Show HN: Proxmox -> Share your host's Bluetooth with a VM over the network

mainBranchesTagsGo to fileCodeOpen more actions menuFolders and filesNameNameLast commit messageLast commit dateLatest commit History26 Commits26 Commits.github.github binbin docsdocs teststests .

gitignore.gitignore CONTRIBUTING.mdCONTRIBUTING.

md LICENSELICENSE README.mdREADME.md SECURITY.

mdSECURITY.md build.shbuild.

sh install.shinstall.sh View all filesRepository files navigationBluetooth in your Proxmox Linux VMs.

Finally. TL;DR: Bluetooth passthrough to a Proxmox VM fails for Intel onboard chips (BE200, AX210, AX211 - by hardware design, no setting fixes it) and is unreliable on gaming distros like ChimeraOS and Bazzite. This tool shares the host's Bluetooth with the VM over the network instead - two commands, works with any chip Linux supports, survives reboots.

Controllers, headphones, and Home Assistant sensors all work. Pair your Xbox / PlayStation controller, headphones, or sensors inside your gaming VM (ChimeraOS, Bazzite, Home Assistant, plain Linux) - even with Bluetooth chips that "can't be passed through". Sound familiar?

You built a gaming VM on Proxmox. Everything works... except Bluetooth.

Your controller just blinks, blinks, blinks, and gives up. You bought an Intel BE200 / AX210 card because a forum said so. Still nothing.

You tried qm set ... -usb, saw the device in the VM, and it still refused to work. Every thread ends with someone saying "just use a USB cable".

It's not your fault, and your hardware is not broken. Intel built their Bluetooth chips so that only the machine that boots them can drive them. The moment Proxmox hands the chip to a VM, it wipes itself blank.

No setting fixes this. It is physically how the chip works. First: try the simple thing Plain USB passthrough works for plenty of setups - a normal dongle into a normal Linux distro (Debian, Ubuntu) often just works: qm set <vmid> -usb0 host=<vendor:product> If that gives you working Bluetooth in your VM, stop reading - you don't need this project.

This exists for when it doesn't work: Intel onboard chips (BE200/AX2xx - never work, by design), gaming distros (ChimeraOS/Bazzite kernels + quirky chip firmware), trimmed cloud kernels, and dongles that wedge after a few VM restarts. The fix: don't hand over the chip. Share it.

The chip stays on your Proxmox host, where it works. A tiny bridge streams it into the VM over the local network. Your VM sees a completely normal Bluetooth adapter.

Latency is lower than the controller's own radio delay - you will never feel it. Two commands. That's all.

On the Proxmox host: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lucid-fabrics/proxmox-bluetooth/main/install.

sh | sudo bash You'll see something like this: ==> Bluetooth adapters on this machine: [0] hci0 - 70:08:10:A4:F1:45 (USB) ==> All adapters healthy. You are good to go. ==> Bluetooth (hci0) is now shared on 192.

168.1.3:9700.

Now run this INSIDE your VM: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lucid-fabrics/proxmox-bluetooth/main/install.

sh | sudo bash -s -- 192.168.1.

3 What to do: copy that last line exactly (your IP will be different) and run it inside the VM. Inside the VM, you'll see: ==> Done. This VM now has working Bluetooth.

Go pair your controller. What to do: open Bluetooth settings in the VM and pair like normal. That's it.

Both sides auto-start at boot and auto-reconnect. Set it up once, forget it exists. Does my chip work?

If your Proxmox host can see it, your VM can have it. Run this on the host: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.

com/lucid-fabrics/proxmox-bluetooth/main/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --check If it's healthy, you'll see: ==> Bluetooth adapters on this machine: [0] hci0 - 70:08:10:A4:F1:45 (USB) ==> All adapters healthy. You are good to go.

What to do: nothing - run the install command above. If your chip is the stuck-Intel-chip case, you'll see: !! hci0 is NOT responding (stuck in bootloader).

Fix: shut down, flip the power supply switch OFF for 15 seconds, boot. A reboot or the front power button is NOT enough. See README.

What to do: exactly what it says. This looks extreme but it's the one thing that actually works - see the FAQ below for why. Confirmed by real people (add yours with a PR): Hardware Status Intel BE200 ✅ Tested - this repo exists because of it Intel AX200 / AX210 / AX211 ✅ Same family, same behavior MediaTek MT7921 / MT7922 ✅ Standard Linux support Generic CSR / Realtek USB dongles ✅ Anything your host's Linux drives UGREEN "BT 6.

0" dongles (Barrot chip) ❌ Broken firmware on Linux, bridge or not. Avoid. FAQ, in human words Will my controller lag?

No. The bridge adds well under a millisecond on the same machine. Bluetooth itself is slower.

Does it work for headphones, keyboards, Home Assistant sensors? Yes - the bridge is protocol-transparent (it forwards raw Bluetooth traffic, it doesn't understand or filter it). Anything that works on a normal Linux Bluetooth adapter works: controllers, audio, HID, BLE sensors for Home Assistant.

Can I pair several devices at once? Yes.