Purpose: Manage a running KASM server — workspaces, users, sessions, resources, and bot agents.
Prerequisite: KASM is already installed and configured. For installation, use /kasm.
Step 0: Determine What the Admin Needs
| Task | Reference |
|---|---|
| Workspace CRUD (create, clone, update, delete) | references/workspace-management.md |
| Session monitoring and management | references/session-management.md |
| User and group management | references/user-group-management.md |
| Bulk operations (update configs across workspaces) | references/bulk-operations.md |
| Resource monitoring and capacity planning | references/capacity-planning.md |
| Multi-agent bot deployment patterns | references/multi-agent-patterns.md |
| Backup, restore, and S3/B2 profile sync | references/backup-operations.md |
| Common Docker configs (copy-paste ready) | references/config-templates.md |
API Authentication
All KASM API calls use JSON payload auth (NOT HTTP Basic Auth):
curl -k -X POST "https://$KASM_HOST/api/admin/$ENDPOINT" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
"api_key": "$KASM_API_KEY",
"api_key_secret": "$KASM_API_SECRET"
}'
API credentials are stored in the admin vault (KASM_API_KEY, KASM_API_SECRET).
Key Terminology
| UI Term | API Term | DB Table |
|---|---|---|
| Workspaces | Images | images |
| Sessions | Kasms | kasms |
| Storage Mappings | Storage Providers | storage_providers |
| API Keys | API Configs | api_configs |
Quick Reference — Most Common Operations
Check server health
# Via sentinelctl (recommended)
sentinelctl pull --config fleet.json --token $TOKEN --connection-mode direct
# Via KASM API
curl -k -X POST "https://$KASM_HOST/api/admin/system_info" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"api_key":"$KEY","api_key_secret":"$SECRET"}'
List all workspaces
curl -k -X POST "https://$KASM_HOST/api/public/get_images" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"api_key":"$KEY","api_key_secret":"$SECRET"}'
List active sessions
curl -k -X POST "https://$KASM_HOST/api/admin/get_kasms" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"api_key":"$KEY","api_key_secret":"$SECRET"}'
Quick DB queries
# List workspaces with resources
sudo docker exec kasm_db psql -U kasmapp -d kasm -c "SELECT image_id, friendly_name, cores, memory, enabled FROM images ORDER BY friendly_name;"
# Active sessions with resource usage
sudo docker exec kasm_db psql -U kasmapp -d kasm -c "SELECT k.kasm_id, i.friendly_name, u.username, k.start_date FROM kasms k JOIN images i ON k.image_id = i.image_id JOIN users u ON k.user_id = u.user_id WHERE k.operational_status = 'running';"
# Users and groups
sudo docker exec kasm_db psql -U kasmapp -d kasm -c "SELECT u.user_id, u.username, string_agg(g.name, ', ') as groups FROM users u LEFT JOIN group_membership gm ON u.user_id = gm.user_id LEFT JOIN groups g ON gm.group_id = g.group_id GROUP BY u.user_id, u.username ORDER BY u.username;"