{"id":47172,"date":"2024-09-05T15:12:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=47172"},"modified":"2025-01-28T07:14:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T07:14:58","slug":"share-usb-ubuntu-lan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2024\/09\/share-usb-ubuntu-lan\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Share your USB Device in Ubuntu 24.04 over LAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> This tutorial shows how to share your USB device, e.g., USB mouse\/keyboard, USB drive, webcam, and speaker, in Ubuntu so you can access remotely from other computers\/laptops. Linux Kernel includes a command line tool called USB\/IP, allowing to share USB devices between computers with their full functionality. So, a computer can use remote USB devices as if they were directly attached. If you just want to share USB mouse & keyboard between computers, then Barrier<\/a> is a good choice. But for webcam, usb drive, printer (through it usually has option to do the job), and other general USB devices, this tutorial will show you how.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Step 1: Install the USB\/IP kernel tool<\/h3>\n

First of all, press Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> on keyboard to open up a terminal window. When terminal opens, run command to install the Linux kernel tools<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

sudo apt install linux-tools-$(uname -r)<\/pre>\n
This command installs the kernel tools for current Kernel version. As Ubuntu updates its kernel regularly, you may need to re-run this command again for newer kernels. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Step 2: Share USB devices at run-time<\/h3>\n
If you just want to try out this method, that works until reboot or you manually disable it, then run the commands below one by one. 1. First, load the USB\/IP specific kernel modules<\/strong>. On the host computer with the USB devices connected, you need to first load the usbip_core<\/code> and usbip_host<\/code> kernel modules. To do so, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:<\/p>\n
sudo modprobe usbip_core<\/pre>\n
sudo modprobe usbip_host<\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a> 2. Then, run the daemon.<\/strong> There’s a usbipd<\/code> command for running the server daemon, which by default listen on TCP port 3240<\/strong>. To start the daemon, simply open terminal and run command:<\/p>\n
usbipd &<\/pre>\n
If port 3240 is in use, or you want to listen on another port, then use usbipd --tcp-port 1234 &<\/code> (replace number 1234) instead. 3. Next, list all USB devices on computer,<\/strong> for the information, such as bus-id, vendor ID and product ID.<\/p>\n
usbip list -l<\/pre>\n
In the output, you need to remember the bus-id<\/strong> (usually 1-1, 1-2, …) for the USB device you want to share. Finally, bind the USB device<\/strong> so it can’t be access remotely (replace bus-id 1-1<\/code> with yours).<\/p>\n
sudo usbip bind -b 1-1<\/pre>\n
It should outputs something looks like “bind device on ***: complete”. However, for USB keyboard\/mouse, if you move or use the devices on host before connecting from remote, the bind may fail. And, to stop sharing the USB device, use command:<\/p>\n
sudo usbip unbind -b 1-1<\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Step 3: Access the USB Device from Remote Machine<\/h3>\n
For the client machines, you also have to install the USB\/IP tool. See step 1 for Linux, and go to this page for Windows<\/a> (not tested). Then, you have to load the vhci_hcd<\/code> kernel module by running command:<\/p>\n
sudo modprobe vhci_hcd<\/pre>\n
Finally, list accessible remote USB devices:<\/p>\n
sudo usbip list -r 192.168.0.104<\/pre>\n
And, attach the remote USB via command:<\/p>\n
sudo usbip attach -r 192.168.0.104 -b 1-1<\/pre>\n
Here replace 192.168.0.104<\/code> with yours host IP, and replace 1-1<\/code> according which bus-id you shared. If everything goes well, you should now be able to use the remote USB device just like directly attached. \"\"<\/a> To disconnect remote USB, use command to first list all connected:<\/p>\n
sudo usbip port<\/pre>\n
Then, run command to detach (replace 00<\/code> according to last command output).<\/p>\n
sudo usbip detach -p 00<\/pre>\n
Enable USB Device Sharing on Startup<\/h3>\n
If the previous steps work good, and you want to make it permanent, then you can write rules to auto-load the kernel modules, auto-start the daemon, and auto-bind the USB device. NOTE:<\/strong> In the steps below, I will use gnome-text-editor<\/code> (Gnome Default) to create & edit conf file. You may replace it with gedit<\/code> for 22.04 and earlier, mousepad<\/code> for XFCE desktop, or nano<\/code> text editor (Ctrl+S to save, Ctrl+X to exit) that works in most desktop environments.<\/em> 1.<\/strong> First, auto-load the kernel modules on system boot by creating a custom conf file via command (Ctrl+Alt+T):<\/p>\n
sudo gnome-text-editor \/etc\/modules-load.d\/usbip.conf<\/pre>\n
When file opens, just add the 2 lines below and save:<\/p>\n
usbip_core\r\nusbip_host<\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a> 2.<\/strong> Then, auto-run the usbipd<\/code> daemon by creating a systemd service via command:<\/p>\n
sudo gnome-text-editor \/etc\/systemd\/system\/usbipd.service<\/pre>\n
When file opens, add the lines below and save:<\/p>\n
[Unit]\r\nDescription=USB\/IP server\r\nAfter=network.target\r\n\r\n[Service]\r\nExecStart=\/usr\/bin\/usbipd\r\n\r\n[Install]\r\nWantedBy=multi-user.target<\/pre>\n
Finally, run command to enable & start the service<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
sudo systemctl enable --now usbipd.service<\/pre>\n
NOTE: The service may fail to start until system reboot, as you already run the daemon in step 2-2. \"\"<\/a> 3.<\/strong> Finally, create a service to auto-bind the USB device your want to share. To do so, run command:<\/p>\n
sudo gnome-text-editor \/etc\/systemd\/system\/usbip-bind@.service<\/pre>\n
When file opens, add the lines below and save.<\/p>\n
[Unit]\r\nDescription=USB-IP Binding on bus id %I\r\nAfter=network-online.target usbipd.service\r\nWants=network-online.target\r\nRequires=usbipd.service\r\n#DefaultInstance=1-1\r\n\r\n[Service]\r\nType=simple\r\nExecStart=\/usr\/bin\/usbip bind -b %i\r\nRemainAfterExit=yes\r\nExecStop=\/usr\/bin\/usbip unbind -b %i  \r\nRestart=on-failure\r\n\r\n[Install]\r\nWantedBy=multi-user.target<\/pre>\n
Next, you need to run command to enable & start the service<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
sudo systemctl enable --now usbip-bind@1-1.service<\/pre>\n
In this command, replace 1-1<\/strong> according to which bus-id of the USB device you want to share. \"\"<\/a> When done, restart your computer and try to attach from remote computer.<\/p>\n
Undo:<\/h3>\n
To undo the last step, first open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to disable the services (also replace 1-1 accordingly):<\/p>\n
sudo systemctl disable --now usbip-bind@1-1.service<\/pre>\n
sudo systemctl disable --now usbipd.service<\/pre>\n
Then, remove the 3 config files, though the service files do not function until you re-enable them:<\/p>\n
sudo rm \/etc\/systemd\/system\/usbip-bind@.service<\/pre>\n
sudo rm \/etc\/systemd\/system\/usbipd.service<\/pre>\n
sudo rm \/etc\/modules-load.d\/usbip.conf<\/pre>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This tutorial shows how to share your USB device, e.g., USB mouse\/keyboard, USB drive, webcam, and speaker, in Ubuntu so you can access remotely from other computers\/laptops. Linux Kernel includes a command line tool called USB\/IP, allowing to share USB devices between computers with their full functionality. So, a computer can use remote USB devices […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1317,2211],"class_list":["post-47172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howtos","tag-network","tag-usb"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}