Attaching a USB Device to a Virtual Machine

Attach a USB device to a virtual machine (VM) in order to enable the VM to use the device. A USB device may be needed, for example, when a USB-based license is required to install an application in a guest operating system. When you no longer need the USB device, detach it.

(If you need to mount a USB device on the ztC Edge system to use the device for exporting or importing VMs, see Mounting a USB Device or Network-mounted Folder on the ztC Edge System.)

Caution:

When you attach a USB device to a running, fault-tolerant (FT) VM, it prevents the Stratus Redundant Linux software from migrating the VM to a different physical machine in the event of a failure. To restore fault-tolerant operation, detach and remove the USB device as soon as you finish using it.

Notes:  

  1. You can attach only supported USB devices to a guest operating system. For a list of the USB devices that ztC Edge systems support, see System Specifications.

    Note that ztC Edge systems do not support USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), or higher, devices in the guest operating system. However, you can insert a Gen 2 or higher device into a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) host port, which forces the device to operate at the Gen 1 (5 Gbps) speed; in this case, you can attach the device to a guest operating system. (USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) devices are formerly referred to as USB 3.1 Gen 1 devices, and USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) devices are formerly referred to as USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices.)

  2. Do not attach a USB 3.0 (or higher) device to a VM running one of the following operating systems because these operating systems do not support USB 3.0 devices:

    • Windows 7 Desktop
    • Windows Small Business Server 2011
    • An older Linux distribution such as CentOS 6.6
  3. Do not attach a USB-attached SCSI (UAS) compliant device to a VM because the system does not support UAS devices.
  4. The VM must be running in order for you to attach a USB device to it.

  5. By default, USB devices are enabled for attachment to VMs. To change this configuration, see Configuring VM Devices.

  6. Use either of the following methods to detach (that is, eject) a supported USB device from a Windows-based VM:

    • Clicking Eject in File Explorer—If you eject the device from File Explorer, you must detach it in the ztC Console using the procedure below. Then, physically remove it from the ztC Edge system and reinsert it before reattaching to the same or another VM.
    • Clicking Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media in the taskbar—If you eject the device from the taskbar, you must detach it in the ztC Console using the procedure below. You do not need to physically remove it from the ztC Edge system before reattaching it to the same or another VM.

To attach a USB device to a VM

  1. Insert the USB device into the primary (active) node for the VM.

    The Virtual Machines page displays the primary node for each VM as the Current PM. (This node may be different from the current primary node for the ztC Edge system, as displayed on the Physical Machines page.)

    Confirm that the system displays the USB device. Navigate to the Physical Machines page. Click the node into which you inserted the device, and in the lower pane, select the USB Device tab. The USB device you inserted should appear in the tab's display.

  2. On the Virtual Machines page, select a VM.
  3. In the bottom pane, click the CD Drives & USB Devices tab.
  4. On the USB line of the CD Drives & USB Devices tab, select a USB device from the pull-down menu.
  5. Click Attach a USB to attach the USB device to the VM.

  6. A Confirm dialog box appear, asking if you are sure you want to attach the device and displaying a warning that the guest goes simplex while the USB device is in use. Click Yes to attach the device.

    After the system attaches the USB device to the VM, the USB device name appears in the list of USB devices on the CD Drives & USB Devices tab for the VM.

To detach a USB device from a VM

  1. On the Virtual Machines page, select the VM to which the USB device is attached.
  2. In the bottom pane, click the CD Drives & USB Devices tab.
  3. On the USB line of the CD Drives & USB Devices tab, click Detach USB device. If necessary, select the USB device from the pull-down menu.

  4. A Confirm dialog box appear, asking if you are sure you want to detach the device. Click Yes to detach the device.

    After the system detaches the USB device to the VM, the USB device name no longer appears in the list of USB devices on the CD Drives & USB Devices tab for the VM.

Related Topics

Managing Virtual Machines

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Help created at 10:30 PM on 4/29/2021.