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How can I access USB devices in a cloud workstation setup

4 points by Kate_f25 ↗ HN
I recently moved my workstation to a cloud setup and I’m struggling to access my USB devices remotely. I need to use specific hardware like my POS scanner but the cloud environment doesn’t support USB devices directly, and it’s been a real headache. Has anyone managed to connect their USB devices to a cloud OS? Any tools or methods that have worked for you? Thanks!

6 comments

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solardev
It's not super clear to me what you're trying to do. Is the POS scanner a simple barcode reader? If so, many of them can operate as a plain keyboard instead, so it would just enter whatever it scans into whatever text field has focus.

If the POS reader is something more advanced, like an integrated POS tablet system (Square, etc.), are there any APIs you can use?

Where does the "cloud setup" come in to play here... like are you on a local computer, with a POS attached, but mostly working in a remote desktop through an app? Or is the POS system itself attached to some other computer in the cloud (like in a colo datacenter or something)? Sorry for the confusion. What data are you trying to send, and to what?

NCaffer
I had a similar issue but with a 3D mouse, which I rely on heavily for design work. Most remote desktop setups don’t support USB connections. After some research, I found a tool that turned out to be exactly what I needed. You can find more details here https://www.net-usb.com/features/usb-to-cloud/
atmanactive
https://virtualhere.com
MaxAFriedrich
It can be a pain to set up, but works very well once it has been. It is paid, but the free tier is very generous. I have used it to pass a wacom tablet through from a Linux host to a Windows host. It is designed for use over the local network, however, this can be solved with Tailscale (set the IPs to the tailscale IP of each host).
atmanactive
I believe I saw cloud use instructions on their site.