3 Installing And Using USB/IP On The Client

client1:

We must install usbip on the client as well:

aptitude install usbip

Afterwards 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:~# lsmod | grep vhci_hcd
vhci_hcd               19800  0
usbip_common_mod       13605  1 vhci_hcd
root@client1:~#

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

vi /etc/modules

[...]
vhci-hcd

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 1-1):

root@client1:~# usbip -l 192.168.0.100
- 192.168.0.100
     1-1: SanDisk Corp. : Cruzer Micro Flash Drive (0781:5151)
        : /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:07.2/usb1/1-1
        : (Defined at Interface level) (00/00/00)
        :  0 - Mass Storage / SCSI / Bulk (Zip) (08/06/50)

root@client1:~#

To attach that device to the client, run:

usbip -a 192.168.0.100 1-1

root@client1:~# usbip -a 192.168.0.100 1-1
8 ports available

port 0 attached
root@client1:~#

Now run...

lsusb

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

root@client1:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0781:5151 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Micro 256/512MB Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
root@client1:~#

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:~# usbip --port
8 ports available

Port 00: <Port in Use> at High Speed(480Mbps)
       SanDisk Corp. : Cruzer Micro 256/512MB Flash Drive (0781:5151)
       1-1 -> usbip://192.168.0.100:3240/1-1  (remote devid 00010002 (bus/dev 001/002))
       1-1:1.0 used by usb-storage
           /sys/class/bsg/1:0:0:0/device
           /sys/class/scsi_device/1:0:0:0/device
           /sys/class/scsi_disk/1:0:0:0/device
           /sys/class/scsi_host/host1/device
           /sys/class/usb_endpoint/usbdev1.4_ep02/device
           /sys/class/usb_endpoint/usbdev1.4_ep81/device
           /sys/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:~#

We need the port number to detach the device:

usbip -d 00

root@client1:~# usbip -d 00
8 ports available

port 0 detached
root@client1:~#

On the server, we use the BUSID (1-1) 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:

usbip_bind_driver --other 1-1

root@server1:~# usbip_bind_driver --other 1-1
** (process:7333): DEBUG: write "del 1-1" to /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbip/match_busid
** Message: bind 1-1 to other drivers than usbip, complete!
root@server1:~#

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

5 Links

• USB/IP Project: http://usbip.sourceforge.net/
• Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/