How to auto update github action runner

Question

I'm looking for a way to auto update my local github action runner.

This is still in beta but work fine and for every update my CI/CD is not running without any notification.

Answer 1

GitHub Actions Runner should update itself automatically unless you passed the --disableupdate command line parameter to config.sh.

--disableupdate was added January 2022 https://github.com/actions/runner/pull/1558.

The code to automatically update the agent seems to have always been there. At least since the first commit to the open source repository.

Answer 2

You now (July 2020) can try the new Dependabot, described by Alex Mullans :

Dependabot now updates your Actions workflows

GitHub Actions makes it easy to automate all your software workflows, from continuous integration and delivery to issue triage and more.
Whether you want to build a container, deploy a web service, or automate welcoming new users to your open source projects—there’s an action for that.

Actions can be frequently updated with bug fixes and new features that might make your build faster, more reliable, and safer.

To take advantage of updates to actions, you previously had to update your Actions workflow file manually. This led to some workflows using outdated versions of actions.

Now, Dependabot can keep the actions used in your workflow files updated automatically!
Dependabot version updates will periodically check your workflow files and the Actions they use and see if new versions are available. If they are, Dependabot will send you a pull request that updates your workflow file to use the new version.

Dependabot creates pull requests that update the action to the latest released tag (e.g., v2), regardless of if you’re currently on a release tag, a pre-release tag, or a specific hash.

Dependabot version updates are fully configurable: you can control how often and when your workflow files are checked, who should be assigned to review the PR, and more.

To enable Dependabot version updates for GitHub Actions, check a dependabot.yml configuration file into your repository.