You can set up your environment to require smart card authentication when a user connects to a vCenter Server or associated Platform Services Controller from either the vSphere Client or the vSphere Web Client.

How you set up smart card authentication depends on the version of vSphere that you are using.
vSphere Version Procedure Links
6.0 Update 2

Later versions of vSphere 6.0

  1. Set up the Tomcat server.
  2. Enable and configure smart card authentication.
vSphere 6.0 documentation center.
6.5 and later
  1. Set up the reverse proxy.
  2. Enable and configure smart card authentication.
Configure the Reverse Proxy to Request Client Certificates

Use the Command Line to Manage Smart Card Authentication

Manage Smart Card Authentication