Frequently Asked Questions
I have a question or issue that isn't covered in the frequently asked questions where else can I get help?
We have several options for support with the Kasm community.
- Our public issue tracker on GitHub.
- Our r/kasmweb subreddit.
- Our YouTube channel.
- Our support for paid customers.
Licensing
Which version of Kasm Workspaces is right for me?
We have a detailed page on all editions and license tiers for Kasm Workspaces here: license information.
Kasm Workspaces Installation / Setup
How is Kasm Workspaces hosted?
There are several options for hosting Kasm Workspaces:
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You can self-host Kasm Workspaces on a server at your residence or business
- We have guides for single server installation and multiple server installation.
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You can setup Kasm Workspaces on a cloud service of your choice.
- You can follow the above guides for single or multiple server installation on the cloud instances you provision.
- Kasm Technologies has available in the Digital Ocean marketplace a droplet 1-click installer that will create a Digital Ocean hosted Kasm Workspaces instance.
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Individuals looking for a managed service can use Kasm Cloud Personal.
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Businesses looking for a managed service can contact us for Kasm Workspaces Cloud SaaS options.
What are the system requirements and how do I optimize the performance of Kasm Workspaces?
The basic system requirements are listed in the installation guide: system requirements. In addition for a more complex deployment we have a system sizing and deployment guide.
Does Kasm Workspaces support Ansible or Terraform?
Kasm Workspaces supports both Ansible and Terraform:
- For our Ansible documentation and example scripts visit our Ansible GitHub repo.
- For our Terraform documentation and example scripts visit our Terraform GitHub repo.
The default installation has more Workspaces than I need/want, can I customize the set of Workspaces installed?
There are two options for customizing the Workspace set at installation time.
- There is a -I or --no-images option for install.sh that will instruct the installer to not pre seed any default Kasm Workspaces.
- After extracting the installation zip, but before running the install.sh, you can edit “kasm_release/conf/database/seed_data/default_images_amd64.yaml” or “kasm_release/conf/database/seed_data/default_images_arm64.yaml” depending on the architecture of the host you are installing on. Editing these files will allow you to customize the set of Workspaces that are installed during Kasm Workspaces installation.
How can I ensure that my Kasm Workspaces default images are up to date?
Kasm Technologies publishes new images with every Kasm workspaces release, but the team also publishes daily and weekly "rolling" images that have program and security updates.
- By default Kasm Workspaces installs the static release tagged images, but by specifying -O or --use-rolling-images option Kasm Workspaces will install the rolling daily updated images.
- If your Kasm Workspaces instance is already installed '-rolling-daily' can be appended to the tag of any default Kasm Workspaces image to get the latest program and security updates applied daily or 'rolling-weekly' can be used to receive weekly updates.
- Check out rolling-images for more information
Note: In order to use the rolling tags your Kasm Workspaces installation must be internet connected so it can pull down image updates.
There was an error during my installation or upgrade of Kasm Workspaces. How can I find out what went wrong?
The installation/upgrade scripts will output a log file that will contain details on any errors encountered when performing the installation/upgrade. Upon a successful proceedure the install file is removed. If an error does occur the file will be present in the folder that the installation or upgrade was ran from and a file named kasm_install_${TIMESTAMP}.log or kasm_upgrade_${TIMESTAMP}.log will be present. This file will be important for diagnosing the error and will be requested by Kasm support when troubleshooting.
Where can I find the install files and their SHA256 sums?
| Contents | URL | SHA256 |
|---|---|---|
| Installer Bundle | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_1.18.1.tar.gz | 83d3b1d61a32f283b1b8e415ee4d1bbb02184930d00f6885f9799e001e677135 |
| Contents | URL | SHA256 |
|---|---|---|
| Services | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_service_images_amd64_1.18.1.tar.gz | aceb278607094227f33f98a30d69262ea6ab2989c132aeba583e12ab7cc9441a |
| Workspaces | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_workspace_images_amd64_1.18.1.tar.gz | 684ef2372c23acc0a16c49048a0c22de43aad6bb42f53860ba0f489c55b3c4db |
| Network Plugin | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_network_plugin_images_amd64_1.18.1.tar.gz | 2eca9c97875a7227f9f116ba0374189f8b0cb2e932a75acfe7cb9b5befd4fce6 |
| Logging Plugin | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_logging_plugin_images_amd64_1.18.1.tar.gz | 7bce430646270b6d3679cc8b1f2bf836bab1c0b96ec5625d524d20b1d7afb25a |
| Contents | URL | SHA256 |
|---|---|---|
| Services | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_service_images_arm64_1.18.1.tar.gz | d3323b18b25fba3037893970b5cd019d19ba3110684abb814993b536464f2550 |
| Workspaces | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_workspace_images_arm64_1.18.1.tar.gz | a1f16d39101046f2150108872cc9100d5dff944d98df56f3f13c750f44cb66d6 |
| Network Plugin | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_network_plugin_images_arm64_1.18.1.tar.gz | e202152b6ef1ae7c0013a3d62d15de1152ade9204346358bace46918597f2533 |
| Logging Plugin | https://kasm-static-content.s3.amazonaws.com/kasm_release_logging_plugin_images_arm64_1.18.1.tar.gz | 8b9e70e00de4c1c2f45b53df74c9034523542e1773921a1f2964b963e54ceb6b |
Kasm Workspaces Configuration
The admin account is locked, how do I reset the password?
