I just got my new macbook yesterday, and today I installed Parallels, hoping I could get my smartcard to work (NMCI, the Navy's smartcard solution to the DOD requirements). I was scratching my head about why I couldn't connect the reader to Parallels, but then I remembered that OS X captures the card automatically (and it works fine with Safari without any drivers, but I need to use IE 6.0 to get all the webmail functions through Outlook Web Access). The trick is that you need to kill the process "pcscd," which releases the smartcard reader so Parallels can use it. Here's how to do it: 1. Open Terminal 2. type: sudo su (and then you need to type your admin password) 3. type: top 4. look for "pcscd" and note its PID 5. type "q" (no quotes) to quit out of top 6. type kill PID# where PID# is the number of the PID you noted in step 4 7. Close Terminal (type "exit" a couple of times) and go to Parallels and attach the smartcard reader. 8. Voila! 9,10,11..etc. To get it to work with NMCI email, there are a bunch more steps, which I can detail if people are interested. -Chris
OS X newbie here, does this method accomplish anything that just stopping pcscd from Activity Monitor does not?
Any reason not to use "Activity Monitor" in the Utilities folder to do the same job? Saves messing with terminal and entering the commands.
NMCI Webmail I would like any info you have to get all this working. That is exactly what I am trying to do. The part above works fine. I am not sure what to do after that to get the NMCI webmail working.
Yes, you're correct -- I guess I am so used to the Terminal that I didn't think about Activity Monitor! That should work fine. -Chris
Glad to hear you got that working. Here are the steps I took to get webmail access. I have the CAC Reader CD my Navy unit gave me, and if you don't have that you need to download it from the Navy's website. I'm a reservest and can download it through the Navy Reserves web site (but have to be logged in with my CAC first...). 1. Install ActiveCard Gold. Reboot XP. 2. Open the AcitveCard Gold utilities application and click on the Tools-->Register Certificates menu item to register your certs. 3. On my CD, there is a program called "install root certificates" (I think -- I don't have the CD right here). Run this program. 4. Open Internet Explorer. Go to the website "https://webmail.nmci.navy.mil/". Hopefully, your certificate will show up and you should be good to go. 4a. If your certification doesn't show up in the first window (after you go to the nmci website), you need to open the Tools-->Internet Options menu in Internet Explorer, go to the Content tab and click on Certificates. Click the Advanced button and make sure the "Client Authentication" box is checked. Do this for all three of your certificates (if you have three). 5. Close IE and try again. It should work by this point. Let me know if it doesn't. -Chris
Reader not available Ok I killed the process and I can check the card reader in Parallels but then when I try the gold utilities it tells me no reader available. Also when I put in my CAC card nothing happens. When I do it directly on the Mac and use Safari the second I put in my CAC the light on the reader starts flashing then goes solid but, in parallels it does nothing. Any ideas? Thanks.
Have you installed the USB drivers for the CAC reader? I actually have a CAC reader that I bought on my own (made by Athena), not the one issued by the Navy. You might want to search around for the drivers for your model and see if you can install them. -Chris
For anyone wanting to use Parallels with a DoD CAC Card (which is a smartcard) there is a huge amount of information and shared experiences in the Apple Federal Systems list server. You can subscribe at this URL: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/fed-talk Or you can just browse the archives at this URL: http://search.lists.apple.com/?q=cac+parallels&cmd=Search!
