Machine runner 3.0 manual installation for Windows

8 months ago2 min read
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Cloud
This document is applicable to CircleCI Cloud
Server v4.4+
This document is applicable to CircleCI Server v4.4+

This page describes how to manually install CircleCI’s machine runner 3.0 on Windows Server.

Prerequisites

Self-hosted runner terms agreement

Before you can install self-hosted runners through the web app, you will need to agree to the CircleCI Runner Terms. To be able to gain access to the Self-Hosted Runners section of the CircleCI web app or your CircleCI server app, an admin in your organization needs to navigate to menu:Organization Settings[Self-Hosted Runners], and agree to the terms.

Runner terms and conditions

Once the terms have been accepted, Self-Hosted Runners will appear permanently in the side navigation.

Your role within your org is determined differently depending on how you integrate with your code, as follows:

  • If your code is integrated with CircleCI via the GitHub OAuth App or Bitbucket Cloud, CircleCI mirrors VCS permissions for organizations. If you are an admin on your organization’s VCS, you are an admin on CircleCI. If you are unsure, check the admin permissions on your VCS.

  • If your code is integrated with CircleCI via the GitHub App, GitLab, or Bitbucket Data Center, you can check roles by navigating to menu:Organization Settings[People]. Full details on roles and permissions are available in the Roles and permissions overview.

1. Create namespace and resource class

In order to install self-hosted runners, you will need to create a namespace and authentication token by performing the steps listed below.

You can view your installed runners on the inventory page in the web app or your CircleCI server app, by clicking Self-Hosted Runners on the left navigation.

  1. Create a namespace for your organization’s self-hosted runners. Each organization can only create a single namespace. We suggest using a lowercase representation of your CircleCI organization’s account name. If you already use orbs, this namespace should be the same namespace orbs use.

    Use the following command to create a namespace:

    circleci namespace create <name> --org-id <your-organization-id>
  2. Create a resource class for your self-hosted runner’s namespace using the following command:

    circleci runner resource-class create <namespace>/<resource-class> <description> --generate-token

    Make sure to replace <namespace> and <resource-class> with your org namespace and desired resource class name, respectively. You may optionally add a description.

    Example: circleci runner resource-class create my-namespace/my-resource-class my-description --generate-token.

    The resource class token is returned after the runner resource class is successfully created.

2. Download the CircleCI machine runner

Using PowerShell, download the current version of CircleCI machine runner and verify the download.

$runnerVersion = "current"
$availableAgents = (Invoke-WebRequest "https://circleci-binary-releases.s3.amazonaws.com/circleci-runner/manifest.json" -UseBasicParsing).Content.Trim() | ConvertFrom-Json
$agentURL = $availableAgents.releases.$runnerVersion.windows.amd64.url
$agentHash = $availableAgents.releases.$runnerVersion.windows.amd64.sha256
$agentFile = $agentURL.Split("/")[-1]

Invoke-WebRequest $agentURL -OutFile $agentFile -UseBasicParsing
if ((Get-FileHash "$agentFile" -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower() -ne $agentHash.ToLower()) {
    throw "Invalid checksum for CircleCI Machine Runner, please try download again"
}

tar -zxvf $agentFile
del $agentFile

3. Create the CircleCI machine runner configuration and working directory

Using PowerShell, create the CircleCI machine runner configuration file and working directory.

New-Item -Name Workdir -ItemType Directory
@"
api:
  auth_token: "<< YOUR RUNNER TOKEN >>"
  url: https://runner.circleci.com
runner:
  name: "$env:COMPUTERNAME"
  mode: single-task
  working_directory: "./Workdir"
  cleanup_working_directory: true
logging:
  file: circleci-runner.log
"@ -replace "([^`r])`n", "`$1`r`n" | Out-File machine-runner-config.yaml -Encoding ascii

4. Start the CircleCI machine runner

./circleci-runner.exe machine --config machine-runner-config.yaml