Tuesday, May 1, 2012

How To Use Host USB Device From Guest In VirtualBox

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/virtualbox-usb.html
http://techtooltip.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/how-to-use-host-usb-device-from-guest-in-virtual-box/

Step 1: Fix the group permissions

Yes, this geeky step is part of the setup. You will need to add your user to the VirtualBox group to be able to share USB resources. You can do this from the command line or try the GUI menus.

All right, so we're running Ubuntu with Gnome desktop. Therefore, go to System > Administration > Users and Groups. In the menu that opens, click on Manage Groups. Scroll and look for the vboxusers group.

Manage groups

Click on the Properties button. Make sure your user is listed and checked in the Group Members field.

Properties

You will need to logout and login back into the session for the effects to take change. Now, power on the virtual machine once more and see what happens.

Step 2: Install virtual machine

You know all about this. I've written tons of tutorials on how to do this, including some fairly elaborate multi-boot setup. Windows, Linux, take your pick.

Step 3: Configure USB support in virtual machine settings

Click on Settings for your virtual machine, go to USB tab. Check the two boxes, since you do want USB 2.0 support. In theory, this is all, but there's one step we will need to do afterwards to get this really working. True for Windows, Linux needs a bit more sweat. We will address that soon.

Settings

USB filter

USB filter is a nice feature that allows you to automatically connect USB devices to your virtual machine. Any device listed in the filter box will be plugged in when you power the guest operating system. Other devices will require that you manually connect them.

Filter

Zoomed

Step 4: Install Virtual Guest Additions

This is required to have the USB support enabled. Much like VMware Tools for VMware products, the Guest Additions expose additional functionality in the virtual machine, boost performance, enhance sharing, and more. We've had a long tutorial, which explains how to achieve this in both Windows and Linux virtual machines.

Install

Addons installed

Step 5: Test


No comments:

Post a Comment