Computing environments that include the ability to use USB devices offer users a method of connecting a virtual machine to external storage equipment. It can be very convenient to connect Hyper-V to a USB drive to create backups.
Note: You cannot use other types of USB peripherals such as thumb drives or pen drives in the same way, as they are not supported.
The absence of Hyper-V support for enabling USB connectivity severely limits the utility of solutions using the virtual platform. Many users would benefit from knowing how to access USB drives in Hyper-V.
This article is going to discuss how to add USB drive to Hyper-V.
There are two potential remedies for this lack of Hyper-V USB support:
Hyper-V USB drive redirection
Employ software to enable USB passthrough of USB devices from the Hyper-V physical host to the guest virtual machines.
USB Redirector is a software application that enables you to access USB drives on your Hyper-V virtual guests’ machines. It allows you to connect to USB drives attached to a Hyper-V host. The software also lets you access any network-attached USB device from a physical or virtual machine.
Steps for Hyper-V USB Drive Redirection
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1Install USB Network Gate on the physical host and virtual guest machines.
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2Share the USB drive on the physical machine which is designated as the server. This can be the local host or any network-attached machine.
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3After the USB device has been shared from the server it can be connected to a client machine. Use USB Network Gate to establish this connection.
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4Your Hyper-V Device Manager will display the shared USB dongle. At this point, the virtual machine can use the dongle just as if it had a direct physical connection to the equipment.
