usb passthrough esxi 5

[iffarrukh]

Hi

We want to transfer a large amount of data from usb. I was looking to stick hard disk to esxi host and add usb device in VM hardware..

The steps I would be doing

1- Add USB Controller to VM

2- Insert USB Drive to Physical host *( ESXi 5)

I was just wondering that usb passthrought would automatically be enabled and I do not have to configure passthrought in vcenter , Am i missing anything .  ???

Also my usb drive is not in supported usb devices.. Does anybody knows if it creates problem while attaching a non supported usb drive..

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&e...

Any help for be highly appreciated

Regards

Sam

[john23]

afalk , after adding usb controller, it will detect by vm automatically, For stopping it and detect in esxi console, stop usb arbirator service.

[maishsk]

With vSphere 5.0 you don't need to put the USB into the ESX host itself.

Add a USB controller to the VM.

Open a vSphere client console to the VM.

Plug in the USB disk into your computer - and you will be able to access the device in the VM.

I wrote a blog post about this a while back.

http://technodrone.blogspot.com/2011/09/connecting-usb-device-to-esxi-50-vm.html

Maish

VMTN Moderator | vExpert

Author of VMware vSphere Design

@maishsk | My Blog

[RanjnaAggarwal]

as soon the usb controller is added in the vm, vm's will detect the usb device automatically

[zXi_Gamer]

I was just wondering that usb passthrought would automatically be enabled and I do not have to configure passthrought in vcenter , Am i missing anything .  ??

You might want to confirm if your hardware supports VM Direct Path for the above said passthrough to be possible.

In your case, you just need to add a usb controller to your VM. Then from your VI client of your VC, click on the VM, and you can see that the USB icon must be enabled now.

Just click on the same and add the usb device detected by it.

[RanjnaAggarwal]

and one more thing whatever the link that you posted here that says this:-

Caution: Do not add unsupported or untested devices to your production servers. Unsupported or untested USB devices might not operate correctly or as expected and can interfere with host or virtual machine operations. Before you add unsupported devices, carefully test them on your nonproduction servers.

that means it is not supported. it says this also it might not work means it can work also but this device create some trouble for you then i think the vmware support you will not get.

[JaySMX · Accepted solution]

There are two ways to accomplish USB Passthrough in vSphere 5. You can use the client-connected USB method mentioned above, or you can use host-connected USB devices.  If you want to use a USB disk attached directly to the host, you first add the USB controller to your VM and then add a USB device. If the USB disk drive is detected properly, it will be displayed as an available USB device and can be passed through to your VM.  This method could perform better since the USB data transfer will be internal to the host and not sent across a network link.