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Configure Kasm Workspaces AutoScale on Google Cloud (GCP)

Overview​

Workspace demand on Google Cloud (GCP) rises and falls through the day, and paying for idle compute during quiet periods wastes budget. This guide configures Kasm Workspaces AutoScale to provision and destroy Docker Agents on GCP automatically in response to demand. The result is elastic capacity that meets peak load and reduces idle infrastructure between sessions. AutoScale on GCP supports bursty contractor, training, investigation, and AI workloads without manual provisioning.

Prerequisites​

Confirm the following before you begin:

  • Administrator access to a Google Cloud (GCP) project with permission to manage IAM, Compute Engine, and networking.
  • A working Kasm Workspaces deployment. See the single-server installation guide if you need to deploy Kasm first.
  • Knowledge of the deployment zone and pool that the AutoScaled agents will join. A deployment zone is a logical grouping of Kasm infrastructure components, and a pool groups Docker Agents for load balancing.
  • The target GCP region, zone, network, and subnetwork for the provisioned instances.
  • A machine image for the AutoScaled agents. Build a custom image first only if your agents require baked-in customizations.

Solution approach​

This guide progresses through the following phases:

  1. Prepare the GCP service account and credentials.
  2. Configure the GCP VM provider in Kasm.
  3. Validate that provisioning and downscaling work.

Detailed steps​

Prepare the GCP service account and credentials​

  1. In the Google Cloud console, open IAM & Admin > Service Accounts and create a service account for Kasm AutoScale.

  2. Grant the service account the Compute Admin role so Kasm can provision and destroy compute instances.

    Create service account in the Google Cloud (GCP) IAM console

    Create Service Account in GCP

  3. Open the new service account and select the Keys tab.

  4. Select Add Key > Create new key, choose the JSON key type, and select Create. The console downloads a JSON key file that contains the authentication details Kasm needs to provision instances.

    Create a JSON service account key in the Google Cloud (GCP) console

    Create Key in GCP
caution

The JSON key grants programmatic access to provision and destroy compute instances. Store it securely, never commit it to version control, and rotate it on a regular schedule.

Configure the GCP VM provider in Kasm​

In the Kasm administrator console, open Infrastructure > VM Providers and add a Google Cloud (GCP) provider. Paste the contents of the downloaded JSON key into the GCP Credentials field, then complete the remaining fields described below.

GCP VM Provider

GCP VM Provider
NameDescription
NameAn identifying name for this provider configuration e.g. Google Cloud (GCP) Docker Agent AutoScale Provider
GCP CredentialsThe JSON formatted credentials for the service account used to authenticate with GCP: Ref
Max InstancesThe maximum number of GCP compute instances to provision regardless of the need for additional resources.
Project IDThe Google Cloud Project ID (e.g pensive-voice-547511)
RegionThe region to provision the new compute instances. (e.g us-east4)
ZoneThe zone the new compute instance will be provisioned in (e.g us-east4-b)
Machine TypeThe Machine type for the GCP compute instances. (e.g e2-standard-2)
Machine ImageThe Machine Image to use for the new compute instance. (e.g projects/ubuntu-os-cloud/global/img/ubuntu-2204-lts)
Boot Volume SizeSelect the boot volume size to assign the compute instance. The admin console accepts Bytes/GB and stores the value as bytes (gcp_boot_volume_bytes). API integrations must submit the number of bytes in whole GB (10^9) increments.
Disk TypeThe disk type for the new instance. (e.g pd-ssd, pd-standard, etc.)
Customer Managed Encryption Key (CMEK)The optional path to the Customer Managaged Encryption Key (CMEK) (e.g projects/pensive-voice-547511/locations/global/keyRings/my-keyring/cryptoKeys/my-key
NetworkThe path of the Network to attach the new instance. (e.g projects/pensive-voice-547511/global/networks/default)
Sub NetworkThe path of the Sub Network to attach the new instance.(e.g projects/pensive-voice-547511/regions/us-east4/subnetworks/default)
Public IPIf checked, a public IP will be assigned to the new instances
Network Tags (JSON)A JSON list of the Network Tags to assign the new instance. (e.g ["https-server", "foo", "bar"])
Custom Labels (JSON)A JSON dictionary of Custom Labels to assign the new instance (e.g {"foo": "bar", "bin":"baz"})
Metadata (JSON)A JSON list of metadata objects to add to the instance. (e.g [{"key": "ssh-keys", "value":"user1:ssh-rsa <key contents> user1"}]) Reference
Service Account (JSON)A JSON dictionary representing for a service account to attach to the instance. (e.g {"email": "service-account@example.com", "scopes":["https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform"]}) Reference
Guest Accelerators (JSON)A JSON list representing the guest accelerators (e. GPUs) to attach to the instance. (e.g [{"acceleratorType":"projects/<project-id>/zones/<zone>/acceleratorTypes/nvidia-tesla-t4","acceleratorCount":1}]) Reference
GCP Config Override (JSON)A JSON dictionary that can be used to customize attributes of the VM request. The only attributes that cannot be overridden are name and labels (e.g {"shieldedInstanceConfig":{"enableIntegrityMonitoring":true,"enableSecureBoot":true,"enableVtpm":true}} Reference
VM Installed OS TypeThe family of the OS installed on the VM (e.g. linux or windows).
Startup Script TypeThe type of startup script to execute, this determines the key used when creating the GCP startup script metadata. Windows Startup Scripts Linux Startup Scripts
Startup ScriptWhen instances are provisioned, this script is executed and is responsible for installing and configuring the Kasm Agent. Bash is supported on Linux instances and Powershell for Windows instance. Example scripts can be found on our Github repo

After you complete the fields, select Submit to save the provider configuration.

Validate provisioning and downscaling​

  1. If you configured non-zero standby or minimum available session values, agents begin provisioning immediately. Otherwise, generate demand with the following steps.
  2. Make one or more workspaces available. Open Workspaces > Registry and set the target workspaces to available.
  3. Open the Workspaces dashboard and launch enough sessions to exceed your standby thresholds.
  4. Monitor the new agents under Infrastructure > Docker Agents as Kasm provisions them.
  5. Confirm that matching VM instances appear in the Google Cloud (GCP) console.
  6. Validate downscaling. Terminate the sessions to reduce resource usage, then confirm that Kasm removes the agents after the configured back-off period.

Common troubleshooting steps​

  • Instances fail to provision. Confirm that the service account holds the Compute Admin role and that the JSON credentials are pasted in full. Verify that the Project ID, Region, and Zone values are valid and consistent.
  • Provisioning fails with a quota error. Check the Compute Engine quotas for the target region and machine type, and confirm that Max Instances does not exceed your available quota.
  • Agents provision but never register. Confirm that the startup script installs and configures the Kasm Agent, and that the agent can reach the Kasm Manager on the required ports. Review the AutoScale startup scripts for reference.
  • Agents do not downscale. Confirm that sessions have ended and that the configured back-off period has elapsed before the agents are removed.