USB passthrough

[TErxleben]

I would like to pass an USB device (here specifically a smart card reader) that is connected to a PVE to several Windows VMs in parallel.
Is that possible? Does anyone have experience implementing this requirement?

 

[leesteken]

I would like to pass an USB device (here specifically a smart card reader) that is connected to a PVE to several Windows VMs in parallel.

If they were physical machines, you would get a USB switch that allows you to connect all machines to the same USB device and select which machines gets the device via a knob or buttons.
You can do the same with virtual machines using a USB switch and USB passthrough (or even a software switch) but you still can only use the device with a single machine at a time.

 

[TErxleben]

I have 7 VMs here that want to use a smart card reader. However, only one at a time. Only the smart card should be changed on the reader of the PVE server. I don't want to connect 7 readers via hub.

 

[MarkusF]

You could also try to use usbip to share a usb device with multiple VMs. But not at the same time.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/USB/IP
https://github.com/nikdom/usbip
https://github.com/cezanne/usbip-win

You could try using network-based smart card readers. These should allow you to connect multiple VMs to the smart card via network at the same time.

 

[leesteken]

I have 7 VMs here that want to use a smart card reader. However, only one at a time. Only the smart card should be changed on the reader of the PVE server. I don't want to connect 7 readers via hub.

Use USB passthrough like normal but only to one VM at a time? Make sure to enable USB in the VM Options > Hotplug. Here is more information about USB passthrough: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/USB_Devices_in_Virtual_Machines
Or write a script that moves the USB passthrough of the device from one VM to another (using command-line or Proxmox REST API).

 

[TErxleben]

Use USB passthrough like normal but only to one VM at a time? Make sure to enable USB in the VM Options > Hotplug. Here is more information about USB passthrough: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/USB_Devices_in_Virtual_Machines
Or write a script that moves the USB passthrough of the device from one VM to another (using command-line or Proxmox REST API).

So only pass the USB ID to the desired VMs? It would be great if it worked. That would be my ideal solution too. I'll try it.