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:

• 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.

• 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.

• Individuals looking for a managed service can use Kasm Cloud Personal.

  • https://www.kasmweb.com/kasm_cloud_personal.html

• 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?

The following table lists the permissions and descriptions of each permission.

Name	Description
User	Default level of permissions for normal users.
Global Admin	Global Administrator with all permissions.
Users View	View users and user information.
Users Modify	Modify existing users.
Users Create	Create new users.
Users Delete	Delete exiting users.
Users Modify Admin	Modify users with Global Admin permissions.
Users Auth Session	Login and logout on behalf of another user.
Groups View	View groups, group members, and group settings.
Groups Modify	Modify group members and settings.
Groups Create	Create new groups.
Groups Delete	Delete existing groups.
Groups View IfMember	View groups you are a member of, excluding system groups.
Groups Modify IfMember	Modify groups you are a member of, excluding system groups.
Groups View System	View groups, group members and group settings of system defined groups.
Groups Modify System	Modify group members and settings of system groups.
Groups Delete System	Delete a system group.
Agents View	View agents and agent settings.
Agents Modify	Modify agent settings.
Agents Create	Create agents.
Agents Delete	Delete existing agents.
Staging View	View staging list and stage configuration settings.
Staging Modify	Modify existing staging settings.
Staging Create	Create new staging configurations.
Staging Delete	Delete existing staging configurations.
Casting View	View casting list and casting configuration settings.
Casting Modify	Modify existing casting settings.
Casting Create	Create new casting configurations.
Casting Delete	Delete existing casting configurations.
Sessions View	View all user sessions.
Sessions Modify	Perform modifications to a session of another user.
Sessions Delete	Delete the session of another user.
Session Recordings View	View user session recordings.
Images View	View images
Images Modify	Modify image configurations.
Images Create	Create new images.
Images Delete	Delete existing images.
Images Modify Resources	Modify image resource settings, such as CPU and Memory settings.
DevAPI View	View developer API list.
DevAPI Modify	Modify developer API configurations.
DevAPI Create	Create a new developer API key.
DevAPI Delete	Delete an existing developer API key.
Webfilters View	View webfilters
Webfilters Modify	Modify existing webfilters
Webfilters Create	Create a new webfilter.
Webfilters Delete	Delete an existing webfilter
Brandings View	View branding configurations.
Brandings Modify	Modify existing branding configurations.
Brandings Create	Create new branding configurations.
Brandings Delete	Delete existing branding configurations.
Settings View	View global settings.
Settings Modify	Modify global settings in all categories.
Settings Modify Auth	Modify global settings in the authentication category.
Settings Modify Auth Captcha	Modify global settings in the authentication captcha category.
Settings Modify Cast	Modify global settings in the casting category.
Settings Modify Images	Modify global settings in the images category.
Settings Modify License	Modify global settings in the license category.
Settings Modify Logging	Modify global settings in the logging category.
Settings Modify Manager	Modify global settings in the manager category.
Settings Modify Scale	Modify global settings in the scale category.
Settings Modify Subscription	Modify global settings in the subscription category.
Settings Modify Filter	Modify global settings in the filter category.
Settings Modify Storage	Modify global settings in the storage category.
Settings Modify Connections	Modify global settings in the connections category.
Settings Modify Theme	Modify global settings in the theme category.
Auth View	View LDAP/OIDC/SAML configurations.
Auth Modify	Modify LDAP/OIDC/SAML configurations.
Auth Create	Create LDAP/OIDC/SAML configurations.
Auth Delete	Delete LDAP/OIDC/SAML configurations.
Licenses View	View licenses.
Licenses Create	Add new licenses.
Licenses Delete	Delete licenses.
System View	View system information.
System Export Schema	Export system schema.
System Import Data	Import system data.
System Export Data	Export system data.
Reports View	View system reports and logging. Warning: Providing access to logs can provide a lot of potentially sensitive information.
Managers View	View the managers.
Managers Modify	Modify existing managers.
Managers Create	Create a new manager.
Managers Delete	Delete existing managers.
Zones View	View Zones and Zone settings.
Zones Modify	Modify Zone settings.
Zones Create	Create new Zones.
Zones Delete	Delete existing Zones.
Companies View	View companies.
Companies Modify	Modify existing company.
Companies Create	Create a new company.
Companies Delete	Delete an existing company.
Connection Proxy View	View connection proxies.
Connection Proxy Modify	Modify connection proxies.
Connection Proxy Create	Create a connection proxy.
Connection Proxy Delete	Delete an existing connection proxy.
Physical Tokens View	View physical 2FA tokens.
Physical Tokens Modify	Assign/Unassign physical 2FA tokens.
Physical Tokens Create	Import or create physical 2FA tokens.
Physical Tokens Delete	Delete a physical 2FA token.
Servers View	View servers.
Servers Modify	Modify existing servers.
Servers Create	Create new servers.
Servers Delete	Delete servers.
Server Pools View	View server pools.
Server Pools Modify	Modify server pools.
Server Pools Create	Create a new server pool.
Server Pools Delete	Delete a server pool.
Autoscale View	View auto scale configurations.
Autoscale Modify	Modify an existing auto scale configuration.
Autoscale Create	Create a new auto scale configuration.
Autoscale Delete	Delete auto scale configurations.
VM Provider View	View VM Provider configurations.
VM Provider Modify	Modify VM Provider configurations.
VM Provider Create	Create new VM Provider configurations.
VM Provider Delete	Delete VM Provider configurations.
Autoscale Schedule View	View an auto scale schedule.
Autoscale Schedule Modify	Modify an auto scale schedule.
Autoscale Schedule Create	Create an auto scale schedule.
Autoscale Schedule Delete	Delete an auto scale schedule.
DNS Providers View	View DNS provider configurations.
DNS Providers Modify	Modify DNS provider configurations.
DNS Providers Create	Create new DNS Provider configurations.
DNS Providers Delete	Delete DNS Provider configurations.
Registries View	View Workspace Registries.
Registries Modify	Modify existing Workspace Registries.
Registries Create	Add new Workspace Registries
Registries Delete	Delete a Workspace Registry
Storage Providers View	View Storage Providers.
Storage Providers Modify	Modify existing Storage Providers.
Storage Providers Create	Create new Storage Providers.
Storage Providers Delete	Delete an existing Storage Provider.
Egress Providers View	View Egress Providers.
Egress Providers Modify	Modify existing Egress Providers.
Egress Providers Create	Create new Egress Providers.
Egress Providers Delete	Delete an existing Egress Provider.
Egress Gateways View	View Egress Gateways.
Egress Gateways Modify	Modify existing Egress Gateways.
Egress Gateways Create	Create new Egress Gateways.
Egress Gateways Delete	Delete an existing Egress Gateway.
Egress Credentials View	View Egress Credentials.
Egress Credentials Modify	Modify existing Egress Credentials.
Egress Credentials Create	Create new Egress Credentials.
Egress Credentials Delete	Delete an existing Egress Credential.
Banners View	View banners.
Banners Modify	Modify existing banners.
Banners Create	Create new banners.
Banners Delete	Delete an existing banner.
AD User Management View	View AD User Management Configurations.
AD User Management Modify	Modify existing AD User Management Configurations.
AD User Management Create	Create new AD User Management Configurations.
AD User Management Delete	Delete an existing AD User Management Configuration.

