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How to use a smartcard within a Virtual Machine

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As you may know If you see Microsoft field people from time to time, we cannot stay unconnected from the Microsoft internal network (also known as CorpNet,  so Big Brother of us huh?) for long. Our VPN is protected with a SmartCard using only Microsoft technology of course. So my next step is to make my Virtual Machine "see" my smartcard reader.

Neither Virtual PC, Virtual Server nor Hyper-V know how to redirect a USB port, si two solutions remain:

  • use the old, dusty serial smartcard my buddy Jean-Yves "mustache" Grasset once gave me and which I had to fight my wife for during the last "clean the house" event,
  • or remember that ... well ... Terminal Service does redirect the SmartCard itself to the TS !

Since my "CorpNet VM" know has access to the Internet wherever I go I can enable "remote desktop" and TS in, use my smartcard and Voilà!