Pass a USB device through to a Proxmox VM

Some software needs physical hardware: a licence dongle, a Zigbee or Z-Wave stick, a UPS cable or a serial adapter. Proxmox USB passthrough connects the device straight to a VM as if it were plugged into it.

Before you start

• The USB device plugged into the Proxmox host.
• Root shell access, and a VM to attach it to.

Find the device

lsusb

Note the line for your device, for example ID 10c4:ea60: the first part is the vendor ID and the second the product ID. The bus and port are also listed.

Proxmox USB passthrough by device ID

1. Select the VM → Hardware → Add → USB Device.
2. Choose Use USB Vendor/Device ID and pick the device from the list.
3. Tick Use USB3 for USB 3 devices that need the speed.
4. Click Add. Running VMs usually receive the device immediately; otherwise restart the VM.

Shell equivalent:

qm set 105 -usb0 host=10c4:ea60

Passthrough by port

If you have two identical devices, pass them by physical port instead (Use USB Port in the dialog, or host=1-2 for bus 1, port 2). Whatever is plugged into that port then goes to the VM.

Check inside the VM

• Linux: lsusb shows the device and serial devices appear as /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyACM0.
• Windows: the device appears in Device Manager; install its driver.

Troubleshooting

• Device not visible in VM: unplug and replug it, or restart the VM; check it still shows in lsusb on the host.
• Device disappears after host reboot: port numbers changed; use vendor/product ID instead.
• Slow transfers: enable USB3 on the passthrough entry.

Frequently asked questions

Can a VM with USB passthrough be live migrated?

No, the device is tied to one host. Remove it before migrating, or use resource mappings with matching devices on each node.

Can containers use USB devices?

Yes, by passing the device node into the container, but the setup is different from VMs.

What about GPUs and NICs?

Those need PCI passthrough (PCI and GPU passthrough).

Next steps

• PCI and GPU passthrough
• Create a VM
• Migrate VMs