Mounting USB on VirtualBox (Linux host) at http://blog.iqbalir.com

Mounting USB on VirtualBox (Linux host)

10 Comments Published by Iqbal_Ir 1 year, 2 months ago in Gadget, In English, Laptop, Linux, Tips, Tools, Software & Technology, Ubuntu.

First thing to say, Don’t read this if you already know how.

I am making a summary of mounting my USB on my VirtualBox. It’s not a problem if you are using Windows host, but if you are using Linux host, you should use this step to mount your USB on VirtualBox. OK, here is the step:

1. Add yourself to the vboxusers group created when you installed VirtualBox. Go to System –> Administration –> User and Group. Press unlock and the click Manage Group. Then go to vboxuser properties.

Then, tick on your user account and make a note of your Group ID (GID). See below:

2. Add this line at the end of your /etc/fstab file:

none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=[your GID],devmode=664 0 0

3. And also add this line in /etc/init.d/mountkernfs.sh file:

## Mount the usbfs for use in Virtual Box domount usbfs usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb -onoexec,nosuid,nodev,devgid=[your GID],devmode=664

4. Restart your computer.

5. Don’t forget to add it on your Virtualbox setting.

That’s it… :dance: [peace] Now you should able to use your USB (Flash disk, printer, etc) on your VirtualBox.

Note:
- Host: Ubuntu 8.10
- VirtualBox: Sun xVM VirtualBox Version 2.0.6
- Don’t put your USB mouse on the list, if you do that, you only able to use you USB mouse from your guest OS (unable to access by host).

Update:
I have found this link. Here is a complete guide using VirtualBox on Ubuntu:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox

10 Responses to “Mounting USB on VirtualBox (Linux host)”

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1 Donny Kurnia Dec 11th, 2008 at 2:47 pm

If you do step no 2, you don’t need to restart, but just run this:
sudo mount -a

I do this step, and skip step 3 and 4 completely. It working until now.
2 Iqbal_Ir Dec 11th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

@Donny Kurnia,
Ok, thx for you info… [peace]
Yes, it should be working good without step 3 and 4 (I think step 1-2 is only for mounting Flash Disk USB) and the rest of them is for mounting another USB such as Printer. CMIIW…
3 Jack.k Dec 25th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

the line you add to to the fs tab file, my system will not allow me to keep the changes?? how can i change this. Also i do not seen to have ‘ /etc/init.d/mountkernfs.sh’ file what would be the reason for this?
4 Iqbal_Ir Dec 25th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

@Jack.k
To allow you to add the line maybe you need to use one of this command:
$ sudo gedit /etc/fstab
or
$ sudo nano /etc/fstab
or
$ sudo vi /etc/fstab

What linux distribution are you using?? If you are not using ubuntu, then maybe you will find it on another location.
5 xvader Jan 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am

hello,
saya telah melakukan langkah-langkah tersebut, menggunakan ubuntu hardy sebagai host dan winxp sebagai guest, di virtualbox 2.1.0. device-device usb terdeteksi pada settingsnya namun pada winxp device tersebut tidak ada/tidak termount dengan state: unavailable. apa yang terjadi?
6 Iqbal_Ir Jan 1st, 2009 at 4:42 pm

@xvader,
Waahh Hardy yaahh…
Utk mounting USB di Hardy yg disini sdh coba…??

Mungkin XP-nya tidak mengenali USB-nya ya… Siapa tahu USB tsb butuh driver…
7 xvader Jan 1st, 2009 at 7:04 pm

yup, langkah-langkah di url tersebut juga telah saya coba, semua device usb terbaca di settings virtualbox, namun teteup di guest os (winxp) masih ga kebaca dan ga bisa digunakan satupun. terpaksa untuk usb flash disk, saya akalin dengan shared folder.

virtualbox guest additions juga telah terinstal.

apa harus instal ulang guest os-nya ya? duh…

*mesin: acer aspire 2920*
8 Iqbal_Ir Jan 2nd, 2009 at 12:35 am

@xvader,
Kalau itu mmg diperlukan silahkan dicoba saja instal ulang WinXP-nya. Buat saja virtual disk yang baru kalau VDI lama sayang dibuang.
Coba juga pakai WinXP SP3, mungkin bisa dikenali.
9 kamal Jan 5th, 2010 at 10:34 pm

Trimaksih. :hehe: