USB/IP

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From the USB/IP site:

USB/IP Project aims to develop a general USB device sharing system over IP network. To share USB devices between computers with their full functionality, USB/IP encapsulates "USB I/O messages" into TCP/IP payloads and transmits them between computers.

Installation

Install usbip.

Usage

Server setup

The server should have the physical USB device connected to it, and the usbip_host USB/IP kernel module loaded. Then start and enable the USB/IP systemd service usbipd.service.

List the connected devices:

$ usbip list -l

Bind the required device. For example, to share the device having busid 1-1.5:

$ usbip bind -b 1-1.5

To unbind the device:

$ usbip unbind -b 1-1.5

After binding, the device can be accessed from the client.

Binding with systemd service

In order to make binding persistent following systemd template unit file can be used:

/etc/systemd/system/usbip-bind@.service
[Unit]
 Description=USB-IP Binding on bus id %I
 After=network-online.target usbipd.service
 Wants=network-online.target
 Requires=usbipd.service
 #DefaultInstance=1-1.5
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/usbip bind -b %i
 RemainAfterExit=yes
 ExecStop=/usr/bin/usbip unbind -b %i  
 Restart=on-failure
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target

So, e.g., to share the device having busid 1-1, one should start and/or enable usbip-bind@1-1.service.

Client setup

Make sure the vhci-hcd kernel module is loaded.

Then list devices available on the server:

$ usbip list -r server_IP_address

Attach the required device. For example, to attach the device having busid 1-1.5:

$ usbip attach -r server_IP_address -b 1-1.5

Disconnecting devices

A device can be disconnected only after detaching it on the client.

List attached devices:

$ usbip port

Detach the device:

$ usbip detach -p port_number

Unbind the device on the server:

$ usbip unbind -b busid
Note: USB/IP by default requires port 3240 to be open. If a firewall is running, make sure that this port is open. For detailed instruction on configuring the firewall, go to Category:Firewalls

Tips and tricks

If bus ids are inconsistent and dynamically assigned at each system boot, binding by USB ID can be used alternatively:

/etc/systemd/system/usbip-bind@.service
[Unit]
Description=USB-IP Binding device id %I
After=network-online.target usbipd.service
Wants=network-online.target
Requires=usbipd.service

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "/usr/sbin/usbip bind --$(/usr/sbin/usbip list -p -l | grep '#usbid=%i#' | cut '-d#' -f1)"
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStop=/bin/sh -c "/usr/sbin/usbip unbind --$(/usr/sbin/usbip list -p -l | grep '#usbid=%i#' | cut '-d#' -f1)"
Restart=on-failure
 
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

So, e.g., to share the device having usbid 0924:3d68, one should start and/or enable usbip-bind@0924:3d68.service.

Note: Such a binding method can't work correctly for multiple devices with the same USB ID

Then client setup will be like this:

  • Linux clients
$ usbip attach -r server_IP_address --$(/usr/sbin/usbip list -p -l | grep '#usbid=0924:3d68#' | cut '-d#' -f1)
  • Windows clients
c:\> for /f "tokens=1 delims=:, " %a in ('usbip list -r server_IP_address ^| findstr /r /c:"0924:3d68"') do start usbip attach -r server_IP_address -b %a

Man page

See usbip(8).

See also