Olga Weis
Working with USB devices on VirtualBox can be frustrating, as you can run into connectivity issues. You can solve this problem by implementing the VirtualBox USB passthrough feature on your system. You can easily access the USB in a virtual machine, which is connected to your host OS.
This guide is designed to show you how to enable this feature so you can use USB devices as if they were directly connected to your VirtualBox environment. Also in this guide, you will find the software solution tutorial if you don’t want to make a deal with VirtualBox settings. Try VirtualBox USB passthrough right now by clicking the button below.
The VirtualBox extension pack needs to be installed to allow VirtualBox passthrough of USB devices. The extension pack is an optional package that provides additional functionality to a VirtualBox environment. With the extension pack installed, USB 2.0/3.0 support is provided, letting users access USB devices from within the VirtualBox environment.
Ensure that you are running the most current version of VirtualBox and that all drivers are updated to eliminate compatibility issues when installing the extension pack. Use the following steps to install the VirtualBox extension pack.
Please, install the latest versions of both vBox and Extension Pack, then reboot your machine.
Mac vboxusers dealing with vBox kernel drive failures can usually fix the problem using the provided instructions. However, please note they are specific to modern/recent macOS versions such as Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur.
Here is the method that allows Mac users to install Extension Packs using the vboxmanage command line. This can be done manually or via cask.
After downloading the Extension Pack open the Terminal and run the command shown below:
sudo vboxmanage extpack uninstall ~/Downloads/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.10.vbox-extpack
The USB section of VirtualBox’s Settings window is where you can configure the platform’s extensive USB support. With proper configuration, Oracle VM VirtualBox can directly access USB devices attached to the host from within a virtual environment. This is accomplished through the use of a virtual USB controller presented to the operating system. When the guest VM begins using a USB device, it becomes unavailable to the host machine.
Note:
Select "Enable USB Controller" check box to allow USB passthrough in a VirtualBox VM. The following settings are available and should be selected based on the USB device you will be accessing through VBox.
USB Controller: Select the controller that provides the necessary level of USB support for your device.
Note:You need to obtain and install a VirtualBox extension package to enable the EHCI and xHCI controllers. More information is available in Section 1.5, “Installing Oracle VM VirtualBox and Extension Packs”.
VBoxManage list usbhost.
Enabling VirtualBox USB passthrough on a Windows computer requires you to unplug the device and reconnect it after the filter has been created.
Filters enable you to control which devices are automatically made available to VirtualBox VMs. Multiple filters can specify the same device. A filter can be defined and then deactivated by unchecking the check box next to its name. It can then be enabled again when desired.
Oracle VM VirtualBox provides the VirtualBox Remote Desktop Extension (VRDE) to enable guest VMs to connect to remote USB devices.
VirtualBox also supports remote devices over the network via the VirtualBox Remote Desktop Protocol (VDRP). A VirtualBox VM guest can access USB devices on a remote computer accessed with VRDP as if they were directly connected to the local host. This allows the creation of an Oracle VM VirtualBox host that enables a client to connect from any machine with a network adapter that can run an RDP viewer. The remote Oracle VM VirtualBox server can access devices connected to the client.
When setting up filters for remote devices, you must specify either Remote or Any when configuring the settings.
Remote USB devices can only be accessed if the extension is supported by the RDP client being used. VirtualBox provides an RDP client for Linux and Oracle Solaris hosts called rdesktop-vrdp. The RDP client can be started with the following command:
rdesktop-vrdp -r usb -a 16 -N my.host.address
You may also be able to use uttsc if you are using a Sun Raytheon client to access remote USB devices. Oracle plans to provide RDP clients for other platforms in future versions of the virtualization platform.
It is recommended that you disable the automatic loading of host drivers on the remote host. Failure to disable this procedure may impact the accessibility of the devices by the RDP client. The VMs VBox.log file will track plug and unplug events when VirtualBox USB device passthrough is set up correctly.
USB Network Gate offers a true cross-platform solution that can be used in mixed environments, including vBox USB Windows 10 support. With its help, you can easily redirect your iPhone to all operating systems, including Linux (Ubuntu), Mac, and any Windows except for Win XP, even without any drivers installed on the client side. And don’t forget to enable traffic encryption to make sure no one will use an unprotected ESXI connection for unauthorized access to your VMDK files.
May occur the problem on machines where VirtualBox is installed. After plugging a USB device into a USB port of the computer or after sharing/unsharing a USB device with USB Network Gate, VBoxUSBMon.sys driver may crash causing BSOD.
To fix this issue, you can stop VBoxUSBMon.sys driver or use another virtual machine instead of VirtualBox.
A note for Linux users: there is a handy lsusb utility you can check all the data on your local machine’s USB buses and the devices with. It is very important for users to have a Linux kernel that supports the dev bus USB interface to know how to put lsusb to good use. Also, you need to be in the vboxusers group for any of this to work.
