What does ‘lsusb’ do on Linux?

lsusb lists all the USB devices to your computer.

Example output:

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b5e8 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Each line represents a single USB device – but an USB device might also be internal to the computer and not connected to a physical USB port. For example, Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:0a2b Intel Corp. is an internal Bluetooth modem in my notebook.

Explanation:

• Bus 001: The device is connected to the first USB bus (001) on the system
• Device 003: In the aforementioned bus, the device has been assigned the ID 003.
• ID 8087:0a2b: This is the ID assigned to that device. The first part (8087) is the Vendor ID (VID). The second part (0a2b) is the Product ID (PID). These IDs are assigned by the USB Implementer’s forum. This ID will always stay the same for any given device. If you buy a USB product multiple times, all of them will have the same ID.
• Intel Corp.: This is the description of the device. Often Linux can show you more information, but in this case it’s just the name of the manufacturer.