GitHub Action for GraalVM

This GitHub action sets up Oracle GraalVM, GraalVM Community Edition (CE), Enterprise Edition (EE), Mandrel, or Liberica Native Image Kit as well as Native Image and GraalVM components such as Truffle languages.

Key Features

This action:

• supports Oracle GraalVM releases, EA builds, GraalVM Community Edition (CE) releases, dev builds, GraalVM Enterprise Edition (EE) releases (set gds-token) 22.1.0 and later, Mandrel, and Liberica Native Image Kit (see Options)
• exports a $GRAALVM_HOME environment variable
• adds $GRAALVM_HOME/bin to the $PATH environment variable
  (Native Image, Truffle languages, and tools can be invoked directly)
• sets $JAVA_HOME to $GRAALVM_HOME by default
  (can be disabled via set-java-home: 'false', see Options)
• supports x64 and aarch64 (selected automatically, aarch64 requires a self-hosted runner)
• supports dependency caching for Apache Maven, Gradle, and sbt (see cache option)
• sets up Windows environments with build tools using vcvarsall.bat
• has built-in support for GraalVM components and the GraalVM Updater

Templates

Quickstart Template

name: GraalVM build
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
        with:
          java-version: '21'      # See 'Options' for more details
          distribution: 'graalvm' # See 'Supported distributions' for available options
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      - name: Example step
        run: |
          echo "GRAALVM_HOME: $GRAALVM_HOME"
          echo "JAVA_HOME: $JAVA_HOME"
          java --version
          native-image --version
      - name: Example step using Maven plugin  # https://graalvm.github.io/native-build-tools/latest/maven-plugin.html
        run: mvn -Pnative package
      - name: Example step using Gradle plugin # https://graalvm.github.io/native-build-tools/latest/gradle-plugin.html
        run: gradlew nativeCompile

Building a HelloWorld with GraalVM Native Image on Different Platforms

name: GraalVM Native Image builds
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  build:
    name: HelloWorld on ${{ matrix.os }}
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, windows-latest, ubuntu-latest]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
        with:
          java-version: '21'
          distribution: 'graalvm'
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          native-image-job-reports: 'true'

      - name: Build and run HelloWorld.java
        run: |
          echo 'public class HelloWorld { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello, World!"); } }' > HelloWorld.java
          javac HelloWorld.java
          native-image HelloWorld
          ./helloworld
      
      - name: Upload binary
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: helloworld-${{ matrix.os }}
          path: helloworld*

Template for Oracle GraalVM Early Access (EA) builds

name: Oracle GraalVM Early Access build
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
        with:
          java-version: '24-ea' # or 'latest-ea' for the latest Java version available
          distribution: 'graalvm'
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Template for Oracle GraalVM via GraalVM Download Service

Prerequisites

1. Obtain a token for the GraalVM Download Service. For this, replace [email protected] with your email address and run the following curl command:

   curl -sS -X POST "https://gds.oracle.com/api/20220101/licenseAcceptance" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d "{ \"email\": \"[email protected]\", \"licenseId\": \"D53FA58D12817B3CE0530F15000A74CA\", \"type\": \"GENERATE_TOKEN_AND_ACCEPT_LICENSE\"}"

   The response should look like this:

   {"token":"<your-token>","status":"UNVERIFIED"}

2. Store the value of <your-token> as a GitHub Action secret. For the following template, we use the name GDS_TOKEN.

3. Check your emails and accept the license to activate the token.

4. Use java-version: '17' (or a specific version such as 17.0.13) and provide the GDS_TOKEN as shown in the following template:

   name: Build with Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17 via GDS
   on: [push, pull_request]
   jobs:
     build:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         - uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
           with:
             distribution: 'graalvm'
             java-version: '17'
             gds-token: ${{ secrets.GDS_TOKEN }}
             github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         - name: Example step
           run: |
             java --version
             native-image --version

Template for GraalVM Enterprise Edition

Prerequisites

1. Download the version of GraalVM Enterprise Edition (EE) you want to run on GitHub Actions.

2. Use the GraalVM Updater to install the GraalVM components you need on GitHub Actions and accept the corresponding licenses.

3. Run $GRAALVM_HOME/bin/gu --show-ee-token to display your token for the GraalVM Download Service.

4. Store this token as a GitHub Action secret. In the following template, we use the name GDS_TOKEN:

   name: GraalVM Enterprise Edition build
   on: [push, pull_request]
   jobs:
     build:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         - uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
           with:
             version: '22.3.0'
             gds-token: ${{ secrets.GDS_TOKEN }}
             java-version: '17'
             components: 'native-image'
             github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         - name: Example step
           run: |
             java --version
             native-image --version

Supported distributions

Currently, the following distributions are supported:

Keyword	Distribution	Official site	License
graalvm	Oracle GraalVM	Link	Link
graalvm-community	GraalVM Community Edition	Link	Link
mandrel	Mandrel	Link	Link
liberica	Liberica NIK	Link	Link