On a self-hosted deployment you can use our admin account recovery instructions to unlock the account and set a new password. On a Kasm Technologies managed SaaS deployment, please contact our support team for assistance support for paid customers.
Can I install my own software or customize my desktops?
Check out our page on creating custom Kasm images and maintaining custom Kasm images.
I need to run my Workspace as root.
If you are looking for a way to install additional software or change settings on the Workspace please check out Can I install my own software or customize my desktops above. If you are looking to enable root permissions because they are required for an application to run correctly this is possible, however, it does carry security implications and should be avoided if possible.
- Documentation on running a container as the root user.
How can I keep my profile data between Kasm sessions?
We have a guide on enabling a persistent profile (home directory).
I have an app that requires persistent data between Kasm sessions, or I want to be able to have a common share for all users mapped into a Kasm session.
There is a guide on enabling persistent data
My Kasm session is torn down too quickly when idle, how can I set the session timeout to be longer?
The default timeouts can be changed on the workspaces based upon the user’s group's Group Session Timing Settings. Here is a video clip that walks through the setting changes group settings video.
I'd like to run a Windows or Mac OSX image in Kasm Workspaces.
Kasm Workspaces supports session handling and rendering for arbitrary systems that support RDP, VNC, SSH, or KasmVNC. These systems can be fixed assets or they can be auto-scaled with Kasm Workspaces in a supported cloud environment. Windows 10, 11, and Server 2019 have been tested and are known to work with Workspaces. For more information or to see a demonstration please visit our Kasm Workspaces Windows Guide.
If you are looking to set up MacOS Workspaces for remote access, we recommend referring to our Setting Up MacOS Workspaces for Remote Access documentation page for detailed instructions and guidance.
Please note that the documentation page provides step-by-step instructions and best practices for configuring MacOS systems with Kasm Workspaces for remote access.
When I reconnect to my fixed infrastructure SSH session I lose my history and any work I was doing.
Kasm workspaces can be configured to leverage tmux or screen to allow resuming your work when reconnecting to an SSH session.
My AutoScaled servers are consuming resources even during long periods where my Kasm installation has no active users (such as overnight).
Kasm workspaces can be configured to follow a schedule for AutoScale configurations AutoScale Schedules.
Using Kasm Workspaces
When I am browsing the internet on my computer. Is there an easy way to open a link inside a Kasm session?
Kasm Technologies provides a browser extension that enables a right click menu for opening a link inside a Kasm session.
- For the Chrome extension.
- For the Firefox extension.
- Check out our documentation for how to install and configure the browser extensions.
- Video demonstrating the browser extensions: https://youtu.be/U7e-mcJdZok?t=594
Do you have a developer API?
We do have a developer api available, more information is available here.
I'm getting a 'No Resources Available' error when trying to launch a workspace.
There are quite a few reasons you could be seeing a No Resources Available error, our troubleshooting guide has more information on how to diagnose and correct the error.
My native language isn't English. How can I use the UI and Kasm sessions in my own language?
Troubleshooting
When trying to launch a workspace, the session hangs at 'Creating a secure connection'.
If your session is failing to create a secure connection, then refer to our troubleshooting guide which has more information on how to diagnose and correct this error.
I am getting a 'No Resources Available' error when trying to launch a workspace.
If you are encountering a "No Resources" Error, then refer to our troubleshooting guide which has more information on how to diagnose and correct this error.
I am having difficulty setting up GPU passthrough support.
If you are looking for additional information on GPU Passthrough Support, then refer to our troubleshooting guide which has more information on how to diagnose and correct this error.
Why am I unable to print documents after resuming the session?
In the current version the printer will no longer work if the Kasm session is stopped.
Why does the desktopscalefactor property in the .rdp file seem to not have an effect?
This is due to behavior on the RDP client. Kasm passes the desktopscalefactor setting even if it is not overridden by rdp_thick_client_properties in the connection_info setting of the Server. The desktopscalefactor setting is derived from the browser DPI and written into the generated .rdp. However, since RDP 8.1 most clients prefer dynamic DPI/resolution sync and often ignore this setting or only apply it in very specific scenarios.
Alternate RDP scaling properties options
By default, Kasm sets the following properties true when generating a session:
Smart Sizing : Determines whether the local device scales the content of the remote session to fit the window size.
Dynamic Resolution : Determines whether the resolution of a remote session is automatically updated when the local window is resized.
Forcing DPI scaling on Windows hosts
If the client ignores the scaling settings from the .rdp file, scaling can be enforced on the host server itself by setting the following per-user registry keys:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"Win8DpiScaling"=dword:00000001
"LogPixels"=dword:00000096 ; 96=100%, 120=125%, 144=150%, etc.
The Win8DpiScaling=1 setting forces Windows to honor the LogPixels setting. Without it, Windows may ignore the LogPixels setting and instead rely only on client DPI sync.
Note: A logoff/restart is required to apply these changes.