Stop, stop with session, resume, restart, automatic stops, idle behaviour, and what each one keeps.
Overview
| Command | Disk | Memory and processes | Next start |
|---|---|---|---|
kiste stop | kept | discarded (clean shutdown) | fresh boot from the disk |
kiste stop --snapshot | kept | saved | resumes the session in about a second |
kiste restart | kept | discarded | it boots right away |
kiste resume | kept | restored when saved | |
kiste delete | deleted | discarded | there is none |
A stopped Kiste uses no compute. Its disk, its checkpoints and its published ports stay; a published port answers again once the Kiste runs.
Stop
The Kiste flushes its disk and shuts down cleanly, like powering off a computer. Before it stops, a checkpoint is taken when the disk changed. The next start is a fresh boot from the same disk: your files and installed packages are there, running programs are not.
Stop and keep the session
Before stopping, the Kiste writes its memory to its disk. The next start resumes every process, terminal and desktop window exactly as it was, in about a second. Stopping takes a little longer because the memory is written first.
kiste list and kiste status show whether a stopped Kiste has a saved
session. If a saved session can't be restored, the Kiste starts fresh from its
disk instead and raises a session_not_restored alert:
it never fails silently.
Resume or start
A Kiste with a saved session continues it; one without boots from its disk. Resuming makes the Kiste your current one.
Restart
Reboots the Kiste from its own disk: files stay, processes start fresh, and a
pending image update is applied. A checkpoint is taken
before. Restarting a stopped Kiste boots it fresh too and drops a saved
session; use resume to keep the session. Without --no-ssh the CLI reconnects
your shell afterwards.
Automatic stop (lifetime)
A Kiste created with --ttl (or forked with --ttl) has a deadline. When it
passes, the Kiste stops, keeps its disk and, when the guest answers, saves its
session. kiste status shows the deadline; kiste extend pushes it out:
Without a lifetime, a Kiste runs until you stop it.
Idle Kisten
During early access a running Kiste keeps running when nobody is connected,
until you stop it or its lifetime ends. Use --ttl for Kisten you might
forget.
When billing starts, trial accounts will have idle Kisten parked: a Kiste
that has had no SSH connection, terminal or desktop viewer and used less than a
tenth of a CPU for 30 minutes is stopped with its session kept, never deleted.
kiste start brings it back exactly as it was. See
Plans and billing.
Long operations
Stopping a large Kiste with its session or starting one under load can take
longer than a request should wait. The API then answers 202 Accepted with the
Kiste's current state (stopping or starting) and the operation continues;
the CLI keeps waiting and shows the final state. While one change is in
progress, another one answers K05 (machine_busy).
Errors
A Kiste in state error crashed or failed to start. Its disk is kept. Read
what happened with kiste logs NAME, then start it again with kiste start NAME. An instance_error alert is raised as well.