6.5.1

Table Of Contents
Connecting a USB passthrough device to a virtual machine that runs on the ESXi host to which the
device is physically attached requires an arbitrator, a controller, and a physical USB device or device hub.
USB Arbitrator Manages connection requests and routes USB device traffic. The arbitrator
is installed and enabled by default on ESXi hosts. It scans the host for USB
devices and manages device connection among virtual machines that
reside on the host. It routes device traffic to the correct virtual machine
instance for delivery to the guest operating system. The arbitrator monitors
the USB device and prevents other virtual machines from using it until you
release it from the virtual machine it is connected to.
USB Controller
The USB hardware chip that provides USB function to the USB ports that it
manages. The virtual USB Controller is the software virtualization of the
USB host controller function in the virtual machine.
USB controller hardware and modules that support USB 3.0, 2.0, and USB
1.1 devices must exist on the host. Eight virtual USB controllers are
available to each virtual machine. A controller must be present before you
can add USB devices to the virtual computer.
The USB arbitrator can monitor a maximum of 15 USB controllers. Devices
connected to controllers numbered 16 or greater are not available to the
virtual machine.
USB Devices 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. The maximum number of USB devices supported on a
single ESXi host for simultaneous connection to one or more virtual
machines is also 20. For a list of supported USB devices, see the VMware
knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1021345. You can add
USB 3.0 devices to Mac OSX guest operating system for VMware Fusion.
USB 3.0 Device Requirements
Starting with vSphere 5.5 Patch 3, USB 3.0 devices are available for passthrough not only from a client
computer to a virtual machine, but also from an ESXi host to a virtual machine. USB 3.0 devices still have
the following virtual machine configuration requirements:
n
The virtual machine that you connect the USB 3.0 device to must be configured with an xHCI
controller and have a Windows 8 or later, Windows Server 2012 and later, or a Linux guest operating
system with a 2.6.35 or later kernel.
USB Autoconnect Feature
When you add a USB device connection from an ESXi host to a virtual machine, the autoconnect feature
is enabled for the device connection. It is not disabled until you remove the device connection from the
virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
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