---
title: Multi-platform image with GitHub Actions
linkTitle: Multi-platform image
description: Build for multiple architectures with GitHub Actions using QEMU emulation or multiple native builders
keywords: ci, github actions, gha, buildkit, buildx, multi-platform
---

You can build [multi-platform images](../../building/multi-platform.md) using
the `platforms` option, as shown in the following example:

> [!NOTE]
>
> - For a list of available platforms, see the [Docker Setup Buildx](https://github.com/marketplace/actions/docker-setup-buildx)
>   action.
> - If you want support for more platforms, you can use QEMU with the [Docker Setup QEMU](https://github.com/docker/setup-qemu-action)
>   action.

```yaml
name: ci

on:
  push:

jobs:
  docker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@{{% param "login_action_version" %}}
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up QEMU
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@{{% param "setup_qemu_action_version" %}}

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@{{% param "setup_buildx_action_version" %}}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@{{% param "build_push_action_version" %}}
        with:
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          push: true
          tags: user/app:latest
```

## Build and load multi-platform images

The default Docker setup for GitHub Actions runners does not support loading
multi-platform images to the local image store of the runner after building
them. To load a multi-platform image, you need to enable the containerd image
store option for the Docker Engine.

There is no way to configure the default Docker setup in the GitHub Actions
runners directly, but you can use `docker/setup-docker-action` to customize the
Docker Engine and CLI settings for a job.

The following example workflow enables the containerd image store, builds a
multi-platform image, and loads the results into the GitHub runner's local
image store.

```yaml
name: ci

on:
  push:

jobs:
  docker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Set up Docker
        uses: docker/setup-docker-action@{{% param "setup_docker_action_version" %}}
        with:
          daemon-config: |
            {
              "debug": true,
              "features": {
                "containerd-snapshotter": true
              }
            }

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@{{% param "login_action_version" %}}
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up QEMU
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@{{% param "setup_qemu_action_version" %}}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@{{% param "build_push_action_version" %}}
        with:
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          load: true
          tags: user/app:latest
```

## Distribute build across multiple runners

Building multiple platforms on the same runner can significantly extend build
times, particularly when dealing with complex Dockerfiles or a high number of
target platforms. By distributing platform-specific builds across multiple
runners using a matrix strategy, you can drastically reduce build durations and
streamline your CI pipeline. These examples demonstrate how to allocate each
platform build to a dedicated runner, including ARM-native runners where
applicable, and create a unified manifest list using the
[`buildx imagetools create` command](/reference/cli/docker/buildx/imagetools/create.md).

The following workflow will build the image for each platform on a dedicated
runner using a matrix strategy and push by digest. Then, the `merge` job will
create manifest lists and push them to Docker Hub. The [`metadata` action](https://github.com/docker/metadata-action)
is used to set tags and labels.

```yaml
name: ci

on:
  push:

env:
  REGISTRY_IMAGE: user/app

jobs:
  build:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        include:
        - platform: linux/amd64
          runner: ubuntu-latest
        - platform: linux/arm64
          runner: ubuntu-24.04-arm
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
    steps:
      - name: Prepare
        run: |
          platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
          echo "PLATFORM_PAIR=${platform//\//-}" >> $GITHUB_ENV

      - name: Docker meta
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@{{% param "metadata_action_version" %}}
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@{{% param "login_action_version" %}}
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up QEMU
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@{{% param "setup_qemu_action_version" %}}

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@{{% param "setup_buildx_action_version" %}}

      - name: Build and push by digest
        id: build
        uses: docker/build-push-action@{{% param "build_push_action_version" %}}
        with:
          platforms: ${{ matrix.platform }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          tags: ${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}
          outputs: type=image,push-by-digest=true,name-canonical=true,push=true

      - name: Export digest
        run: |
          mkdir -p ${{ runner.temp }}/digests
          digest="${{ steps.build.outputs.digest }}"
          touch "${{ runner.temp }}/digests/${digest#sha256:}"

      - name: Upload digest
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: digests-${{ env.PLATFORM_PAIR }}
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests/*
          if-no-files-found: error
          retention-days: 1

  merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs:
      - build
    steps:
      - name: Download digests
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests
          pattern: digests-*
          merge-multiple: true

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@{{% param "login_action_version" %}}
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@{{% param "setup_buildx_action_version" %}}

      - name: Docker meta
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@{{% param "metadata_action_version" %}}
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}
          tags: |
            type=ref,event=branch
            type=ref,event=pr
            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}

      - name: Create manifest list and push
        working-directory: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests
        run: |
          docker buildx imagetools create $(jq -cr '.tags | map("-t " + .) | join(" ")' <<< "$DOCKER_METADATA_OUTPUT_JSON") \
            $(printf '${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}@sha256:%s ' *)

      - name: Inspect image
        run: |
          docker buildx imagetools inspect ${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
```

### With Bake

It's also possible to build on multiple runners using Bake, with the
[bake action](https://github.com/docker/bake-action).

