.sh status

# View logs
cat ~/actions-runner/_diag/Runner_*.log | tail -50

# Restart the service
sudo ./svc.sh stop
sudo ./svc.sh start

# Ensure the login keychain is unlocked for the runner user
security unlock-keychain -p "YOUR_PASSWORD" ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db

# Or use a dedicated keychain in your workflow (recommended)
security create-keychain -p "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" build.keychain
security default-keychain -s build.keychain
security unlock-keychain -p "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" build.keychain

# Shutdown all running simulators
xcrun simctl shutdown all

# Erase all simulator data (nuclear option)
xcrun simctl erase all

# Boot a specific simulator
xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 16 Pro"

# Clean old DerivedData
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*

# Remove old simulator runtimes
xcrun simctl runtime delete all

# Clean Homebrew cache
brew cleanup --prune=7

# Remove old Xcode archives
rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives/*

8. Analisi dei costi

Ecco un confronto dettagliato dei costi per diverse dimensioni di team e volumi di build:

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