diff --git a/cmd/mapt/cmd/aws/hosts/rhel.go b/cmd/mapt/cmd/aws/hosts/rhel.go
index 82d4b34cb..41abc2dc6 100644
--- a/cmd/mapt/cmd/aws/hosts/rhel.go
+++ b/cmd/mapt/cmd/aws/hosts/rhel.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	params "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/cmd/mapt/cmd/constants"
 	maptContext "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/manager/context"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel"
+	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/ghactions"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/logging"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -61,18 +62,30 @@ func getRHELCreate() *cobra.Command {
 				viper.GetString(params.ConnectionDetailsOutput),
 				viper.GetStringMapString(params.Tags))
 
+			// Initialize gh actions runner if needed
+			if viper.IsSet(params.InstallGHActionsRunner) {
+				err := ghactions.InitGHRunnerArgs(viper.GetString(params.GHActionsRunnerToken),
+					viper.GetString(params.GHActionsRunnerName),
+					viper.GetString(params.GHActionsRunnerRepo))
+				if err != nil {
+					logging.Error(err)
+				}
+			}
+
 			// Run create
 			if err := rhel.Create(
 				&rhel.Request{
-					Prefix:       "main",
-					Version:      viper.GetString(rhelVersion),
-					Arch:         viper.GetString(rhelArch),
-					VMType:       viper.GetStringSlice(vmTypes),
-					SubsUsername: viper.GetString(subsUsername),
-					SubsUserpass: viper.GetString(subsUserpass),
-					ProfileSNC:   viper.IsSet(profileSNC),
-					Spot:         viper.IsSet(spot),
-					Airgap:       viper.IsSet(airgap)}); err != nil {
+					Prefix:               "main",
+					Version:              viper.GetString(rhelVersion),
+					Arch:                 viper.GetString(rhelArch),
+					VMType:               viper.GetStringSlice(vmTypes),
+					SubsUsername:         viper.GetString(subsUsername),
+					SubsUserpass:         viper.GetString(subsUserpass),
+					ProfileSNC:           viper.IsSet(profileSNC),
+					Spot:                 viper.IsSet(spot),
+					Airgap:               viper.IsSet(airgap),
+					SetupGHActionsRunner: viper.GetBool(params.InstallGHActionsRunner),
+				}); err != nil {
 				logging.Error(err)
 			}
 			return nil
@@ -89,6 +102,7 @@ func getRHELCreate() *cobra.Command {
 	flagSet.Bool(airgap, false, airgapDesc)
 	flagSet.Bool(spot, false, spotDesc)
 	flagSet.Bool(profileSNC, false, profileSNCDesc)
+	flagSet.AddFlagSet(params.GetGHActionsFlagset())
 	c.PersistentFlags().AddFlagSet(flagSet)
 	// if err := c.MarkFlagRequired(subsUsername); err != nil {
 	// 	logging.Error(err)
diff --git a/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-base b/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-base
index 6809e8dc2..817d04265 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-base
+++ b/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-base
@@ -5,4 +5,12 @@ rh_subscription:
   auto-attach: true
 runcmd:
   - while fuser /var/lib/rpm/.rpm.lock > /dev/null 2>&1 ; do sleep 1 ; done
-  - dnf install -y podman
\ No newline at end of file
+  - dnf install -y podman
+{{ if .InstallActionsRunner }}  - sudo -u {{ .Username }} bash -c /opt/install-ghrunner.sh{{ end }}
+{{ if .InstallActionsRunner }}write_files:
+  # Github actions runner installation
+  - content: |
+    {{ .ActionsRunnerSnippet }}
+    path: /opt/install-ghrunner.sh
+    permissions: '0755'
+{{ end }}
diff --git a/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-snc b/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-snc
index 9f4a6a0f2..6dcc22d94 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-snc
+++ b/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/cloud-config-snc
@@ -25,3 +25,11 @@ runcmd:
   - echo "user.max_user_namespaces=28633" | tee -a /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf
   - sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/userns.conf
   - dnf upgrade -y curl openssl
+{{ if .InstallActionsRunner }}  - sudo -u {{ .Username }} bash -c /opt/install-ghrunner.sh {{ end }}
+{{ if .InstallActionsRunner }}write_files:
+  # Github actions runner installation
+  - content: |
+    {{ .ActionsRunnerSnippet }}
+    path: /opt/install-ghrunner.sh
+    permissions: '0755'
+{{ end }}
diff --git a/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/rhel.go b/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/rhel.go
index 0b43e128e..ab05c2446 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/rhel.go
+++ b/pkg/provider/aws/action/rhel/rhel.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/provider/util/output"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/file"
+	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/ghactions"
 	resourcesUtil "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/resources"
 )
 
