How To Set Up A USB-Over-IP Server And Client With Debian Lenny - Page 2

3 Installing And Using USB/IP On The Client

client1:

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

vi /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the Debian Squeeze (testing) repositories at the end of the file:

[...]
## Squeeze / Testing
deb http://ftp2.de.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main
deb-src http://ftp2.de.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main

deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main
 
vi /etc/apt/apt.conf

Put the following line into this file:

APT::Cache-Limit "100000000";
 
vi /etc/apt/preferences

Make the file look as follows:

Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Update the package database...

aptitude update

... and install usbip as follows:

aptitude install usbip usbip-source module-assistant

We need to build the usbip kernel modules for our Debian Lenny kernel, that's why we must install the usbip-source and module-assistant packages as well. We can now build the kernel modules as follows:

m-a prepare
m-a update
m-a a-i usbip-source

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:

client1:~# lsmod | grep vhci_hcd
vhci_hcd               15844  0
usbip_common_mod       11332  1 vhci_hcd
usbcore               118160  2 vhci_hcd
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 4-5):

client1:~# usbip -l 192.168.0.100
- 192.168.0.100
     4-5: SanDisk Corp. : Cruzer Micro 256/512MB Flash Drive (0781:5151)
        : /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.1/usb4/4-5
        : (Defined at Interface level) (00/00/00)
        :  0 - Mass Storage / SCSI / Bulk (Zip) (08/06/50)

client1:~#

To attach that device to the client, run:

usbip -a 192.168.0.100 4-5

client1:~# usbip -a 192.168.0.100 4-5
8 ports available

port 0 attached
client1:~#

Now run...

lsusb

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

client1:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0781:5151 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Micro 256/512MB Flash Drive
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
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:

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://192.168.0.100:3240/4-5  (remote devid 00040002 (bus/dev 004/002))
       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>
client1:~#

We need the port number to detach the device:

usbip -d 00

client1:~# usbip -d 00
8 ports available

port 0 detached
client1:~#

On the server, we use the BUSID (4-5) 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:

usbip_bind_driver --other 4-5

server1:~# usbip_bind_driver --other 4-5
** (process:7333): DEBUG: write "del 4-5" to /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usbip/match_busid
** Message: bind 4-5 to other drivers than usbip, complete!
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:

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

 

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