Question

You are automating the provisioning of self-hosted runners for an organization using a script that calls the GitHub REST API. The script must fetch a token that the runner's config.sh can use to register itself with the organization. When you test the automation, you notice that registration works only if the runner registers shortly after the script runs; runners that boot up later fail to register. What is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The registration token returned by the 'Create a registration token for an organization' endpoint expires one hour after it is generated.

Answer

Registration tokens are single-use, so the same token cannot be reused across multiple runners in the fleet.

Answer

The script is using a personal access token instead of a runner registration token, and PATs cannot register runners.

Answer

The organization has an IP allow list that blocks the runner's egress until it is added to a runner group.