Device Protection in GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions jobs run on Linux runners, so Device Protection installs the same way it does on any Linux machine. What is specific to GitHub Actions is where the install goes: once on a self-hosted runner that stays around, or inside each job on a hosted runner that is destroyed after the job.

Read Install Device Protection for Linux first for the token and the install flavors. The job-level snippets below use the container flavor, which Device Protection in Containers explains.

GitHub-hosted runners

Add your Device Protection token as a secret named AIKIDO_TOKEN, then start the agent before any step that installs packages:

.github/workflows/build.yml

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Start Device Protection
        env:
          AIKIDO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AIKIDO_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          curl -fsSL https://github.com/AikidoSec/safe-chain/raw/refs/heads/main/install-scripts/install-endpoint-linux.sh \
            | sudo AIKIDO_TOKEN="$AIKIDO_TOKEN" sh -s -- --container
          sudo aikido-endpoint-protection-start --wait-for-healthy

      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          for f in /etc/profile.d/aikido-*.sh; do . "$f"; done
          npm ci

• Pass the token after sudo. sudo drops the rest of your environment.

• Source /etc/profile.d/aikido-*.sh in every step that installs packages. Each step is a new shell, and without those settings downloads skip the agent.

• The runner is a VM, but it takes --container. A job cannot reboot the runner, and container mode needs no reboot. That is also why the agent is started explicitly. See Choose the install flavor.

To skip the sourcing line, run every step in a login shell, which reads /etc/profile.d/ on its own:

.github/workflows/build.yml

defaults:
  run:
    shell: bash --login -eo pipefail {0}

Job containers

Jobs with container: run as root, so use the same steps without sudo. The image needs curl. If the image already has the agent installed, skip the install and only start it. See Job containers in GitHub Actions.

Self-hosted runners

Install the agent on the runner host with --headless, then reboot. See Install Device Protection for Linux.

Verify it works

.github/workflows/build.yml

      - name: Verify Device Protection
        run: |
          for f in /etc/profile.d/aikido-*.sh; do . "$f"; done
          curl -sS -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" --max-time 15 https://registry.npmjs.org/safe-chain-test/-/safe-chain-test-0.0.1-security.tgz

403 means the agent blocked the malware test package. 200 means the download skipped the agent.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
Token is required	The secret did not reach the install. Map it under env and pass it after sudo. Fork pull requests get no secrets
Root privileges required	Prefix the install and the start command with sudo
Test package returns 200, or SELF_SIGNED_CERT_IN_CHAIN	The step did not source /etc/profile.d/aikido-*.sh