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Jay R.
Asked: 2009-08-04 10:29:52 +0800 CST

How do you use a smartcard to log in to Windows from a linux box?

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I'm using CentOS 5.3 and I want to use the Terminal Server Client to remote log in to a WindowsXP machine that uses smartcards exclusively to access the domain accounts.

How can I set up the Terminal Server Client to use the coolkey pkcs11 library to log in to a Windows machine? Or is it even possible?

linux remote-desktop smartcard

1 Answers

  1. newer versions of the "rdesktop" utility have the ability to pass on a smart card to the remote windows machine, using the "-scard" switch. You'll of course need you reader and smartcard to be accessible/readable by the linux machine you're connecting from. There is a lot of information on the subject on the pcsc (look under software) and the openct project pages.

    As for CentOS 5.3 specifics. The coolkey pkcs11 library supports a pretty small subset of smart cards. I believe CentOS 5.3 comes with pcsc, but not openct. As for rdesktop, it comes with a pretty outdated version, I suggest you upgrade.

    Good luck, and keep us posted.

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