USB remote sharing in LAN: USB/IP

USB/IP is a network-based device sharing mechanism, which can share the USB device connected to computer A (server side) to remote computer B (client side) through the network

There are many implementations (programs) of USB/IP. In addition to the free programs used below, there are also commercial programs:

• USB Network Gate
• FlexiHub
• VirtualHere
• 
  See this article for more about USB over Network

Server side (computer A, connected to the USB device)

Windows

PS : The open source software on windows selected in this article is usbip-win , and the installation and configuration method can also be found in the official README

Install

• First download the official compiled software compression package and decompress it. If you want to compile it yourself, refer to the README of the official code

• Double-click the file usbip_test.pfxto prepare the certificate for import. The certificate needs to be imported twice, respectively into "Trusted Root Certification Authorities" and "Trusted Publishers"

• Open CMD or PowerShell as an administrator , enter the directory where the software is located, and run the command to enable the test signature

  bcdedit.exe /set TESTSIGNING ON
  

• Open the port required by usbip: the default port is 3240, to the inbound port in the firewall

  • You can also use other ports, and you need to use this port for subsequent configuration.
    

• Restart the computer

• (Optional) Download the latest usb.ids and replace the usb.ids file in the directory where the software is located.

  • Each USB device has its own ID (similar to the IP address of the network), and usb.ids (similar to a DNS server) records the names corresponding to all known USB device IDs (divided into vendor names and device names, similar to website domain names) ), to facilitate subsequent quick identification of USB devices.
  • However, because USB devices are constantly being released, the IDs of newer USB devices have not been recorded in usb.ids, so the words "unknown product" will be displayed in the subsequent identification process, indicating that they are in the usb.ids file. No related records. Don’t worry about it, it can be used if you can’t find the record, but it’s not convenient for us to identify it.

configuration

• Open CMD or PowerShell as an administrator and enter the directory where the software is located

• Connect the USB device to the computer, then use the command .\usbip.exe list -lto list all recognized USB devices

  • The display of "unknown product" is because there is no relevant record in the usb.ids file, which only affects your identification of the USB device and does not affect subsequent operations
  • I have five USB devices shown here (each "-" means one device)

• Find the USB device you want to share remotely, and record its busid in the format[数字]-[数字]

  • If it is not recognized, you can run the above commands before and after the USB device is connected
  • Suppose the device I want to share remotely is the fourth USB device with the word SATA (my mobile hard disk), and its busid is1-181

• Bind the USB device to usbip

  • Note that after binding, the local computer cannot use this USB device

  .\usbip.exe bind -b [busid]
  # 例如我这儿就是
  .\usbip.exe bind -b 1-181
  

  

• Start the usbipd service

  .\usbipd.exe -d -4
  # 如果想用其他端口，且安装的时候配置过防火墙
  .\usbipd.exe -d -4 -tPORT [端口]
  

  

• After use, you can unbind the USB device with usbip

  .\usbip.exe unbind -b [busid]
  

  Then you need to go to "Devices and Printers", find the connected USB device, uninstall all "USB/IP STUB", and finally re-plug the USB device
  

• If you don't need usbip, you can close the test signature, and then restart

  bcdedit.exe /set TESTSIGNING OFF
  

Linux

Install

Only tested on Ubuntu , other distributions need to check the information by themselves (should be similar)

• Run the following command with root privileges

  apt install linux-tools-`uname -r` linux-cloud-tools-`uname -r` linux-tools-common 
  # 下面两个不确定要不要安装，但是我都装了
  apt install linux-tools-generic linux-cloud-tools-generic
  

configuration

• Load the relevant kernel modules:
  • Not sure if you need to reload after restarting the computer

  sudo modprobe usbip-core
  sudo modprobe vhci-hcd
  sudo modprobe usbip_host
  

• Turn off the firewall:ufw disable
  • Or open a TCP connection on port 3240 in the firewall

The following operations are very similar to root windows, see the configuration process of windows above for details & pictures

• Connect the USB device to the computer, then use the command usbip list -lto list all recognized USB devices
• Find the USB device you want to share remotely, and record its busid in the format[数字]-[数字]
• Bind the USB device to usbip

  usbip bind -b [busid]
  # 例如
  usbip bind -b 1-181
  

• Start the usbipd service

  usbipd -d -4
  # 如果想用其他端口，且安装的时候配置过防火墙
  usbipd -d -4 -tPORT [端口]
  

• After use, you can unbind the USB device with usbip

  usbip unbind -b [busid]
  

Client (computer B)

Windows

PS : You can also see the official README for installation and configuration methods

The installation method is almost the same as the server side above, but there is one more step

• Install the VHCI driver: Open CMD or PowerShell as an administrator , enter the directory where the software is located, and run the following command

  usbip.exe install
  

  If you don't need it later, you can uninstall the driver

  usbip.exe ubinstall
  

configuration

• Open CMD or PowerShell as an administrator and enter the directory where the software is located

• View available USB devices on computer A

  usbip.exe list --remote [电脑A的IP]
  

• Bind the USB device to the machine

  usbip.exe attach --remote=[电脑A的IP] --busid=[想要绑定设备的busid]
  

• View the bound remote USB devices

  usbip.exe port
  

• Unbind the bound remote USB device: the port comes from usbip portthe number after "Port" in the command output

  usbip.exe detach -p [端口]
  

Linux

The installation method is the same as that of the server side

configuration

• View available USB devices on computer A

  usbip list --remote [电脑A的IP]
  

• Bind the USB device to the machine

  usbip attach --remote=[电脑A的IP] --busid=[想要绑定设备的busid]
  

• Check the local USB device, you should be able to see the bound USB device

  lsusb
  

  For example
  

• View the bound remote USB devices

  usbip port
  

  

• Unbind the bound remote USB device: the port comes from usbip portthe number after "Port" in the command output

  usbip detach -p [端口]
  

Refer to connect to
Linux system and use USB/IP to remotely share USB devices
USB/IP PROJECT
Linux usb 5. usbip (USB Over IP) usage example
USB/IP for Windows