Rerun Action

This GitHub action retries a command with configurable timeout handling and retry logic. It's designed to be lightweight, fast, and compatible across different environments.

Features

• Configurable timeout in minutes or seconds
• Adjustable number of retry attempts
• Support for various shells (bash, sh, cmd, powershell)
• Option to run cleanup commands between retries
• Ability to change command on subsequent attempts
• Lightweight implementation using Bash in a minimal Alpine Docker container

Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
timeout_minutes	Minutes to wait before attempt times out	No	N/A
timeout_seconds	Seconds to wait before attempt times out	No	N/A
max_attempts	Number of attempts to make	Yes	N/A
command	Command to execute	Yes	N/A
retry_wait_seconds	Seconds between retries	No	10
shell	Shell to use	No	bash
retry_on	Retry on error/timeout/any	No	any
on_retry_command	Command to run before retry	No	N/A
new_command_on_retry	New command for subsequent attempts	No	N/A
continue_on_error	Continue workflow on error	No	false

Outputs

Output	Description
total_attempts	Total attempts made
exit_code	Final exit code
exit_error	Final error message

Usage

Basic retry

- uses: harryvasanth/rerun@v1
  with:
    timeout_seconds: 30
    max_attempts: 3
    command: "apt-get update"

Retry with cleanup

- uses: harryvasanth/rerun@v1
  with:
    max_attempts: 5
    command: "dpkg -i package.deb"
    on_retry_command: "dpkg --remove package"

Different command on retry

- uses: harryvasanth/rerun@v1
  with:
    max_attempts: 3
    command: "apt-get install -y some-package"
    new_command_on_retry: "apt-get install -y some-package --no-install-recommends"

Example

Retry a potentially flaky Debian package installation:

jobs:
  install:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Update package lists
        run: sudo apt-get update
      - name: Install package with retry
        uses: harryvasanth/rerun@v1
        with:
          timeout_minutes: 5
          max_attempts: 3
          command: sudo apt-get install -y potentially-flaky-package
          retry_wait_seconds: 30