SupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

4.3. Configuring USB Devices

A virtual machine connected with the SPICE protocol can be configured to connect directly to USB devices.

The USB device will only be redirected if the virtual machine is active, in focus and is run from the VM Portal. USB redirection can be manually enabled each time a device is plugged in or set to automatically redirect to active virtual machines in the Console Options window.

Important

Note the distinction between the client machine and guest machine. The client is the hardware from which you access a guest. The guest is the virtual desktop or virtual server which is accessed through the VM Portal or Administration Portal.

USB redirection Enabled mode allows KVM/SPICE USB redirection for Linux and Windows virtual machines. Virtual (guest) machines require no guest-installed agents or drivers for native USB. On Red Hat Enterprise Linux clients, all packages required for USB redirection are provided by the virt-viewer package. On Windows clients, you must also install the usbdk package. Enabled USB mode is supported on the following clients and guests:

Note

If you have a 64-bit architecture PC, you must use the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer to install the 64-bit version of the USB driver. The USB redirection will not work if you install the 32-bit version on a 64-bit architecture. As long as you initially install the correct USB type, you can access USB redirection from both 32- and 64-bit browsers.

4.3.1. Using USB Devices on a Windows Client

The usbdk driver must be installed on the Windows client for the USB device to be redirected to the guest. Ensure the version of usbdk matches the architecture of the client machine. For example, the 64-bit version of usbdk must be installed on 64-bit Windows machines.

Note

USB redirection is only supported when you open the virtual machine from the VM Portal.

Procedure

  1. When the usbdk driver is installed, click Compute Virtual Machines and select a virtual machine that is configured to use the SPICE protocol.
  2. Click the Console tab.
  3. Select the USB enabled checkbox and click OK.
  4. Click Console Console Options.
  5. Select the Enable USB Auto-Share check box and click OK.
  6. Start the virtual machine from the VM Portal and click Console to connect to that virtual machine.
  7. Plug your USB device into the client machine to make it appear automatically on the guest machine.

4.3.2. Using USB Devices on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client

The usbredir package enables USB redirection from Red Hat Enterprise Linux clients to virtual machines. usbredir is a dependency of the virt-viewer package, and is automatically installed together with that package.

Note

USB redirection is only supported when you open the virtual machine from the VM Portal.

Procedure

  1. Click Compute Virtual Machines.
  2. Select a virtual machine that has been configured to use the SPICE protocol and click Edit. This opens the Edit Virtual Machine window.
  3. Click the Console tab.
  4. Select the USB enabled checkbox and click OK.
  5. Click Console Console Options.
  6. Select the Enable USB Auto-Share check box and click OK.
  7. Start the virtual machine from the VM Portal and click Console to connect to that virtual machine.
  8. Plug your USB device into the client machine to make it appear automatically on the guest machine.
Red Hat logoGithubRedditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

© 2024 Red Hat, Inc.