If you do not configure Horizon Client to connect USB devices automatically to your remote desktop, you can still configure Horizon Client to reconnect to specific devices that occasionally restart. Otherwise, when a device restarts during an upgrade, the device connects to the local system rather than to the remote desktop.

If you plan to attach a USB device such as a smart phone or tablet, which is restarted automatically during operating system upgrades, you can set Horizon Client to reconnect that specific device to the remote desktop. To perform this task, you edit a configuration file on the client system.

If you use the Automatically Connect When Inserted option in Horizon Client, all devices that you plug in to the client system are redirected to the remote desktop. If you do not want all devices to be connected, use the following procedure to configure Horizon Client so that only certain USB devices are reconnected.

Prerequisites

Determine the hexadecimal format of the vendor ID (VID) and product ID (PID) of the device. For instructions see the VMware KB article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011600.

Procedure

  1. On the client system, open the config.ini file in a text editor.
    Operating System File Path
    Windows 7, 8.x, or Windows 10 C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware USB Arbitration Service\config.ini
  2. Set the slow-reconnect property for the specific device or devices. 
    usb.quirks.device0 = "vid:pid slow-reconnect"
    vid: pid represent the vendor ID and product ID, in hexadecimal format, for the device. For example, the following lines set this property for two USB devices: 
    usb.quirks.device0 = "0x0529:0x0001 slow-reconnect"
usb.quirks.device1 = "0x0601:0x0009 slow-reconnect"

    Specify the usb.quirks.deviceN device properties in order, starting from 0. For example, if the line usb.quirks.device0 is followed by usb.quirks.device2 rather than usb.quirks.device1, only the first line is read.

Results

When devices such as smart phones and tablets undergo a firmware or operating system upgrade, the upgrade succeeds because the device restarts and connects to the remote desktop that manages it.