Options

This actions can be configured with the following options:

Name	Default	Description
java-version (required)	n/a	Java version major versions: '23', '21', '17', '11', '8' specific versions: '21.0.3', '17.0.11' early access (EA) builds: '24-ea' (requires distribution: 'graalvm') latest EA build: 'latest-ea' (requires distribution: 'graalvm') dev builds: 'dev'
distribution	'graalvm'	GraalVM distribution (see supported distributions)
java-package	'jdk'	The package type ('jdk' or 'jdk+fx'). Currently applies to Liberica only.
github-token	'${{ github.token }}'	Token for communication with the GitHub API. Please set this to ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} (see templates) to allow the action to authenticate with the GitHub API, which helps reduce rate-limiting issues.
set-java-home	'true'	If set to 'true', instructs the action to set $JAVA_HOME to the path of the GraalVM installation. Overrides any previous action or command that sets $JAVA_HOME.
cache	''	Name of the build platform to cache dependencies. Turned off by default (''). It can also be 'maven', 'gradle', or 'sbt' and works the same way as described in actions/setup-java.
check-for-updates	'true'	Annotate jobs with update notifications, for example when a new GraalVM release is available.
native-image-musl	'false'	If set to 'true', sets up musl to build static binaries with GraalVM Native Image (Linux only). Example usage (be sure to replace uses: ./ with uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1).
native-image-job-reports *)	'false'	If set to 'true', post a job summary containing a Native Image build report.
native-image-pr-reports *)	'false'	If set to 'true', post a comment containing a Native Image build report on pull requests. Requires write permissions for the pull-requests scope.
native-image-pr-reports-update-existing *)	'false'	Instead of posting another comment, update an existing PR comment with the latest Native Image build report. Requires native-image-pr-reports to be true.
native-image-enable-sbom	'false'	If set to 'true', generate a minimal SBOM based on the Native Image static analysis and submit it to GitHub's dependency submission API. This enables the dependency graph feature for dependency tracking and vulnerability analysis. Requires write permissions for the contents scope and the dependency graph to be actived (on my default for public repositories - see how to activate). Only available in Oracle GraalVM for JDK 24 or later.
components	''	Comma-separated list of GraalVM components (e.g., native-image or ruby,nodejs) that will be installed by the GraalVM Updater.
version	''	X.Y.Z (e.g., 22.3.0) for a specific GraalVM release up to 22.3.2 mandrel-X.Y.Z.W or X.Y.Z.W-Final (e.g., mandrel-21.3.0.0-Final or 21.3.0.0-Final) for a specific Mandrel release, mandrel-latest or latest for the latest Mandrel stable release.
gds-token	'' Download token for the GraalVM Download Service. If a non-empty token is provided, the action will set up Oracle GraalVM (see Oracle GraalVM via GDS template) or GraalVM Enterprise Edition (see GraalVM EE template) via GDS.

*) Make sure that Native Image is used only once per build job. Otherwise, the report is only generated for the last Native Image build.

Notes on Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17

GraalVM for JDK 17.0.12 is the last release of Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17 under the GFTC. Updates after September 2024 will be licensed under the GraalVM OTN License Including License for Early Adopter Versions (GOTN) and production use beyond the limited free grants of the GraalVM OTN license will require a fee.

As a user of setup-graalvm, you have the following options:

• Recommended: Upgrade to Oracle GraalVM for JDK 21 or later to receive new updates.
• Not recommended: Instead of java-version: '17', use java-version: '17.0.12' in your workflow to keep using the last release under GFTC. This will also disable the warning. Note that switching to GraalVM Community Edition or other GraalVM distributions might provide you with even older releases of GraalVM.
• Provide a gds-token to access Oracle GraalVM for JDK 17 under GOTN (see Oracle GraalVM via GDS template).

Migrating from GraalVM 22.3 or Earlier to the New GraalVM for JDK 17 and Later

The GraalVM for JDK 17 and JDK 20 release aligns the GraalVM version scheme with OpenJDK. As a result, this action no longer requires the version option to select a specific GraalVM version. At the same time, it introduces a new distribution option to select a specific GraalVM distribution (graalvm, graalvm-community, or mandrel). Therefore, to migrate your workflow to use the latest GraalVM release, replace the version with the distribution option in the workflow yml config, for example:

# ...
- uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
  with:
    java-version: '17'
    version: '22.3.2' # Old 'version' option for the GraalVM version
    # ...

can be replaced with:

# ...
- uses: graalvm/setup-graalvm@v1
  with:
    java-version: '17.0.12' # for a specific JDK 17; or '17' for the latest JDK 17
    distribution: 'graalvm' # New 'distribution' option
    # ...

Contributing

We welcome code contributions. To get started, you will need to sign the Oracle Contributor Agreement (OCA).

Only pull requests from committers that can be verified as having signed the OCA can be accepted.