Chromebooks that use a smart card for user authentication must meet certain requirements.

Client Hardware and Software Requirements

Users that authenticate with smart cards must have a physical smart card, and each smart card must contain a user certificate. The following smart cards are supported.
  • U.S. Department of Defense Common Access Card (CAC)
  • U.S. Federal Government Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card (also called FIPS-201 smart card)

Each Chromebook that uses a smart card for user authentication must have the following hardware and software.

  • Horizon Client for Chrome
  • A compatible smart card reader
  • Google Smart Card Connector app

    The connector app provides basic support for smart cards on Chrome OS. You can download the Smart Card Connector app from the Chrome web store. VMware recommends using Google Smartcard Connector App version 1.2.16.1 or later.

  • Charismathics CSSI Smart Card Middleware app

    Middleware communicates with the smart card and other client certificates. You can download the CSSI Smart Card Middleware app from the Chrome web store.

You might need to install root and intermediate certificates on the Chromebook. For more information, see the Google Chrome OS documentation.

Agent Software Requirements

A Horizon administrator must install the Charismathics CSSI Smart Card Middleware app on the agent machine.

For the supported agent operating systems, see Feature Support for Chrome Clients.

Additional Smart Card Authentication Requirements

In addition to meeting the smart card requirements for Horizon Client for Chrome, other Horizon components must meet certain configuration requirements to support smart cards.

Connection server
For information about configuring Connection Server to support smart card use, see the Horizon Administration document.
Unified Access Gateway appliances
Unified Access Gateway 3.2 and later.
For information about configuring a Unified Access Gateway appliance to support smart card use, see the Deploying and Configuring VMware Unified Access Gateway document.
Active Directory
For information about tasks that an administrator might need to perform in Active Directory to implement smart card authentication, see the Horizon Administration document.