Setup Talos Action

A GitHub Action for installing and configuring Talos Linux - a modern, secure, immutable, and minimal Linux OS designed specifically for running Kubernetes. Perfect for CI/CD pipelines, testing, and development workflows.

Features

• ✅ Automatic installation of talosctl CLI
• ✅ Creates local Talos cluster using Docker
• ✅ Configurable number of worker nodes
• ✅ Supports custom Kubernetes versions
• ✅ Waits for cluster readiness
• ✅ Outputs both kubeconfig and talosconfig paths
• ✅ No cleanup required - designed for ephemeral GitHub Actions runners

Quick Start

name: Test with Talos

on: [push]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Talos
        id: talos
        uses: fenio/setup-talos@v1
        with:
          version: 'latest'
          nodes: '1'
      
      - name: Deploy and test
        env:
          KUBECONFIG: ${{ steps.talos.outputs.kubeconfig }}
        run: |
          kubectl apply -f k8s/
          kubectl wait --for=condition=available --timeout=60s deployment/my-app

Inputs

Input	Description	Default
version	Talos version to install (e.g., v1.8.0) or latest	latest
cluster-name	Name of the Talos cluster	talos-ci
kubernetes-version	Kubernetes version to use (e.g., v1.31.1)	(Talos default)
nodes	Number of worker nodes (in addition to control plane)	0
talosctl-args	Additional arguments to pass to talosctl cluster create	""
wait-for-ready	Wait for cluster to be ready before completing	true
timeout	Timeout in seconds to wait for cluster readiness	300
dns-readiness	Wait for CoreDNS to be ready and verify DNS resolution works	true
load-nvme-modules	Load NVMe kernel modules on host (required for NVMe-oF with Docker provisioner)	false
mount-dev	Bind mount /dev from host into containers (required for NVMe-oF to see dynamically created devices)	false

Outputs

Output	Description
kubeconfig	Path to the kubeconfig file (~/.kube/config)
talosconfig	Path to the talosconfig file (~/.talos/config)

Examples

Basic Setup (Single Node)

- name: Setup Talos
  uses: fenio/setup-talos@v1

Multi-Node Cluster

- name: Setup Talos with 2 workers
  id: talos
  uses: fenio/setup-talos@v1
  with:
    nodes: '2'
    cluster-name: 'my-test-cluster'

Specific Versions

- name: Setup Talos with specific versions
  uses: fenio/setup-talos@v1
  with:
    version: 'v1.8.0'
    kubernetes-version: 'v1.31.1'

Using Talos API

- name: Setup Talos
  id: talos
  uses: fenio/setup-talos@v1

- name: Query cluster via Talos API
  env:
    TALOSCONFIG: ${{ steps.talos.outputs.talosconfig }}
  run: |
    talosctl --nodes 127.0.0.1 version
    talosctl --nodes 127.0.0.1 health
    talosctl --nodes 127.0.0.1 get services

How It Works

This action runs a bash script that:

1. Installs Docker (if not already available)
2. Downloads and installs the talosctl CLI tool
3. Creates a local Talos cluster using Docker containers
4. Waits for the cluster to become fully ready
5. Exports both kubeconfig and talosconfig paths for use in subsequent steps

No cleanup needed - GitHub Actions runners are ephemeral and destroyed after each workflow run, so there's no need to restore system state.

Requirements

• Runs on ubuntu-latest (or any Linux-based runner)
• Requires sudo access (provided by default in GitHub Actions)
• Docker is automatically installed if not present

Troubleshooting

Cluster Takes Too Long to Start

If the cluster doesn't become ready in time, increase the timeout:

- name: Setup Talos
  uses: fenio/setup-talos@v1
  with:
    timeout: '600'  # 10 minutes

Need More Verbose Output

Check the GitHub Actions logs. The script uses ::group:: annotations for collapsible sections.

Testing Locally

To test locally on a Linux machine:

export INPUT_VERSION="latest"
export INPUT_CLUSTER_NAME="talos-ci"
export INPUT_KUBERNETES_VERSION=""
export INPUT_NODES="0"
export INPUT_TALOSCTL_ARGS=""
export INPUT_WAIT_FOR_READY="true"
export INPUT_TIMEOUT="300"
export INPUT_DNS_READINESS="true"
export GITHUB_ENV=/tmp/github_env
export GITHUB_OUTPUT=/tmp/github_output

bash setup.sh

Why Talos?

Talos Linux offers several advantages for CI/CD environments:

• Immutable: No SSH, no shell - reduces attack surface
• Minimal: Small footprint, fast startup times
• API-driven: Everything is managed via API (talosctl)
• Secure by default: All system APIs use mutual TLS
• Perfect for testing: Quick cluster creation and destruction

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Related Projects

• Talos Linux - Secure Kubernetes OS

Other Kubernetes Setup Actions

• setup-k0s - Zero friction Kubernetes (k0s)
• setup-k3s - Lightweight Kubernetes (k3s)
• setup-kubesolo - Ultra-lightweight Kubernetes
• setup-microk8s - Lightweight Kubernetes by Canonical
• setup-minikube - Local Kubernetes (Minikube)