An introduction to

GitHub Actions
by Wilf Wilson

GAP Days Spring 2021

Sometimes relevant links will appear at the bottom, for later exploration.
 Outline

• The conceptual purpose of GitHub Actions

• Why we’re talking about this now

• A brief look at GitHub Actions in… action

• Then Sergio:

Doing GAP package CI with GitHub Actions

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GitHub Actions at its most basic

• In a GitHub repository…

• …when a particular event happens…

• …run a sequence of tasks.

(Remotely, for free*, in a dual core virtual machine, with 7 GB

RAM, 14 GB storage, running Windows, macOS, or Ubuntu.)

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 Examples of triggers/events
• A new commit is pushed to a branch

• Someone opens/edits a pull request

• Someone closes an issue

• A new release is made

• Another GitHub Action finishes running

• It’s 9:20 am

• Manual triggering

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https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/events-that-trigger-workflows
 Examples of tasks
• Run regression tests

• Calculate code coverage

• Profile performance

• Update a website

• Prepare a new release

• Build the manual

• Check code formatting

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https://github.com/marketplace?type=actions
 Example workflows
A “workflow” is a unit consisting of configurations and tasks.
Examples:

• When a pull request is made: run the regression tests,

and see if new code has test coverage.

• Every morning at 8am, prepare a release of your software.

• Every time there’s a new release, download it, check that

it works, and update a website.

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 Benefits

• Automation can save time

• Automation is consistent

• Automation aids decentralisation and transparency

• It reduces your need for computer resources

• It offers a wide range of easy configurations

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 Costs & difficulties

• Takes some effort to set up

• The virtual machines are not supercomputers

• Easy configuration options are not endless*

• You don’t have full control over the remote machines*

• No guarantee that it will be around forever…

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 Why now?
GitHub Actions is new, powerful, useful for release process.

Competing/similar services:

• AppVeyor

• Azure Pipelines

• Jenkins

• Travis: no longer a realistic option; move away from it!

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/migrating-from-travis-ci-to-github-actions
 Rough practical aspects of
how GitHub Actions works

• A workflow exists as a YAML file in .github/workflows/

• Structure: configuration options & a sequence of actions

• GitHub keeps track & runs workflows as appropriate

• The results are shown in the “Actions” tab on GitHub, and

on corresponding pull request pages

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/introduction-to-github-actions
How GitHub Actions look on GitHub

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 v

The workflows directory…

https://github.com/gap-system/gap/tree/master/.github/workflows
 A workflow file…

https://github.com/gap-system/gap/blob/master/.github/workflows/CI.yml
The “Actions” tab…

https://github.com/gap-system/gap/actions
 One particular run…

https://github.com/gap-system/gap/actions/runs/551986043
 One particular job…
https://github.com/gap-system/gap/runs/1864784244?check_suite_focus=true
 A pull request…

https://github.com/gap-system/gap/pull/4248
https://github.com/gap-system/gap/pull/4248/checks
https://github.com/marketplace?type=actions
 Questions?

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions