Set up virtualUSB

Learn how to set up virtualUSB on your personal computer so you can debug local and private devices.

Before you start

You’ll need a personal computer with the following system specifications:

  • macOS

  • Windows

  • MacOS Monterey 12 or later.

  • Xcode 13 or higher (be sure to select a version that works with the iOS versions to be tested)

  • Windows 10 or later.

For both MacOS and Windows, administrative privilege is required to set up and use virtualUSB.

Android requirements

To connect to Android devices via virtualUSB, you must install Android Debug Bridge (adb) from the Android SDK Platform-Tools package. If you don’t already have adb on your workstation, download it from Android or install an IDE like Android Studio.

Follow the official Android developer guide to set up the required environment variables for adb. You can also run the below example commands to set the environment variables.

  • macOS with Zsh shell

  • Windows

export ANDROID_HOME=path/to/Android/sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools:$ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
Replace path/to/Android/sdk with the actual location of SDK installation directory (the folder containing platform-tools).
set ANDROID_HOME=C:\path\to\Android\Sdk
set PATH=%PATH%;%ANDROID_HOME%\tools;%ANDROID_HOME%\platform-tools
Replace C:\path\to\Android\Sdk with the actual location of SDK installation directory (the folder containing platform-tools).

For MacOS only: Prepare debug symbols for iOS devices

If your network has a low bandwidth, fetching debug symbol files for Xcode via virtualUSB can be slow and unreliable. In such cases, you’ll need to manually prepare the debug symbols, which are specific to the device’s iOS version. If needed, contact our Support team and request the debug symbols for your devices. Then, copy the debug symbols to your local Mac folder:

/Users/<your username>/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport/

Clean up previous virtualUSB version before installing new version

If you have installed virtualUSB previously, we recommend uninstalling the old version before installing a new one. See Uninstall virtualUSB for guidance.

Download virtualUSB

For Cloud and Hybrid customers, select the Download button on the navigation bar of the Kobiton Portal, then download the appropriate virtualUSB package.

Download virtual USB from Kobiton portal

For Standalone/On-Prem customers, the latest virtualUSB package download links are provided together with other Standalone update packages.

Contact Kobiton Support for the latest download links if you have trouble finding them.

Install virtualUSB

  • MacOS

  • Windows

Do not install virtualUSB on a Mac that has an existing deviceConnect installation.

Open the downloaded virtualUSB.pkg file to begin the installation. Select Continue and follow the on-screen guide to install.

The virtualUSB installation screen on MacOS

After the installation completes, go to the Applications folder in Finder, and open virtualUSB:

The virtualUSB app under Applications

If this is the first time launching the app, provide the administrator password to install the required daemon:

The pop-up for permission to install daemon

The daemon needs to be installed for virtualUSB to work. If you dismiss the above pop-up by mistake, quit and re-open virtualUSB to view and accept the prompt.

Agree to the License terms and select Continue:

The virtualUSB License agreement with the accept option checked

Open the downloaded virtualUSB.msi file. When the virtualUSB Setup Wizard starts, select Next, then follow the on-screen guide to install.

The virtualUSB installationw wizard start screen on Windows

During installation, select Yes in the User Account Control pop-up to give the installer administrative permission:

The User Account Control pop-up with the Yes option highlighted

When your installation is complete, launch virtualUSB from the Windows Start menu:

The virtualUSB app in the Start Menu

Upon the first time launching the app, you must agree to the License terms and select Continue:

The virtualUSB License agreement with the accept option checked

Launch virtualUSB and log in

  • Cloud/Hybrid

  • Cloud/Hybrid with custom domain

  • Standalone/On-Prem

Launch virtualUSB and sign in using your email address and password or Kobiton API key.

Sign in Virtual USB using email or API Key

Select the Login to your custom domain portal checkbox in the login screen.

The virtualUSB login screen with the additional fields for custom domain

Input the values for the two additional fields as below, replacing <custom-domain> with the customer’s domain name:

Input the Username/Email and Password/API Key to log in.

The values for API Base Url and API GRPC Base Url are remembered and prefilled the next time you open the app.

Select the Login to your custom domain portal checkbox on the login screen

The virtualUSB login screen with the additional fields for custom domain

Input the values for two the additional fields as <http/https>://<Portal private domain or IP>:<REST API port>, where:

  • <http/https>: if the Portal server uses HTTPS, then use https. Otherwise, use http.

  • <Portal private domain or IP>: if the Portal server has a private domain, use its private domain. Otherwise, use the Portal server’s IP address.

  • <REST API port>:

    • For API Base Url, use 3000.

    • For API GRPC Base Url, use 3001.

Example:

Then input the Username/Email and Password/API Key to log in.