Use a Smart Card in a Virtual Machine

You can configure a virtual machine to use the smart card reader on the host system.

Prerequisites

• On a Linux host, verify that the libpcsclite library is installed and that the pcscd daemon is running.
• Verify that the virtual machine has a USB controller. A USB controller is required, regardless of whether the smart card reader is a USB device. A USB controller is added by default when you create a virtual machine.
• Connect the smart card reader to the host system.
• Start the virtual machine

Procedure

• To connect the smart card reader to the virtual machine, select the virtual machine and select Virtual Machine > Removable Devices > Shared <smart_card_reader_model> > Connect.
  If the smart card reader is a USB device, two items appear for it in the menu. Both items use the model name of the reader, but one item name begins with Virtual.
• To disconnect the smart card reader from the virtual machine, select Virtual Machine > Removable Devices > Shared <smart_card_reader_model> > Disconnect.
• To remove the smart card from the virtual machine, select Virtual Machine > Removable Devices > Shared <smart_card_reader_model> > Remove Smart Card.
  The smart card is removed from the virtual machine, but it remains connected on the host system. If the smart card is physically removed from the smart card reader, this option is disabled.
• To insert the smart card to the virtual machine, select Virtual Machine > Removable Devices > Shared <smart_card_reader_model> > Insert Smart Card.
  If the smart card is physically inserted in the smart card reader, the smart card is also inserted in the virtual machine.