After you log on to a client from an on-premises device and connect to a cloud computer, you can connect to and use peripherals of the on-premises device on the cloud computer. Peripherals can be audio or video devices, storage devices, or printers.
In the examples in this topic, Windows client V7.7 and Windows cloud computers are used. If your experience does not match the description in this topic, you may be using a different Alibaba Cloud Workspace client, or your client may be outdated. In such cases, update your client to the latest version.
Background information
Supported peripherals
Cloud computers are compatible with a wide variety of peripherals. The peripherals that you can use on a cloud computer vary based on the type of the on-premises device and the ports, drivers, and protocols of the peripherals. The following table describes the mappings between the types of on-premises devices and the supported peripherals.
On-premises device | Supported peripheral |
Windows computers | Peripherals supported by your on-premises computer Note Cloud computers do not support peripherals if the on-premises computer runs Windows 7. Examples:
|
Mac computers | Peripherals supported by your on-premises computer Examples:
|
Android mobile phones and tablets |
|
Devices that run the web client of Alibaba Cloud Workspace | Wired keyboards and mouses |
Overview of peripheral connection
After peripherals are connected to the on-premises device, open DesktopAssistant on the cloud computer and click Peripherals & Printers. On the Peripherals tab, check whether the peripherals are detected. If the value of the Permission column is Normal for a peripheral, the peripheral is detected. In the Action column of a peripheral, you can click Unmap or Disconnect.
On the Advanced Peripheral Settings tab, you can select Device Redirection or USB Redirection for Redirection Mode for a peripheral. You can also turn Auto-connect on or off for a peripheral.
Prerequisites
If you connect peripherals to a cloud computer over USB ports, make sure that your on-premises device has USB ports and the USB redirection feature is enabled for the cloud computer.
ImportantWhether a cloud computer supports USB redirection is determined by the policy associated with the cloud computer. If the USB redirection feature is not enabled in the policy, the cloud computer may fail to detect USB peripherals. In this case, you must contact the administrator to enable the feature in the policy.
If you want to connect peripherals to a cloud computer over Bluetooth, make sure that your on-premises device supports Bluetooth.
Use a printer
Add a network printer
Use one of the following methods to start Cloud Computer Manager:
On the desktop of the cloud computer, double-click the Cloud Computer Manager icon.
On the desktop of the cloud computer, click DesktopAssistant. In the menu that appears, click Cloud Computer Manager.
On the homepage of Cloud Computer Manager, click Peripherals.
In the upper-right corner of the Peripherals page, click Network Printer.
In the Configure IP step on the Configure Network Printer page, enter the IP address of the printer, leave the port number
9100unchanged, and click Next.
In the Configuration Result step on the Configure Network Printer page, click Finish.
Install a printer driver
In most cases, after you add a network printer, you cannot directly use the network printer. You must first install the network printer driver.
Use one of the following methods to start Cloud Computer Manager:
On the desktop of the cloud computer, double-click the Cloud Computer Manager icon.
On the desktop of the cloud computer, click DesktopAssistant. In the menu that appears, click Cloud Computer Manager.
On the homepage of Cloud Computer Manager, click Peripherals.
On the Peripherals page, find the network printer whose status is Driver Missing and click Fix.
If the printer driver is detected in the driver library, click Download and install driver in the pop-up window that appears. After the driver is installed, click Close.
If the printer driver is not detected in the driver library, but the driver is installed on the on-premises device, click Upload and install driver in the pop-up window that appears. After the driver is installed, click Close.
If the printer driver is not detected in the driver library and not installed on the on-premises device, visit the official website of the printer on the cloud computer, and then download and install the driver.
If the printer status is Connected, the driver is installed and the printer can work as expected.
Use a hand-painted board
A cloud computer supports hand-painted boards only when the on-premises computer runs Windows or macOS. The following steps describe how to use a hand-painted board on a cloud computer when the on-premises computer runs Windows.
Connect a USB hand-painted board to the on-premises computer, install a driver for the USB hand-painted board, and then restart the on-premises computer.
Download a valid driver based on the model of the hand-painted board and the operating system of the on-premises computer.
Log on to the client of Alibaba Cloud Workspace and connect to a cloud computer.
Open DesktopAssistant on the cloud computer and click Peripherals & Printers. On the Peripherals tab, check whether the peripheral is detected.
Launch a graphics application such as Photoshop or ZBrush from the cloud computer, use a stylus to draw on the hand-painted board, and then verify whether the graphics application responds as expected.
NoteBefore you use a hand-painted board with ZBrush, configure the Preferences parameter to set the driver to
WM_even.
Use a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive
Plug a USB flash drive or a portable hard drive into the on-premises device.
Log on to the client of Alibaba Cloud Workspace and connect to a cloud computer.
Open DesktopAssistant on the cloud computer and click Peripherals & Printers. On the Peripherals tab, check whether the peripheral is detected.
Click the Advanced Peripheral Settings tab and set Redirection Mode to Device Redirection for the USB flash drive or portable hard drive.
Perform the following steps on the cloud computer to check whether the USB flash drive or portable hard drive works as expected:
Access the files stored in the USB flash drive or the portable hard disk and verify whether the file data can be read.
Copy files from the cloud computer to the USB flash drive or the portable hard disk, and verify whether data can be written.
Use a webcam
Connect a USB camera to the on-premises device.
Log on to the client of Alibaba Cloud Workspace and connect to a cloud computer.
Open DesktopAssistant on the cloud computer and click Peripherals & Printers. On the Peripherals tab, check whether the peripheral is detected.
Launch the webcam software that you want to use on the cloud computer and verify whether the webcam works as expected.
For example, launch DingTalk and start a video conference.
Use a barcode scanner
Connect a USB barcode scanner to the on-premises device.
Log on to the client of Alibaba Cloud Workspace and connect to a cloud computer.
Open DesktopAssistant on the cloud computer and click Peripherals & Printers. On the Peripherals tab, check whether the peripheral is detected.
Launch the software that you want to use to import barcodes on the cloud computer, and position the cursor in the field. Next, use the barcode scanner to scan barcodes, and then verify whether the barcodes that are scanned are recorded.