Best practices for securing on-premises GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) & self-hosted runners within a private data center?

[tekafroz-lang]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

Hi everyone,

We are currently planning the architecture and security policies for deploying GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) along with self-hosted GitHub Actions runners in our private data center environment.

Our main focus is ensuring data center perimeter security, network segmentation, and compliance with our organization's zero-trust guidelines.

Specifically, we are evaluating:

Network Isolation & Egress: Recommended firewall/proxy setups to restrict outbound traffic from runners located in a secure data center tier without disrupting package manager downloads or external APIs.
Runner Hardening: Best practices for isolating ephemeral vs. persistent runners to prevent potential lateral movement inside the data center VPC/subnet.
Audit & Compliance: Ensuring telemetry and audit logs from on-prem GitHub instances align with data center security baselines (such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 controls).

We've been reviewing our current data center security framework and baseline guide.
to map out these requirements, but we'd love to hear how other enterprise teams structure their data center defense-in-depth specifically for GHES workloads.

How do you handle runner isolation and egress filtering in your private data centers? Any lessons learned or pitfalls to avoid?

Thanks in advance!

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