@@ -41,6 +42,8 @@ type Request struct {
 	ProfileSNC bool
 	Spot       bool
 	Airgap     bool
+	// setup as github actions runner
+	SetupGHActionsRunner bool
 	// internal management
 	// For airgap scenario there is an orchestation of
 	// a phase with connectivity on the machine (allowing bootstraping)
@@ -56,6 +59,8 @@ type userDataValues struct {
 	SubscriptionUsername string
 	SubscriptionPassword string
 	Username             string
+	InstallActionsRunner bool
+	ActionsRunnerSnippet string
 }
 
 //go:embed cloud-config-base
@@ -274,7 +279,9 @@ func (r *Request) getUserdata() (pulumi.StringPtrInput, error) {
 		userDataValues{
 			r.SubsUsername,
 			r.SubsUserpass,
-			amiUserDefault},
+			amiUserDefault,
+			r.SetupGHActionsRunner,
+			ghactions.GetActionRunnerSnippetLinux()},
 		resourcesUtil.GetResourceName(
 			r.Prefix, awsRHELDedicatedID, "userdata"),
 		templateConfig)
diff --git a/pkg/util/ghactions/runner.go b/pkg/util/ghactions/runner.go
index fcede6016..bf4459e1b 100644
--- a/pkg/util/ghactions/runner.go
+++ b/pkg/util/ghactions/runner.go
@@ -42,9 +42,28 @@ if((Get-FileHash -Path actions-runner-win-x64-2.317.0.zip -Algorithm SHA256).Has
 [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory("$PWD\actions-runner-win-x64-2.317.0.zip", "$PWD")
 ./config.cmd --token $ghToken --url %s --name %s --unattended --runasservice --replace`
 
+// whitespace at the start is required since this is expanded in a cloud-init yaml file
+// to start as service need to relable the runsvc.sh file on rhel: https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/3222
+const LinuxActionsRunnerInstallSnippet string = `  mkdir ~/actions-runner && cd ~/actions-runner` + "\n" +
+	`      curl -o actions-runner-linux-x64-2.317.0.tar.gz -L https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.317.0/actions-runner-linux-x64-2.317.0.tar.gz` + "\n" +
+	`      echo "9e883d210df8c6028aff475475a457d380353f9d01877d51cc01a17b2a91161d  actions-runner-linux-x64-2.317.0.tar.gz" | sha256sum -c` + "\n" +
+	`      tar xzf ./actions-runner-linux-x64-2.317.0.tar.gz` + "\n" +
+	`      sudo ./bin/installdependencies.sh` + "\n" +
+	`      ./config.sh --token %s --url %s --name %s --unattended --replace` + "\n" +
+	`      sudo ./svc.sh install` + "\n" +
+	`      chcon system_u:object_r:usr_t:s0 $(pwd)/runsvc.sh` + "\n" +
+	`      sudo ./svc.sh start`
+
 func GetActionRunnerSnippetWin() string {
 	if (args == &RunnerArgs{}) {
 		return ""
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf(WindowsActionsRunnerInstallSnippet, args.RepoURL, args.Name)
 }
+
+func GetActionRunnerSnippetLinux() string {
+	if (args == &RunnerArgs{}) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf(LinuxActionsRunnerInstallSnippet, args.Token, args.RepoURL, args.Name)
+}