6.0.1

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To minimize the risk of data loss, follow the instructions to safely unmount or eject hardware for your
operating system. Safely removing hardware allows accumulated data to be transmitted to a file.
Windows operating systems typically include a Remove Hardware icon located in the System Tray.
Linux operating systems use the umount command.
NOTE You might need to use the sync command instead of or in addition to the umount command, for
example, after you issue a dd command on Linux or other UNIX operating systems.
Procedure
1 Unmount or eject the USB device from the guest operating system.
2 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
3 To remove the device, move your cursor over the device and click the Remove icon.
4 Click OK to save your changes.
Remove USB Devices from an ESXi Host
You can remove USB devices from the host if you must shut down the host for maintenance or if you do not
want those devices to be available to virtual machines that run on the host. When you detach a USB device
from the host, the device disconnects from the virtual machine.
CAUTION If data transfer is taking place when you remove USB devices from a host, you can lose data.
Prerequisites
Verify that the USB devices are not in use.
Procedure
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Follow the device manufacturers instructions to safely remove the device.
When you remove the device from the host, it is no longer available to the virtual machines that run on
the host.
USB Configuration from a Client Computer to a Virtual Machine
You can add multiple USB devices to a virtual machine when the physical devices connect to a client
computer on which the vSphere Web Client is running. The vSphere Web Client must be logged in to an
instance of vCenter Server that manages the ESXi host where the virtual machines reside. USB passthrough
technology supports adding multiple USB devices, such as security dongles, mass storage devices, and
smartcard readers to virtual machines.
How USB Device Passthrough Technology Works
The USB controller is the USB hardware chip that provides USB function to the USB ports that it manages.
USB controller hardware and modules that support USB 3.0, 2.0, and USB 1.1 devices must exist in the
virtual machine. Two USB controllers are available for each virtual machine. The controllers support
multiple USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 devices. The controller must be present before you can add USB devices to the
virtual machine.
You can add up to 20 USB devices to a virtual machine. This is the maximum number of devices supported
for simultaneous connection to one virtual machine.
NOTE If you connect to a USB device on a Mac OS X client computer, you can add only one device to the
virtual machine at a time.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
146 VMware, Inc.