This article is intended for Citrix administrators and technical teams only.

Non-admin users must contact their company’s Help Desk/IT support team and can refer to CTX297149 for more information.
Objective
This article describes enabling USB redirection, adding devices and tested USB devices by Citrix using the Citrix Workspace App (CWA) for ChromeOS.
 

Background
The CWA for ChromeOS provides USB Redirection to allow users to access selected USB devices in Citrix DaaS sessions.

By default, the devices that are claimed by the ChromeOS are not available to the CWA app, for example: USB flash drives, webcam and headset are not redirected to the Citrix session. USB Redirection enables users to connect USB devices to the ChromeOS device and use them inside the Citrix session.

Gathering USB Device Details
Browse to chrome://usb-internals/ on a ChromeOS device. Select the Devices tab to see attached USB devices with their Vendor ID and Product ID or IDs (VID/PID). Note they are already in hexadecimal format. IDs from Windows device manager will have to be converted.

Enabling USB Redirection in Citrix DaaS
Enabling USB device redirection requires the following steps in Citrix Studio:

1. Enable policy setting for Client USB Device Redirection

2. Set Client USB Redirection Rules
3. Add a rule entry for every device VID/PID combination to create an allowlist. Note 4 digits are used even when there is a leading 0 and comments are recommended.

4. Further USB related policies are optional but recommended to be reviewed for the best user experience.

Allow USB Device access on ChromeOS
Note: this is not strictly necessary for every device, but becomes a requirement when splitting composite USB devices. It is therefore recommended to maintain both policies in sync.

1. Navigate to the Google Workspace admin console under https://admin.google.com . Under Devices\Chrome\Settings\Device you will find USB access under Other Settings
   
2. Add each VID/PID pair (hexadecimal) it’s own line. Leading zeros will get removed on saving. Entries will be visible in the UsbDetachableAllowlist policy.  These devices can now use the chrome.usb API.

Redirect USB devices in Citrix Workspace App for ChromeOS JSON

1. Navigate to the Google Workspace admin console under https://admin.google.com. Under Devices\Chrome\Apps & Extension\Users & Browsers edit the JSON config for the CWA for ChromeOS. Add VID/PID pairs under "device_settings"\"deviceRules" as in the example below. This assumes you already have a working configuration.

2. You can either check your configuration or create a new Google Policy using the Configuration Utility Tool and enter VID/PID pairs for allow,deny & autoRedirect under device_settings.
   
3. AutoRedirect is recommended to avoid pop ups for users

Composite USB Device Redirection
Some devices might combine multiple features with different redirection requirements. For this composite USB device redirection can be used. You will need to add

under features in your configuration to “split” the devices. You can now allow or block by device class and subclass in Citrix Studio policies.


Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2212 introduced Client USB device redirection rules (Version 2), adding the option to allow/deny via interface as well with CWA for ChromeOS 2306 onwards:
 

Adding USB Devices in Session
Toolbar and connection center have the option for adding USB devices into desktop and app sessions launched after performing the above steps. Since the toolbar is not available in the app session, users can use the connection center to add USB Devices.

Screenshot to add USB devices from Toolbar:

Screenshot to add USB devices from connection center:



Note: The Connection Center can be launched by right clicking the Citrix Workspace App icon on the ChromeOS taskbar.

After clicking on the Devices option either from the toolbar or connection center we are prompted to add devices:



Clicking on the Add Device button will display the list of enabled USB Devices, we can select the device we want to use in the session.

Post Selection, these devices will be available in the session for use and when we click on devices button we can view the list, add more devices and disconnect already added ones.

If you are splitting composite devices and use at least CWA 2306 you will have more detailed options:



Troubleshooting

1. Browse to chrome://usb-internals/ to check connected device’s IDs. Ensure IDs are hex-coded in any policies you use - Citrix Studio, CWA JSON & Chrome OS.
2. Collect chrome://device-log whenever a USB device is being attached and tried to be redirected into session. Please select the USB option and collect the logs.
3. Collect Chrome log files. Please use the link provided here to refer to KB article on how to collect logs : http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX217352