Note: GitHub Packages is currently in beta for GitHub Enterprise Server 2.22. To join the beta for your instance, use the sign-up form.
About GitHub Packages with GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions help you automate your software development workflows in the same place you store code and collaborate on pull requests and issues. You can write individual tasks, called actions, and combine them to create a custom workflow. With GitHub Actions you can build end-to-end continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) capabilities directly in your repository. For more information, see "About GitHub Actions."
You can extend the CI and CD capabilities of your repository by publishing or installing packages as part of your workflow.
Authenticating to package registries on GitHub
To authenticate to package registries on GitHub Enterprise, we recommend using the GITHUB_TOKEN that GitHub Enterprise automatically creates for your repository when you enable GitHub Actions instead of a personal access token for authentication. The GITHUB_TOKEN has read:packages and write:packages scopes to the current repository. For forks, the token also has the read:packages scope for the parent repository.
You can reference the GITHUB_TOKEN in your workflow file using the {{secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}} context. For more information, see "Authenticating with the GITHUB_TOKEN."
Publishing a package using an action
You can publish packages as part of your continuous integration (CI) flow using GitHub Actions. For example, you could configure a workflow so that anytime a developer pushes code to the default branch, the workflow runs CI tests. If those tests pass, the workflow publishes a new package version to GitHub Packages. This workflow automates the creation of new package versions only if the code meets your quality standards.
Configuration steps vary by package client. For general information about configuring a workflow for GitHub Actions, see "Configuring a workflow."
Installing a package using an action
You can install packages as part of your CI flow using GitHub Actions. For example, you could configure a workflow so that anytime a developer pushes code to a pull request, the workflow resolves dependencies by downloading and installing packages hosted by GitHub Packages. Then, the workflow can run CI tests that require the dependencies.
Installing packages hosted by GitHub Packages through GitHub Actions requires minimal configuration or additional authentication when you use GITHUB_TOKEN.
Configuration steps vary by package client. For general information about configuring a workflow for GitHub Actions, see "Configuring a workflow."