USB Port Options for Virtual Machines

USB Port Options for Virtual Machines

Overview

When using a Virtual Machine (VM) to run an application that requires a licensing key, a USB port is still required. The following are solutions our customers have found to work for their situations. 

USB Options

  1. USB Passthrough is the most common solution for VMware (i.e. ESXi) only
    1. This requires a bare metal USB port on the host machine. 
    2. https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-68A08879-1744-4FF9-A856-D66C4AAB68AB.html
  2. Digi AnywhereUSB Plus USB network hub for VMware, Hyper-V or most other hypervisors
  3. Software based network hub for VMware, Hyper-V or most other hypervisors
    1. This option requires a computer with a USB port and is powered on 24/7
    2. http://www.usb-over-network.com/usb-over-network.html
    3. https://www.usb-over-ethernet.com/
    4. https://www.flexihub.com/
Support is provided by manufacturer. SFA does not endorse or support any specific solution.