usbip

This tutorial explains how to set up a usbip server and client. In my case the server is a raspberry pi and the client a ubuntu vm running in a proxmox environment. By running this setup, the vm can circle through different hosts but keep talking to a usb device (for instance a deconz conbee 2 zigbee stick).

server (raspbian)

The following two services will run the usbip daemon and for each bound device one other service. If a device gets attached and detached at a client, the server will re-bind and make the devices available again.

First, we install usbip.

sudo -s
apt-get install usbip
modprobe usbip_host
echo 'usbip_host' >> /etc/modules

run daemon

Create the following service to run the usbip daemon:

nano /lib/systemd/system/usbipd.service

with contents:

[Unit]
Description=usbip host daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/usbipd -D

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Now we start the daemon service by:

systemctl --system daemon-reload
systemctl enable usbipd.service
systemctl start usbipd.service

run a bind

Create the following service to bind any device:

nano /lib/systemd/system/[email protected]

with contents:

[Unit]
Description=USB-IP Binding on bus id %I
After=network-online.target usbipd.service
Wants=network-online.target
Requires=usbipd.service

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/usbip bind -b %i
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStop=/usr/sbin/usbip unbind -b %i
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

To now bind a device, enable and start a service like, where 1-1.3 is one device ID from usbip list -l:

systemctl enable [email protected]
systemctl start [email protected]

client (ubuntu 20)

Also here, first we install usbip:

sudo -s
apt-get install linux-tools-generic -y
modprobe vhci-hcd
echo 'vhci-hcd' >> /etc/modules

Then we create a generic client service to bind multiple devices, each with one service.

Create a new file nano /lib/systemd/system/[email protected] with the following content (and replace 192.168.111.250 by our raspberry pi IP address):

[Unit]
Description=usbip client
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "/usr/lib/linux-tools/$(uname -r)/usbip attach -r 192.168.111.250 -b %i"
ExecStop=/bin/sh -c "/usr/lib/linux-tools/$(uname -r)/usbip detach --port=$(/usr/lib/linux-tools/$(uname -r)/usbip port | grep '<Port in Use>' | sed -E 's/^Port ([0-9][0-9]).*/\1/')"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

and enable and start the service:

systemctl enable [email protected]
systemctl start [email protected]