Electronic Team uses cookies to personalize your experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our cookie policy. Click here to learn more.

XenServer USB Passthrough Guide

Editorial Team Editorial Team Jan 22, 2025

If accessing USB devices from your Xen guest OS becomes a real challenge for you, our Xen USB passthrough guide will help you solve this problem. In this article you’ll find simple descriptions of the most common ways to redirect USB peripherals to Xen virtual machine.

Contents:
  1. Most efficient Xen USB passthrough method
  2. Native Methods for USB Passthrough in Xen

Most Efficient Xen USB Passthrough Method

If you need to forward a USB device to a Xen OS or access a remote USB device in your virtual session, USB Network Gate offers a simple, effective, and versatile solution. Unlike native methods, it allows seamless USB device redirection with minimal setup and provides features that can complement or even surpass native passthrough options in certain scenarios.
UNG logo
Share USB over Ethernet on Windows
Rank based on + users, Reviews()
Try for Free 14-day trial, You can share only 1 local USB-device
USB for Remote Desktop

USB Network Gate Benefits

Ease of Use

  • Requires minimal technical expertise to set up.
  • No need to modify VM configuration files or manage specific drivers.

Wide Compatibility:

  • Supports all types of USB devices, including scanners, printers, video hardware, and more.
  • Works with various guest OS types.

Performance:

  • Ensures stable and fast connections with no noticeable decrease in speed.
  • Maintains full functionality of USB devices as if they were directly connected to the host.

Flexibility:

  • Redirects USB devices over the network, enabling remote access from any location.
  • Allows an unlimited number of USB devices to be shared with multiple VMs simultaneously.


Here is how the software works:

1
You install USB Network Gate on both your host and guest operating systems.
2
Share the required USB device (physically connected to the host PC) over the network.
3
Start the app on your virtual machine and connect to the shared peripheral in the software interface.

Once connected, the device will appear in the Device Manager of your guest OS like it was attached to the virtual machine physically.

Related Articles

Native Methods for USB Passthrough in Xen

When working with Xen hypervisor, connecting USB devices to virtual machines (VMs) can be achieved through native methods or specialized software.

Each native method for USB passthrough in Xen has its own use cases and limitations. Emulated USB controllers are easier to set up but offer lower performance. PVUSB provides a middle ground with better efficiency but requires more configuration. PCI passthrough offers the highest performance but lacks flexibility in device selection.

Below, we’ll focus on the native methods, providing a clear structure and detailed explanation.

Emulated USB Controller (QEMU-based)

Supported Guest Types: Available only for HVM (Hardware Virtual Machine) domains and incompatible with stub domains.

Mechanism: QEMU provides an emulated USB controller to the guest. The emulation layer intercepts USB commands from the guest OS and redirects them to USB devices on the host.

icon pros Advantages:

  • Simple and straightforward setup.
  • Minimal host-side configuration.

icon cons Disadvantages:

  • Reduced performance due to emulation overhead.
  • Limited compatibility with some USB devices.

Setup Instructions:

  1. Ensure your guest VM is configured as an HVM domain.
  2. Enable the emulated USB controller by adding usb=1 to the VM configuration file.

    Add the USB devices using usbdevice options. Example:

    usb=1
    usbdevice=['tablet', 'host:1.6', 'host:0424:460']

  3. Here, host:1.6 specifies the bus and device number, while host:0424:460 specifies the vendorid:deviceid.
  4. Restart the VM and verify USB device recognition in the guest OS.
Redirect USB to Xen Hypervisor
14-day free trial
Try for Free

PVUSB (Paravirtualized USB)

Requirements:

  • Xen version 4.0 or later.
  • usbfront driver in the guest OS and usbback driver in dom0.
  • Proper configuration in the Xen toolstack (xl/libxl or xm/xend for older versions).

Mechanism: The usbfront driver communicates directly with the usbback driver in dom0, bypassing QEMU emulation.

icon pros Advantages:

  • Improved performance with reduced latency.
  • Broad compatibility with USB devices.

icon cons Disadvantages:

  • Complex initial setup.
  • Requires driver support in both dom0 and the guest OS.

Setup Instructions:

  1. Ensure your Xen version supports PVUSB (version 4.0+).
  2. Verify that usbfront and usbback drivers are installed and loaded.
  3. Add USB passthrough options to the configuration file: For xm/xend:

    usb=1
    usbdevice=['hostbus=1, hostaddr=2']

    For xl/libxl:

    usb=1
    usbctrl=['type=qusb, version=2']
    usbdevice=['host:1.2']

  4. Start the VM and verify USB device availability in the guest OS.

PCI Passthrough for USB Controllers

Mechanism: Assigns the entire USB controller to the guest VM, allowing it to control all devices connected to the controller.

icon pros Advantages:

  • High performance as the guest has full access to the USB controller.
  • No emulation or paravirtualization overhead.

icon cons Disadvantages:

  • All devices on the controller become unavailable to dom0.
  • Requires hardware support for PCI passthrough (e.g., VT-d for Intel or AMD-Vi for AMD).

Setup Instructions:

  1. Enable VT-d or AMD-Vi in your system BIOS.
  2. Identify the PCI device ID of your USB controller using the lspci command.

    Add the PCI device to your VM configuration file:
    pci=['00:1d.0']

  3. Here, 00:1d.0 is the PCI ID of the USB controller.
  4. Restart the VM and ensure the USB controller is recognized in the guest OS.

Each method has its specific use cases:

Emulated USB Controller: Simplifies configuration but offers lower performance.

PVUSB: Balances efficiency and complexity with better device compatibility.

PCI Passthrough: Offers the best performance but requires sacrificing host access to the USB controller.

By understanding the strengths and limitations of these methods, you can select the one that best suits your requirements.

USB Network Gate
Redirect USB devices over network
Try for Free
14-day Free Trial available
License price starts at $159.95
Available for