destroy old attack ranges workflow (splunk/attack_range)

The destroy old attack ranges workflow from splunk/attack_range, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the destroy old attack ranges workflow from the splunk/attack_range repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

name: destroy old attack ranges
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '15 13 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  destroy_old_attack_ranges:

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:

      - name: Checkout repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - name: Install System Packages
        run: |
          sudo apt update -qq
      
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
        with:
          python-version: '3.11' #Available versions here - https://github.com/actions/python-versions/releases  easy to change/make a matrix/use pypy
          architecture: 'x64' # optional x64 or x86. Defaults to x64 if not specified
      
      - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v5
        with:
          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
          aws-region: eu-central-1

      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -r requirements.txt

      - name: Destroy and stop old attack ranges
        run: |
          python scripts/attack_range_destroyer.py
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Estimated ~20% faster on cache hits, plus fewer wasted runs and a safer supply chain. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

name: destroy old attack ranges
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '15 13 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:
 
jobs:
  destroy_old_attack_ranges:
    timeout-minutes: 30
 
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
 
      - name: Checkout repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
      - name: Install System Packages
        run: |
          sudo apt update -qq
      
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: '3.11' #Available versions here - https://github.com/actions/python-versions/releases  easy to change/make a matrix/use pypy
          architecture: 'x64' # optional x64 or x86. Defaults to x64 if not specified
      
      - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v5
        with:
          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
          aws-region: eu-central-1
 
      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: |
          pip install -r requirements.txt
 
      - name: Destroy and stop old attack ranges
        run: |
          python scripts/attack_range_destroyer.py
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}

What changed

• Run on Latchkey managed runners with one line (runs-on), which apply the fixes below automatically and self-heal transient failures. This example uses latchkey-small; pick the runner size that fits the job.
• Cache dependency installs on the setup step so they are served from cache.
• Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

1 third-party action is referenced by a movable tag. Pin it to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

What Latchkey heals here

This workflow has steps that commonly fail on transient issues (network, registries, flaky browsers). On Latchkey managed runners they are detected, retried, and self-healed instead of failing your build:

• Dependency installs

This workflow runs 1 job per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow