Passing usb through to a distrobox

[JohnAtl]

Is it possible to pass a usb device through to a distrobox (for e.g. programming an FPGA), or should I use a VM or even a separate machine.
Please give configuration examples for any solution.

[dosubot[bot]]

Yes, you can pass a USB device through to a Distrobox container, but it requires running the container in privileged mode and mounting the host's /dev directory. This is how the official toolboxes are configured for device access, including USB devices. For example, you can launch a Distrobox with:

distrobox-create --name mybox --image <image> --additional-flags "--privileged --security-opt label=disable --security-opt apparmor=unconfined -v /dev:/dev:rslave"

Replace <image> with your desired container image. This setup gives the container access to all devices in /dev, so be aware of the security implications.

If you want a more isolated and user-friendly solution, using a VM like GNOME Boxes is recommended for USB passthrough. GNOME Boxes supports attaching USB devices directly to the VM, which is often more reliable for hardware programming tasks. Flatpak containers do not support USB passthrough, so GNOME Boxes is the preferred option for virtualization on Bluefin source.

tldr tip: To learn more about Podman device passthrough options, run tldr podman-run or check the Distrobox usage docs.

For more on Bluefin best practices, see the official docs.

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[JohnAtl]

Thanks @dosu!
What are the steps for setting up passthrough for a VM with gnome boxes?

[dosubot[bot]]

Here’s how to set up USB passthrough in GNOME Boxes:

1. Plug your USB device into your computer.
2. Open GNOME Boxes and start your VM.
3. In the running VM window, click the menu (three dots or the “hamburger” icon).
4. Select “Properties” or “Devices”.
5. Find the “USB Devices” section and check the box next to the device you want to pass through.

The device should now be available inside your VM. If you’re using the Flatpak version of GNOME Boxes and USB passthrough doesn’t work, try the system package instead, as Flatpak sandboxing can sometimes interfere with device access.

This process is the same on Bluefin as on other Linux distributions. For more info, see the Bluefin docs and the GNOME Boxes documentation.

tldr tip: You can quickly review GNOME Boxes shortcuts and features by running tldr gnome-boxes if you have tldr installed.

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[nabeelr]

If you already have a distrobox created, can you modify it to pass through USB without creating a new one?

[salim-b]

Flatpak containers do not support USB passthrough

This is not true... 🙄

[hanthor]

It was true until recently and gnome boxes flatpak doesn't support it

[boustanihani]

I created this feature request for this =>

Feature request: gnome boxes preinstalled but not as a flatpak
projectbluefin/common#232

[ClixTW]

If you just want to adjust your mouse settings without making things too complicated, you can refer to the solution here: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-boxes/-/work_items/236#note_1858728

Following the workaround mentioned there, I successfully passed through my Razer mouse to the Flatpak version of GNOME Boxes, and managed to configure the mouse settings using Razer Synapse within a Windows 11 virtual machine.