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WeAreDevelopers LIVE β€’ Oct 6, 2023

A deep dive into ARC the Kubernetes operator to scale self-hosted runners

Bassem Dghaidi

Stop wasting cluster capacity on idle CI/CD pipelines. Discover how the ARC Kubernetes operator securely scales self-hosted GitHub Actions runners to peak demand and down to zero.

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#1 about 2 min

Origin and evolution of Actions Runner Controller

How the community-built solution for managing self-hosted runners was officially adopted by GitHub.

#2 about 2 min

Demonstrating self-hosted runner scaling locally

A practical look at queued workflows automatically triggering runner creation within a Kubernetes cluster.

#3 about 4 min

State machines and reconciliation loops in Kubernetes

How control loops continually monitor conditions to ensure the system matches its desired operational state.

#4 about 6 min

Actions Runner Controller architecture and cluster isolation

Why arbitrary execution workloads require dedicated Kubernetes clusters rather than sharing resources with predictable production traffic.

#5 about 7 min

Initializing runner scale sets and listener pods

Converting homogeneous runner pools into deployable clusters using autoscaling controllers and scale set listeners.

#6 about 6 min

Step-by-step workflow scaling and job assignment

The lifecycle of parsing a new workflow execution to scaling up ephemeral runner pods with scoped credentials.

#7 about 6 min

Navigating the Actions Runner Controller open-source repository

Reviewing the project structure to understand the transition from unreliable webhooks to persistent long-polling connections.

#8 about 11 min

Defining custom resources and controller reconciliation logic

Inspecting the codebase constraints for custom resource definitions and the core hashing mechanism driving state updates.

#9 about 4 min

Exploring the listener application and connection handling

How the listener binary functions as a distinct web client holding an HTTP connection to the GitHub backend.

#10 about 5 min

Packaging releases with Helm and container registries

Distributing the controller manager and listener tools as OCI-compliant charts and combined container images.

#11 about 2 min

Accessing deep dives and setup documentation

Additional materials are provided to assist with operational management and complex repository configurations.

#12 about 2 min

The speakers journey into writing software

An early start fixing computers led to a lifelong commitment to building software solutions.

#13 about 4 min

Addressing scale complexities in Kubernetes environments

Running build workloads securely sometimes requires overcoming resource isolation limits intrinsic to container orchestration platforms.

#14 about 5 min

Balancing degrees versus self-taught software engineering skills

Formal training often expedites the underlying systems engineering knowledge required to scale enterprise platforms sustainably.

Matching moments

1:42 min

Abstracting Kubernetes complexity with a self-service operator

Jan Lepsky Jan Lepsky

1:50 min

Understanding the continuous control loop in Kubernetes operators

Philipp Krenn Β· World Congress 2022

6:56 min

Architecting continuous reconciliation loops with Kubernetes controllers

Thomas SchΓΌtz Β· LIVE

11:32 min

Audience questions on security, limitations, and Kubernetes crossover

Maurice Brinkmann Β· LIVE

1:54 min

Speaker background and open source Kubernetes edge computing projects

Gaurav Gahlot Gaurav Gahlot Β· World Congress 2026 Europe

1:59 min

Orchestrating with Kubernetes against Docker and accessing slides

Philipp Krenn Β· World Congress 2022

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Upcoming sessions on this topic

Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 Β· 16:10–16:40

Stage 1

Kubernetes Is Not Your Sandbox

Ivan Burazin

Ivan Burazin CEO and Co-Founder at Daytona

Ivan Burazin
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 Β· 11:00–11:30

Stage 6

Accelerating development and managing agents with the GitHub Copilot app

Christopher Harrison

Senior Developer Advocate at GitHub

Christopher Harrison
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 Β· 10:20–10:50

Stage 6

Practices, Not Prompts: Scale GitHub Copilot with AI-Ready Repositories

Luis Pujols

Staff Customer Success Architect, GitHub

Luis Pujols
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 Β· 11:40–12:10

Outdoor Stage

GitHub’s Team X-Ray: Your Repository Knows More About Your Team Than Your Team Does

Andrea Griffiths

Senior Developer Advocate

Andrea Griffiths
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 Β· 11:00–11:30

Mainstage

Govern the Runtime, Not the Agent: One Control Plane for Every Model, Every Harness

Tushar Jain

Chief Technology Officer, Docker

Tushar Jain
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 Β· 16:10–16:40

Outdoor Stage

Run your agents in Kubernetes: Build once, deploy anywhere. But really?

Michal Salanci

Senior Systems Engineer at ESET Cybersecurity

Michal Salanci

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