Add USB sharing option to macOS guest (from macOS host)

[natevw]

With an e.g. Windows guest UTM offers sharing settings including for USB devices:

But no such settings are available for a macOS guest:

Can USB devices be shared with the new Virtualization framework? [Update: fwiw, I'm sure not seeing anything related to USB passthrough in Apple's https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization overview documentation… ☹️ ]

(Sorry if this is a duplicate, I could not find one. This is in a somewhat similar vein as #3567 — the new Virtualization.framework is still missing some features compared to the QEMU settings. File sharing is another such but I'm focusing this request on USB specifically since there's userspace options for transferring files, but not really any good workaround for passing through a USB device.)

[Valkhes]

Hello,

I asked this question on Twitter few weeks ago : https://twitter.com/Valkhes/status/1481192075672629253?s=20&t=ZCdAmzI9b3KW1p2CD2rE0g

This is the feature I'm also missing to be able to use macOS VM, but it seems that it is not currently supported by Apple in Virtualization.framework .
Right now, it seems that no options are available at all, I also tried other apps like Parallels for example, and they are not supporting it too.
Even USB over IP solutions right now can't use a mac M1 as a guest to receive an USB device, which would have been a great workaround for me.

This looks to be for the moment a dead end until Apple can support it.

[osy]

It is indeed dependent on Apple support. We have to wait until WWDC to see what's next for Virtualization.framework.

[tucnak]

Is there news/work-around on this?

[blue-beret]

These look like they're relevant:

Entitlement for Virtualization Guest USB access

Apple docs aren't exactly self explanatory but it seems like these would be used to open a connection to an interface or specific device and then you could use something like SPICE's usbredir for the VM end.

(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iousbhost/iousbhostobject)
(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iousbhost/iousbhostdevice)
(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iousbhost/iousbhostinterface)

Further investigation seems as though this may only work for Hypervisor.Framework.

[osy]

Yeah we use them in QEMU. This issue is about Apple Virtualization.

[ZeppLu]

With Sonoma we can share a block device with guest, is this feature helpful?

[jdjingdian]

Hi, I'm just a bit curious. I tried Parallels Desktop, they have a 'Rosetta' switch in vm settings, and even when I enable it, I can still share my usb device into the vm.
So do you think Apple Hypervisor has the ability to share USB, or Parallels achieve this in some tricky way?

[jdjingdian]

Hi, I'm just a bit curious. I tried Parallels Desktop, they have a 'Rosetta' switch in vm settings, and even when I enable it, I can still share my usb device into the vm. So do you think Apple Hypervisor has the ability to share USB, or Parallels achieve this in some tricky way?

After some research, I think the Rosetta does not really need the Apple Hypervisor to run, its kind of apple's limitation. There is a repo that patch previous version of rosetta and let it run on any arm64 linux.
https://github.com/CathyKMeow/rosetta-linux-asahi
I tried it on a vm manage by qemu, and it works.

So maybe parallels did not actually use the Apple Hypervisor as backend.

[ZeppLu]

I tried Parallels Desktop, they have a 'Rosetta' switch in vm settings, and even when I enable it, I can still share my usb device into the vm.

I believe you're referencing Linux guest, since PD does not support USB passthrough in mac guest either.

[solarispika]

Looks like Virtualization.framework has new USB support now.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/virtualization/vzvirtualmachineconfiguration/4360569-usbcontrollers?changes=latest_minor&language=objc
Does it help on USB-sharing?

[jredbart]

Are there any plans to adopt the new virtualisation framework USB support with the upcoming macOS release?

[joshm89]

Would be brilliant if we can get support for USB devices on a macOS host. I work on my personal device and would love to set up a separate macOS VM for work, but I need access to my webcam.

[conradev]

This would go great with the new iCloud support on macOS 15 because I use USB security keys to protect my Apple ID

[greatestradioshow]

Is the new virtualisation framework USB support already in place? Should I be able to see my iPhone in my VM or not? Because I can't make it work in Ubuntu via UTM on my M1.

[erikschul]

@greatestradioshow No it's not available.
https://docs.getutm.app/guest-support/macos/#missing-features

[greatestradioshow]

Do we know if this will be changed in the future?

If USB is not working in the VMs, what is the main use case of these VMs?
Maybe it is just me, but even when it looks like nowadays everything is happening in the cloud, I almost need my USB ports on a daily basis.

[erikschul]

@greatestradioshow I assume that you can check the roadmap, and if it's not on it, it's not on it 🤷

I suspect your comment is off topic, if you have similar questions you can ask in Discussions?

[greatestradioshow]

As GitHub is listed as an official support channel, I was just wondering to get an official statement to see, if this feature might come or will definitely not come (because of an macOS limitation).

@erikschul could you please share the link to the roadmap with me, as it looks like I can't find it.

[cmoog]

@osy I'm interested in a bounty on this issue. Specifically for USB passthrough for Linux guests using Apple Virtualization.

[osy]

Unfortunately there's nothing we can do here. We need Apple to add usb host sharing to virtualization.framework

[natevw]

@osy Does the VZVirtualMachine.usbControllers configuration linked upthread at #3778 (comment) not expose this now?

[osy]

It does not. It exposes a virtual USB controller for plugging in virtual USB devices. It does not have USB host redirection.