You connect a USB smart card reader with a process different from the process used for other USB devices.

When you attach a smart card reader to your computer, the reader appears as two separate USB devices in the Fusion interface. You can use smart cards in virtual mode or USB passthrough mode. These mode are mutually exclusive. You must pick one or the other.

  • Virtual mode (Recommended): The smart card reader device is available as Virtual model name of your smart card reader USB Smart Card Reader. After the virtual reader is connected to the virtual machine, it appears as Virtual the model name of your smart card reader USB Smart Card Reader under the device list in the guest operating system. In virtual mode, the smart card reader can be shared among applications on the host and among applications within different guests on the host.

  • USB passthrough mode: The smart card reader device is available as model name of your smart card reader USB Smart Card Reader. When you connect the reader to the guest, it appears as model name of the smart card reader USB Smart Card Reader under the device list in the guest operating system. In USB passthrough mode, a single virtual machine directly controls the physical smart card reader. A USB passthrough smart card reader cannot be used by applications on the host or by applications within other virtual machines. Use USB passthrough mode only if connection in virtual mode does not work well for your computing environment.

Note:

Disconnect your current mode before you switch to a different mode.

Procedure

  • For virtual mode, select Virtual Machine > USB & Bluetooth > Connect the model name of your smart card reader USB Smart Card Reader.

    When you select the virtual mode device, the passthrough mode the model name of your smart card reader Smart Card Reader device no longer appears, except in Linux virtual machines.

  • For USB passthrough mode, select Virtual Machine > USB & Bluetooth > Connect the model name of your smart card reader USB Smart Card Reader.
  • To disconnect either mode, select Virtual Machine > USB & Bluetooth and the device to disconnect, and click Disconnect.