Permission Changes

A user's permissions are embedded in their session token, which is generated on login. A user's token lifetime is controlled by the Session Lifetime global setting. The UI will get a new session token every 5 minutes. The fastest way to get new permissions to apply, is to have the user log out and log back in, otherwise, the change will apply generally within 5 minutes.

Permission Dependencies

While most permissions can stand alone, there are dependencies between some permissions. Generally, a Modify, Create, and/or Delete permission will need the corresponding View permission. The following are additional permission dependencies, which means you will need to grant multiple permissions to have the desired effect.

• Licenses View requires System View
• Permissions View requires Groups View
• Registries View requires Images View, System View, and Agents View
• Autoscale View requires Server Pools View
• Autoscale Schedule View requires Server Pools View
• DNS Providers View requires Server Pools View
• VM Providers View requires Server Pools View and Autoscale View
• Users Delete requires Sessions Delete if the target user has running sessions and Users Modify
• Users Delete requires Users Modify Admin to delete a user that has the Global Admin permission
• Egress Gateways Create, Egress Gateways Modify, Egress Gateways Delete, Egress Credentials Create, Egress Credentials Modify and Egress Credentials Delete require Egress Providers Modify.
• Servers View and Server Templates View requires Server Pools View and Zones View

There are many cases where multiple permissions are not required, however, certain UI elements will be hidden if the user does not have the permissions to view them. For example, a user may have permissions to View Images, however, they may not have permissions to View Servers. If the user goes to view an individual Workspace Image that targets a Server, they will not see the drop down to view or edit the server the image is targeting.

Special Permissions

There are more available permissions around groups, beyond the basic View, Create, Modify, and Delete. The Groups View IfMember and Groups Modify IfMember allow a user to view or modify a group if they are a member of that group. This does not extend to built-in system groups (All Users and Administrator). To edit or view System groups, they will also need the Groups View/Modify System permission.

There is an additional permission that protects modification of users with the Global Admin permission. In order to modify a Global Admin, the user requesting the modification must themselves be a Global Admin or have the User Modify Admin permission.

There are two permissions that allow modifications to Workspace Images, Images Modify and Images Modify Resources. The Images Modify allows modification of all Image settings except those that would modify the physical/virtual compute resources. The following settings require the Images Modify Resources permission to edit:

• GPU Count
• Cores
• Memory
• CPU Allocation Method
• Uncompressed Image Size
• Docker Registry
• Docker Registry Username
• Docker Registry Password
• Hash
• Volume Mappings
• Docker Run Config Override
• Docker Exec Config

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?

In Kasm Workspaces 1.14.0 the Kasm team released translations for the Kasm Workspaces UI and added internalization support to the Kasm containerized workspaces. The language and timezone can be changed at the user, group, and workspace levels.

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.