6.0.1

Autoconnect is useful in cases where devices mutate during usage. For example, for iPhones and other such
devices, the device VID:PID changes during software or firmware upgrades. The upgrade process
disconnects and reconnects the devices to the USB port.
The USB port is speed-specific. The autoconnect feature assumes that devices do not transition from USB 1.1
(low-full speed) to USB 2.0 (high speed) or the reverse. You cannot interchange USB 2.0 high-speed devices
with USB 1.1 devices. For example, you might connect a USB 2.0 high-speed device to a port and connect
that device to the virtual machine. If you unplug the device from the host and plug a USB 1.1 device into the
same port, the device does not connect to the virtual machine.
For a list of supported USB devices for passthrough from an ESXi host to a virtual machine, see the VMware
knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1021345.
vSphere Features Available with USB Passthrough
Migrations with vMotion and DRS are supported with USB device passthrough from an ESXi host to a
virtual machine.
Table 6‑7. vSphere Features Available for USB Passthrough from an ESXi Host to a Virtual Machine
Feature Supported with USB Device Passthrough
vSphere Distributed Power Management (DPM) No
vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) Yes
vSphere Fault Tolerance No
vSphere vMotion Yes
For details about migration with vMotion, see “Configuring USB Devices for vMotion,” on page 141.
If a host with connected USB devices resides in a DRS cluster with DPM enabled, you must disable DPM for
that host. Otherwise DPM might turn off the host with the device, which disconnects the device from the
virtual machine.
Configuring USB Devices for vMotion
With USB passthrough from a host to a virtual machine, you can migrate a virtual machine to another ESXi
host in the same datacenter and maintain the USB passthrough device connections to the original host.
If a virtual machine has USB devices attached that pass through to an ESXi host, you can migrate that virtual
machine with the devices attached.
For a successful migration, review the following conditions:
n
You must configure all USB passthrough devices connected to a virtual machine for vMotion. If one or
more devices is not configured for vMotion, the migration cannot proceed. For troubleshooting details,
see the vSphere Troubleshooting documentation.
n
When you migrate a virtual machine with attached USB devices away from the host to which the
devices are connected, the devices remain connected to the virtual machine. However, if you suspend
or power off the virtual machine, the USB devices are disconnected and cannot reconnect when the
virtual machine is resumed. The device connections can be restored only if you move the virtual
machine back to the host to which the devices are attached.
n
If you resume a suspended virtual machine that has a Linux guest operating system, the resume process
might mount the USB devices at a different location on the file system.
n
If a host with attached USB devices resides in a DRS cluster with distributed power management
(DPM) enabled, disable DPM for that host. Otherwise DPM might turn off the host with the attached
device. This action disconnects the device from the virtual machine because the virtual machine
migrated to another host.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware
VMware, Inc. 141