GitHub Actions and AWS CodeBuild - The Ultimate Guide for Container Nerds July 29, 2025, 12:29 p.m.

AWS CodeBuild provides a managed way to provide so-called ā€œself-hostedā€ runners for your GitHub Actions workflows.

CodeBuild does not offer a long-running runner, but instead provisions a new instance for every job. It uses CodeConnections to install a webhook at the repo or org level. This webhook subscribes to multiple events and ensures that a CodeBuild instance starts if a job begins with a matching runs-on.

Whatā€™s not always obvious (and often confusing):

  • CodeBuild provides EC2, Container, and Lambda runtimes, which can be defined per project (this is simplified, the actual configuration options are very confusing).
  • In GitHub Actions, runs-on can include a container image. This overrides the CodeBuild project configuration (and cannot be restricted).
  • The size of the runner can also be configured in runs-on, again overriding the CodeBuild project (no restriction possible here either).

To understand these nuances, letā€™s look at a few scenarios. In all cases, assume a CodeBuild project is configured to use EC2 as the compute option.

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How To Debug Distroless And Slim Containers Nov. 22, 2023, 9:32 p.m.

Slim containers are faster (less stuff to move around) and more secure (fewer places for vulnerabilities to sneak in). However, these benefits of slim containers come at a price - such containers lack (the much-needed at times) exploration and debugging tools. It might be quite challenging to tap into a container that was built from a distroless or slim base image or was minified using DockerSlim or alike. Over the years, I've learned a few tricks how to troubleshoot slim containers, and it's time for me to share.

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Running GUIā€™s with Docker on Mac OS X Dec. 23, 2019, 8:15 p.m.

We are very familiar with running CLI processes in Docker containers with no Graphical UI at all. But did you know that you can just as well run applications with a graphical user interfaces, like Chrome, Firefox, Tor Browser, Gimp, etcā€¦ with Dockerā€¦ on OS X!

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