USB Devices

SwiftVM can hand a USB device of your Mac to a running guest: a drive, a security key, a serial adapter. The guest sees the real device and uses its own driver for it.

USB devices need a build with a provisioning profile. Releases have one. If you build SwiftVM yourself, see Building.

Give the device to SwiftVM#

Which app uses a USB device is decided in macOS, not in SwiftVM. While SwiftVM runs, the menu bar has a Virtual Machine Accessories menu that lists your Mac's USB devices, each used with This Mac or with an app.

Set a device to SwiftVM there. macOS remembers the choice.

Attach it to a machine#

Open USB Devices in the machine's toolbar and turn the device on, or use the command line:

swiftvm usb                                    # the devices SwiftVM has
swiftvm usb attach web-server "SanDisk Ultra"
swiftvm usb detach web-server "SanDisk Ultra"

Name a device by its name, its vendor:product, its serial number, or its number in the list.

Attach it automatically#

Turn on Attach whenever it is plugged in, or run:

swiftvm usb auto web-server 0781:5581 on

The machine then takes the device by itself whenever both are there.

• The rule goes by the device's make, so two sticks of the same model are one to it.
• A device you detach by hand is left alone until it is plugged in again or the machine starts again.
• When two running machines would take the same device, it goes to the one that had it last.
• A copy of a machine takes none by itself until you say so.

Good to know#

• An attached device is gone from your Mac until it is detached or pulled out, or the machine stops.
• A device belongs to one guest at a time.
• Detaching is like pulling the device out of the guest. Eject a drive in the guest first.
• Suspending a machine gives its devices back to your Mac. The guest finds them unplugged when it resumes, so eject drives in the guest before you suspend.
• A running machine with a USB device can't be snapshotted. Detach the device or shut the machine down first.