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doron1
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Is it possible on ESXi to configure a virtual HDD tied to a USB controller?

Folks,

Is there a way to configure a virtual HDD connected to the guest via a USB controller?

I have a need to create a virtual device that looks to the guest as a USB connected Mass Storage Device.

It seems like the guest configuration dialogs only allow adding actual USB devices unto a USB controller, but not hard drives. HDDs seem to be connectable via a plethora of controllers (IDE, SATA, SAS etc.) but not USB.

Can this be done in ESXi?

Thanks!

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continuum
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> Or are you saying authoritatively that this is not supported in ESXi?
I would not claim any authority on that matter - its more that I am 97% sure that if there was a way to do that I would know about it.
That includes VMware Workstation and ESXi.


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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continuum
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Do I understand this correctly ?
You want to create a normal virtual disk backed up by a VMDK on a standard datastore and configure it in such a way that the guestOS perceives it as a USB-device ?
That is impossible as far as I know.


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

doron1
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You want to create a normal virtual disk backed up by a VMDK on a standard datastore and configure it in such a way that the guestOS perceives it as a USB-device ?

Yes.

The way to do it would be to add a USB controller, and under that, "add device" which is a virtual HDD (VMDK). Only that it seems there's no option to add such under those controllers, which might mean either of (a) you're right or (b) there's a CLI "advanced" way to do it still.

Or are you saying authoritatively that this is not supported in ESXi? (there's support for it in other virtualization products).

Thanks!

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continuum
Immortal
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> Or are you saying authoritatively that this is not supported in ESXi?
I would not claim any authority on that matter - its more that I am 97% sure that if there was a way to do that I would know about it.
That includes VMware Workstation and ESXi.


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...