You can find a live example [in this GitHub repository](https://github.com/crazy-max/docker-linguist).

The following example achieves the same results as described in
[the previous section](#distribute-build-across-multiple-runners).

```hcl
variable "DEFAULT_TAG" {
  default = "app:local"
}

// Special target: https://github.com/docker/metadata-action#bake-definition
target "docker-metadata-action" {
  tags = ["${DEFAULT_TAG}"]
}

// Default target if none specified
group "default" {
  targets = ["image-local"]
}

target "image" {
  inherits = ["docker-metadata-action"]
}

target "image-local" {
  inherits = ["image"]
  output = ["type=docker"]
}

target "image-all" {
  inherits = ["image"]
  platforms = [
    "linux/amd64",
    "linux/arm/v6",
    "linux/arm/v7",
    "linux/arm64"
  ]
}
```

```yaml
name: ci

on:
  push:

env:
  REGISTRY_IMAGE: user/app

jobs:
  prepare:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      matrix: ${{ steps.platforms.outputs.matrix }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Create matrix
        id: platforms
        run: |
          echo "matrix=$(docker buildx bake image-all --print | jq -cr '.target."image-all".platforms')" >>${GITHUB_OUTPUT}

      - name: Show matrix
        run: |
          echo ${{ steps.platforms.outputs.matrix }}

      - name: Docker meta
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@{{% param "metadata_action_version" %}}
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}

      - name: Rename meta bake definition file
        run: |
          mv "${{ steps.meta.outputs.bake-file }}" "${{ runner.temp }}/bake-meta.json"

      - name: Upload meta bake definition
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: bake-meta
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}/bake-meta.json
          if-no-files-found: error
          retention-days: 1

  build:
    needs:
      - prepare
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        platform: ${{ fromJson(needs.prepare.outputs.matrix) }}
    runs-on: ${{ startsWith(matrix.platform, 'linux/arm') && 'ubuntu-24.04-arm' || 'ubuntu-latest' }}
    steps:
      - name: Prepare
        run: |
          platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
          echo "PLATFORM_PAIR=${platform//\//-}" >> $GITHUB_ENV

      - name: Download meta bake definition
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: bake-meta
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}

      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@{{% param "login_action_version" %}}
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@{{% param "setup_buildx_action_version" %}}

      - name: Build
        id: bake
        uses: docker/bake-action@{{% param "bake_action_version" %}}
        with:
          files: |
            ./docker-bake.hcl
            cwd://${{ runner.temp }}/bake-meta.json
          targets: image
          set: |
            *.tags=${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}
            *.platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
            *.output=type=image,push-by-digest=true,name-canonical=true,push=true

      - name: Export digest
        run: |
          mkdir -p ${{ runner.temp }}/digests
          digest="${{ fromJSON(steps.bake.outputs.metadata).image['containerimage.digest'] }}"
          touch "${{ runner.temp }}/digests/${digest#sha256:}"

      - name: Upload digest
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: digests-${{ env.PLATFORM_PAIR }}
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests/*
          if-no-files-found: error
          retention-days: 1

  merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs:
      - build
    steps:
      - name: Download meta bake definition
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: bake-meta
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}

      - name: Download digests
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          path: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests
          pattern: digests-*
          merge-multiple: true

      - name: Login to DockerHub
        uses: docker/login-action@{{% param "login_action_version" %}}
        with:
          username: ${{ vars.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@{{% param "setup_buildx_action_version" %}}

      - name: Create manifest list and push
        working-directory: ${{ runner.temp }}/digests
        run: |
          docker buildx imagetools create $(jq -cr '.target."docker-metadata-action".tags | map(select(startswith("${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}")) | "-t " + .) | join(" ")' ${{ runner.temp }}/bake-meta.json) \
            $(printf '${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}@sha256:%s ' *)

      - name: Inspect image
        run: |
          docker buildx imagetools inspect ${{ env.REGISTRY_IMAGE }}:$(jq -r '.target."docker-metadata-action".args.DOCKER_META_VERSION' ${{ runner.temp }}/bake-meta.json)
```
