Re: [Xen-devel] Virtualization project idea

[Dhananjay Goel <dhananjaygoel123@xxxxxxxxx>]

No, that's not possible with pvusb. pvusb is for direct passthru to one/single vm.
You'd need some filesystem share (cifs/nfs/whatnot) to make such sharing possible.

Comments: Is it possible to share USB keyboard, USB mouse, USB modem, etc across VMs i.e host and guest(s)? If we connect USB keyboard, is it possible to use it in guests? 

Also, is it possible for us to modify the device driver of USB 2.0 so that all USB 2.0 devices are visible and can be used across all VMs? Please suggest.

Thanks,
Dhananjay

On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 2:16 PM, Pasi Kärkkäinen <pasik@xxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 01:37:49PM +0530, Dhananjay Goel wrote:
>    Hi James/Pasi,

>    I had a look at [1]http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenUSBPassthrough

>    But I'm not sure if it supports sharing USB devices across VMs (host and
>    guest) i.e. if I plug in a flash drive then it would detect in both host
>    and guest and I'd be able edit files from all VMs rather than mounting and
>    unmounting everytime from 1 VM to other.
>    Please let me know your thoughts on it.
>

No, that's not possible with pvusb. pvusb is for direct passthru to one/single vm.
You'd need some filesystem share (cifs/nfs/whatnot) to make such sharing possible.

-- Pasi

>    Thanks,
>    Dhananjay
>
>    On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 4:28 AM, James Harper

>    <[2]james.harper@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>      > Hi there!
>      >
>      > First I'd like to say that XEN plaform is really cool and awesome.
>      >
>      > I'm an engineering student and is searching for a feasible project in
>      > virtualization. I'd like to know if its possible to share USB devices
>      (flash
>      > drive, hard disk, mouse, keyboards etc) across guests and host (VMs).
>      Also, do
>      > you have any idea to extend it? Or any innovative idea so that we can
>      > implement it.
>      >
>      > I'd appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.
>      >
>
>      Further to what Pasi said, I have partially ported the backend interface
>      and can hand you the code if you want. It's probable a bit stale vs the
>      current kernels and leaks memory under some circumstances but is
>      probably better than starting from scratch.
>      James
>

> References
>
>    Visible links
>    1. http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenUSBPassthrough
>    2. mailto:james.harper@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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