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8.2.2.2. Using USB Devices on a Windows Client

If you are connecting from a Windows client machine, and wish to use USB devices on your guest, you have to enable SPICE USB redirection.
To enable USB redirection on Windows:
  1. Install USB redirector package on client
    On a Windows client machine, install the RHEV-USB-Client.exe package. This package can be obtained from the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager (v.3 x86_64) channel on the Red Hat Network, under the Downloads list.
  2. Install RHEV-Tools on guest
    On the Power User Portal, select the Windows guest on which you will use your USB device. Ensure that it is powered up, then click Change CD. From the list of images, select RHEV-toolsSetup.iso. If this image is not available in your ISO domain contact your system administrator.
    Once you have attached the Guest Tools, click Console and log in to the guest machine. Locate the CD drive to access the contents of the Guest Tools ISO, and launch RHEV-ToolsSetup.exe. After the tools have been installed, you will be prompted to restart the machine for changes to be applied. Close the SPICE console window.
  3. Open firewall ports
    Allow connections on TCP port 32023 on any firewalls between the guest machine and the client machine.
  4. Enable USB sharing
    On the Power User Portal, select your guest machine. Ensure that the connection protocol is SPICE, and that you have enabled USB Auto-Share as described in Section 8.1.1, “Configuring SPICE Console Options”.
  5. Attach USB device
    Connect to your guest machine as instructed in Section 2.1, “Connecting to Virtual Machines”, and attach a USB device to the client. If the required USB device does not appear directly on the guest desktop, right click on the SPICE frame and select USB Devices. Choose your device from the list displayed.
    List of connected USB devices
    Figure 8.4. List of connected USB devices

Important

When some USB devices are connected on Windows clients, the autoplay window will appear and the client will take control of the device, making it unavailable to the guest. To avoid this issue, disable USB autoplay on your Windows clients.

Note

You can also define additional USB policies for Windows clients, to allow or block access to certain USB devices. For details, see the sections on USB Filter Editor in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Administration Guide.