3 Installing And Using USB/IP On The Client

client1:

First we load the vhci-hcd kernel module:

modprobe vhci-hcd

To check if it really got loaded, run:

lsmod | grep vhci_hcd

The output should be similar to this one:

[root@client1 administrator]# lsmod | grep vhci_hcd
vhci_hcd               22840  0
usbip_common_mod       22168  1 vhci_hcd
usbcore               219188  2 vhci_hcd
[root@client1 administrator]#

To make sure that the module gets loaded automatically whenever you boot the system, you can add it to /etc/modprobe.preload:

vi /etc/modprobe.preload

[...]
vhci-hcd

Now we must install usbip on the client. The steps are the same as on the server:

urpmi wget flex gcc gcc-c++ libsysfs-devel libglib2.0-devel

cd /tmp
wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/usbip/usbip/0.1.7/usbip-0.1.7.tar.gz?use_mirror=kent
tar xvfz usbip-0.1.7.tar.gz
cd usbip-0.1.7/src/
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
make install

usbip expects the file containing the list of known USB devices (usb.ids) in the directory /usr/share/hwdata, but on Mandriva 2010.0 it's located in /usr/share/usb.ids - therefore we create a symlink:

mkdir /usr/share/hwdata
ln -sf /usr/share/usb.ids /usr/share/hwdata/

Now connect to the usbip server and get a list of available USB devices:

usbip -l 192.168.0.100

(192.168.0.100 is the IP address of the usbip server.)

You should find the SanDisk USB flash drive in the output (BUSID 1-5):

[root@client1 src]# usbip -l 192.168.0.100
- 192.168.0.100
     1-5: SanDisk Corp. : Cruzer Micro Flash Drive (0781:5151)
        : /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb1/1-5
        : (Defined at Interface level) (00/00/00)
        :  0 - Mass Storage / SCSI / Bulk (Zip) (08/06/50)

[root@client1 src]#

To attach that device to the client, run:

usbip -a 192.168.0.100 1-5

[root@client1 src]# usbip -a 192.168.0.100 1-5
8 ports available

port 0 attached
[root@client1 src]#

Now run...

lsusb

... and you should find the remote USB device in the output on the client:

[root@client1 src]# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 023: ID 0781:5151 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Micro Flash Drive
[root@client1 src]#

You can now use the remote USB device as if it was a local USB device (e.g. mount it, format it, write to it, read form it, etc.).

4 Detaching A Remote USB Device

A remote USB device can be detached as follows:

client1:

Run...

usbip --port

... to find out the port that the remote USB device uses on the client - in this case it's port 00:

[root@client1 src]# usbip --port
8 ports available

Port 00: <Port in Use> at High Speed(480Mbps)
       SanDisk Corp. : Cruzer Micro Flash Drive (0781:5151)
       1-1 -> usbip://192.168.0.100:3240/1-5  (remote devid 00010003 (bus/dev 001/003))
       1-1:1.0 used by usb-storage
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/target5:0:0/5:0:0:0/block/sdb/device
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/target5:0:0/5:0:0:0/bsg/5:0:0:0/device
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/target5:0:0/5:0:0:0/scsi_device/5:0:0:0/device
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/target5:0:0/5:0:0:0/scsi_disk/5:0:0:0/device
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/target5:0:0/5:0:0:0/scsi_generic/sg2/device
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/scsi_host/host5/device
           /sys/devices/platform/vhci_hcd/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host5/target5:0:0/5:0:0:0/block/sdb/device
Port 01: <Port Available>
Port 02: <Port Available>
Port 03: <Port Available>
Port 04: <Port Available>
Port 05: <Port Available>
Port 06: <Port Available>
Port 07: <Port Available>
[root@client1 src]#

We need the port number to detach the device:

usbip -d 00

[root@client1 src]# usbip -d 00
8 ports available

port 0 detached
[root@client1 src]#

On the server, we use the BUSID (1-5) to bind the USB device to the local system (the --other switch binds the device to the local system so that it is not available over the network anymore):

server1:

bind_driver --other 1-5

[root@server1 administrator]# bind_driver --other 1-5
** (process:3484): DEBUG: write "del 1-5" to /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbip/match_busid
** Message: bind 1-5 to other drivers than usbip, complete!
[root@server1 administrator]#

Now go back to the client and check if the remote USB device is still available:

client1:

lsusb

If all goes well, it shouldn't be listed anymore:

[root@client1 src]# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
[root@client1 src]#

5 Links

• USB/IP Project: http://usbip.sourceforge.net/
• Mandriva: http://www.mandriva.com/