Connecting USB Xbox controller to Linux VM on ESXi host?

[jzee1]

I need to connect a USB Xbox controller to an Ubuntu VM running on my ESXi host.  Running ESXi 6.5.

If it were a Windows VM, I'd use a Digi USB Anywhere product.  Unfortunately, Digi doesn't offer Linux support.  If it were a different type of USB device, such as a USB hard drive, I'd be able to use the USB pass through.  From what I understand, I won't be able to pass through an Xbox controller because it is considered a human interface device (HID) and HIDs are not allowed to be assigned for USB pass through.

What options do I have to get this USB device to the Linux VM?

Thanks!

[pwilk]

For a device to be recognized within a VM, it has to be firstly recognized by the host. There is no Xbox gamepad driver for ESXi available so you probably won't be able to do that.

On top of that, what would be the use of such setup? You can't realistically expect any games to be responsive/playable this way. Unless you're operating on a enterprise level equipment, the amount of lag would be astonishing.

You could potentially "hack" the controller to use a flash disk driver and then pass it through the the VM however this would require excessive amount of effort which I presume wouldn't be worth the outcome... 

In summary, I think there's no option for this setup to work.