6.5.1

Table Of Contents
Error Message When You Try to Migrate Virtual Machine with USB
Devices Attached
Migration with vMotion cannot proceed and issues a confusing error message when you connect multiple
USB devices from an ESXi host to a virtual machine and one or more devices are not enabled for
vMotion.
Problem
The Migrate Virtual Machine wizard runs a compatibility check before a migration operation begins. If
unsupported USB devices are detected, the compatibility check fails and an error message similar to the
following appears: Currently connected device 'USB 1' uses backing 'path:1/7/1', which
is not accessible.
Cause
To successfully pass vMotion compatibility checks, you must enable all USB devices that are connected
to the virtual machine from a host for vMotion. If one or more devices are not enabled for vMotion,
migration will fail.
Solution
1 Make sure that the devices are not in the process of transferring data before removing them.
2 Re-add and enable vMotion for each affected USB device.
Cannot Copy Data From an ESXi Host to a USB Device That Is
Connected to the Host
You can connect a USB device to an ESXi host and copy data to the device from the host. For example,
you might want to gather the vm-support bundle from the host after the host loses network connectivity.
To perform this task, you must stop the USB arbitrator.
Problem
If the USB arbitrator is being used for USB passthrough from an ESXi host to a virtual machine the USB
device appears under lsusb but does not mount correctly.
Cause
This problem occurs because the nonbootable USB device is reserved for the virtual machine by default.
It does not appear on the host's file system, even though lsusb can see the device.
Solution
1 Stop the usbarbitrator service:/etc/init.d/usbarbitrator stop
2 Physically disconnect and reconnect the USB device.
By default, the device location is /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhbaXX:C0:T0:L0.
vSphere Troubleshooting
VMware, Inc. 17